At a small store on South Morgantown Road, 300 Center Grove football state finals shirts sit ready, waiting to be purchased by the community’s super fans.
Coffey Connection has been in business for about five years, including when the Trojans won its last state championship in 2015, and when they came up just short the following year, losing to Carmel High School in overtime.
On Saturday, they’ll play Carmel in the state finals again.
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“I almost put ‘unfinished business’ as a tagline,” Owner Michele Coffey said of the shirts.
If Center Grove wins Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium, Coffey will drive back to the store 11 miles south and open it, ready to sell championship t-shirts that same night, she said.
“I love the small community aspect of it,” Coffey said. “We’ll wave to the (team) buses as they leave. It’s my favorite time of year.”
Even though much of the Center Grove area is unincorporated and does not belong to a particular city or town, the school district gives residents a sense of identity, White River Township Fire Chief Jeremy Pell said.
“It gives this community a sense of pride,” Pell said. “36,000 people live here, and it’s good to have some portion of the community that we can all support together. It gives us our identity.”
Aqua Systems in Greenwood provides water for the football team during its practices, but regional manager David Leathers has connections to the team that reach far beyond that. His son is a senior on the team, and he had two nephews who played for the Trojans before they graduated.
This year, the team’s theme is perseverance, Leathers said.
Unlike the 2015 and 2016 seasons, when Center Grove tore apart its competition most of the season, the Trojans started 2019 rocky, losing four of their first five games.
But they’ve only lost one game since.
“Facing adversity, losing four of the first five games and what they did since … It’s a good life lesson to overcome adversity and never give up,” Leathers said.
The community’s support of Center Grove is felt strongly through the local businesses that back it, he said.
“A lot of businesses have supported (the team) through thick and thin,” Leathers said. “Some continue to give even though they don’t have kids in it. The sense of pride in the community is there.”
John Bontrager is an Allstate agent who sponsors the pregame interviews and the game balls given to the top defensive and offensive players of each game, from the Center Grove varsity squad to the Bantam league. He has a son, Logan, who was part of the state championship team in 2015 and the runner-up team in 2016. Even though his son no longer plays, he still watches every game, either in person or online, he said.
Bontrager expects a sea of red at the game on Saturday, he said.
“There will be an absolute wave of red,” he said. “People are stopping in because they know we’re involved and asking what time the game will be. The support will be incredible. The rivalry between Center Grove and Carmel, I don’t know a bigger rivalry that exists in the state of Indiana.”
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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Center Grove takes on Carmel at 7:05 p.m. Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in the Class 6A state championship game.
Tickets: $15 per person (children 5 and under free). Available at Center Grove High School athletic office (door 3) from 9 a.m. to noon Wednesday through Friday and outside the main gymnasium (door 9) from noon to 2 p.m. on Saturday.
WE’VE GOT YOU COVERED
Before, during and after the game, we will be publishing on all our digital platforms, keeping you up to date with photos, play-by-play, scores and tidbits about the atmosphere in Lucas Oil Stadium.
Follow us on and engage with us at:
Facebook: facebook.com/dailyjournalnet
Twitter: @dailyjournalnet
Live play-by-play/stats: hoosierprepsports.com
Website: dailyjournal.net
And of course, make sure to get Monday’s newspaper for extensive photos and coverage.
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