Center Grove-Warren Central rivalry continues

Whatever frustrations and heartbreaks Eric Moore felt following his previous 15 trips to Warren Central won’t find their way into tonight’s pregame talk.

A Center Grove victory means a team that went 4-5 in the regular season secures the program’s 14th regional championship. Additionally, the unranked Trojans would get to host a Class 6A semistate game with a trip to Lucas Oil Stadium on the line.

That, frankly, should be incentive enough.

Moore is 3-12 in games played on the Warriors’ field and didn’t savor victory until his ninth visit to open the 2013 season. He’s had a sideline view of sideways fumbles, opposing players reversing field for touchdowns, falling inches short on potential game-winning drives and at least one ill-timed official’s whistle.

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In the 2018 semistate matchup at Warren Central, the Trojans lost, 27-20, after falling short on fourth and goal from the Warriors’ 1-yard line with 58 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

And yet when it comes to addressing his players this evening, Moore will paint an entirely different picture.

“Oh, no. This is the greatest place we ever want to play at in the history of football,” said Moore, who is 8-19 overall against Warren Central, including a 2-4 mark in the postseason. Nine of the 14 games played since 2010 have been decided by seven or fewer points.

It’s a rivalry void of a traveling trophy the way Center Grove and Carmel battle yearly for the Copper Kettle. Nonetheless, the pride players from each school feel when finding a way to prevail is unmistakable.

Center Grove and Warren Central are, in a sense, mirror images despite being drastically different.

“Each time we play them in the playoffs we seem to have a little adversity and maybe they think we’re done,” Moore said. “We seem to be able to come back if it’s a regional or semistate game. Football is very emotional, and you can get these runs.

“I feel when we get over there, we have our backs to the wall and we battle.”

As is the case since the teams began opening their regular seasons against each other in 2013, the Trojans are a much-improved product over the one that lost, 21-14, in August.

That game gave Warriors coach Jayson West a 7-4 record against his former boss. West was Moore’s junior varsity coach at Center Grove in 1999 before moving on and building a résumé that includes two state titles with the Warriors and a Class 5A crown at Lawrence Central in 2010.

“I don’t want him to beat me anymore, but if I’ve got to lose, I’d rather lose to him or (ex-assistant and Lawrence North coach) Patrick Mallory,” Moore said. “I have a lot of respect for Jayson. He was one of the first young coaches I hired here.

“We’ve been connected a little bit all the way through. I think it’s good for football that coaches know and respect each other and have some kind of past.”

Another chapter in that history gets written tonight.

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TONIGHT’S GAMES

Class 6A regional

Center Grove at Warren Central, 7 p.m.

Class 4A regional

Roncalli at Mt. Vernon, 7 p.m.

Tickets: $8 for either game

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