The Trojan Express

In January of 2007, Center Grove head football coach Eric Moore went home and settled in to watch a movie with his five children. Little did Moore know that the flick he was about to watch, the animated Christmas film "The Polar Express," would serve as the proverbial cornerstone for the Trojans breakout 2007 season that fall. Moore saw something in the film that struck a cord with his coaching philosophy and he watched it four or five times in the span of a week - taking notes and adding his own remarks, knowing he would be able to use it at a later date. "My wife thought I was crazy and kept asking if I was alright," chuckles Moore, who led the Trojans to one of the state's most improved records last fall (from 6-4 in 2006 to 9-2 in '07). "I'm 47 years old and that's the most inspirational movie I've ever seen." Eight months later, in early August during the team meeting two weeks before the season opener against Roncalli, Moore began discussing what it would take for the Trojans to be successful, how the players had no idea of what they could achieve. But, they had to believe. Naturally, Moore played them clips from "The Polar Express," a film about a young boy traveling to the North Pole on a train to visit Santa Claus, except the boy is skeptical and a non-believer. And every time the train conductor rings a miniature Christmas bell, the boy can't hear it because he doesn't believe. As the film began to play, players moaned. "I just told them to watch and I would pause it at certain points, asking them why the kids in the movie couldn't see Santa or why the boy didn't hear the bell ringing," says Moore. "Finally, by the end they got it: humility, belief, trust. Those were our keys to success." At the end of the meeting, the players went to the locker room, finding bells hanging from each locker - but without ringers. "They had to earn those ringing bells; they had to believe," says Moore. All-State senior linebacker Anthony Elias says it was about working hard and "getting the swagger back." Senior quarterback Jordan Luallen added that, "People counted us out after our 2006 season, so we had something to prove." By the Roncalli game, every player could hear the bells - literally and figuratively. And two weeks later, when Center Grove traveled to play No. 1 Carmel, the parents' booster club greeted the players off the bus by ringing a bunch of tiny bells. It's a direct reflection of the principles and family values that Moore stresses to his players each and every year. In his 10th season with the Trojans, Moore has accumulated 75 wins and has built the Bantam (youth) League at Center Grove from the ground up, with his own coaching philosophies. Twice a week, Moore is often seen strolling through practices, making sure the right techniques and football acumen are passed down to future Trojans. And what, pray tell, are these young gridiron hopefuls learning? The vaunted Wing-T offense, of course. Moore has run the Wing-T in its purest form since he's been coaching and will kick back and discuss its strengths and merits for as long as you'll let him. "If you've got good people, whatever you do is probably going to be good," says Moore, who went to Florida as a young coach to learn about the game from James Refosco - a coach that had worked with renowned Wing-T offensive guru Tubby Raymond. "I learned about it from the roots up and it took me three solid years to figure out what was going on." Moore stresses that the biggest asset of the offense, since high school rosters change from year-to-year, is that the Wing-T incorporates all phases of the game; from blocking schemes and draws to belly options and crossing routes. "Some people say it's a quarterback's nightmare, but I don't see that at all," says Luallen, who recently committed to play football at Georgia Tech. "I have a lot to do in this offense, making the right reads, the right fakes, the right throws. There's a lot of ability to adjust on the fly." "The Wing-T is anything you need it to be and adapts to any personnel," adds Moore. "If we're equal, or slightly behind in talent, I'll be able to fix it and make something happen." "We coach against the opposing players, not the opposing coaches - they're much smarter than me," Moore says with a sincere snicker. "We try to deceive and confuse the other team's defense by conflicting his interests." Another huge advantage working for the Trojans and Moore, aside from the Wing-T's deceptive nature, is just how unique the offense is. Not many teams run the Wing-T, so facing a team that does, like Center Grove, can be a headache for opposing coaches. Those headaches manifested into a migraine last fall. The Trojans averaged nearly 35 points per game on their way to