Despite loss, these Trojans have much to be proud of

Injuries? The Center Grove football team had no shortage of those.

At one position alone, nine different running backs played significant roles in a backfield that was banged up all season.

Perseverance? The Trojans had no shortage of that, either.

What else explains a fourth trip to the Class 5A semistate in the past five years?

But that wasn’t all.

Along the way, the sixth-ranked Trojans (12-2) won conference, sectional and regional championships and rode a 10-game winning streak into Friday’s semistate showdown against No. 1 Lawrence Central (14-0).

Although the ride ended at the semistate, Trojans coach Eric Moore found it difficult — it not impossible — to find fault with a team that accomplished so much, despite all of obstacles.

“We won 10 games in a row against a lot of good football teams, and this is a good

football team,” Moore said as

sobbing players embraced and pondered “what if?” after a 28-15 loss against the state finals-bound Bears.

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