a 9-0 start and No. 1 ranking in Class 5A before falling 28-21 at Warren Central in the final game of the regular season, but still securing a share the MIC title. Kyle Jones, sharing carries with Elliott Dutra, ran for 1,145 yards and 17 touchdowns (including 230 yards and four TDs against Terre Haute North). Luallen completed 60 percent of his passes for 756 yards and 12 TDs with no interceptions, while rushing for 475 yards and 13 TDs. Elias accumulated 135 tackles, 10 sacks and two forced fumbles. To say that the Trojans filled a stat sheet and lit up the scoreboard each week would be, well, an understatement. But, the 2007 season's biggest surprise (at least to those who couldn't hear the bells) might have been Center Grove's upset of No. 1 Carmel on Aug. 31. In a double-overtime thriller, the Trojans won, 32-31. On Carmel's home turf. In front of 7,200 rabid fans. "We'd worked on Carmel, as a staff, since February," says Moore of the team's preparation for the eventual Class 5A state champions. "They are what many schools should strive to be, but we felt we could beat them." And they did, with Luallen tossing two touchdown passes and Jones running for another score. In between the final touchdown and the winning two-point conversion (a trick pass play from Luallen to Elias), Moore called a timeout. But, it wasn't to set up the play. "We'd already worked on it in practice the day before, the aspects of looking confused and I knew we'd execute," says Moore. "So, when they came over to the sideline and asked me what we were going to do, I said, 'You already know what we're going to do, I just wanted to tell you when we score, we're going to meet by the left side of the goal post to celebrate.'" "It took us forever to get off the field," says Elias with a smile. "In the locker room, we were screaming, people were crying and coach had his shirt off, just sitting in the corner. It was an emotional time and it belonged to everybody." If the Trojans sound like they're saturated with confidence and believe deeply in the team concept, it's because, frankly, they are and they do. "They're good in school. Swift scored a 1720 on the SATs, Luallen a 1680 and [senior linebacker] Geoff Sissom was almost perfect," explains Moore. Senior linebacker Bryan Doucey, like many others, also scored high. And, Moore says these are the kinds of kids he hopes to watch do great things long after football. Injuries riddled the offensive and defensive lines as 2007 wore on, putting a damper on any strong postseason hopes. Swift missed time with an ankle injury early on. And a patchwork lineup couldn't make it past eventual sectional champion Columbus North in late October. Now it's 2008. A new year. A healthy team. A new set of goals (perhaps a shot at a state title and another MIC crown), but the Trojans don't talk about it. "We've just been working really hard in the weight room, running and focusing on one thing at a time," notes Swift. "It's on our mind, but we don't want to get too hyped up and think we have it in the bag when we haven't even played yet." Elias says that while the Trojans want to win, it goes much deeper than that. "Coach worries more about what we are out of football and what we are when we leave Center Grove." "It's there (a chance at state), but we just have to focus on our words to live by and working hard," says Moore. "We have the potential to do great things or we could be 2-8. Our record is not important, it's getting to October with the values we talk about - it's way more important than stats or X's and O's. Talent can't win if it doesn't have character." So, there's just one thing left to accomplish as the 2008 campaign begins. It's time to hear the bells again. The Trojan Express is ready to roll. - Tight Trojans Stroll through the video room attached to the locker room at CGHS and you won't find any detailed diagrams of Wing-T plays scrawled on the dry-erase boards. That area is explicitly reserved for something much more important: team philosophies. You'll find phrases like "Inconsistent core values virtually guarantee turmoil, frustration and failure" and "Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in all of the small ones." "It's the perception of how they appear to one another, even during preseason training," says Center Grove football coach Eric Moore. "If you're bent over and looking defeated, how are your teammates going to trust you in the fourth quarter, when the game is on the line?" These aren't just empty words to the Trojans. The highly-touted and vastly-talented senior class takes them to heart. No wild parties, no trouble. "It's easy to say you're going to do something - it's another thing to do it. We've got words to live by and we'll win because of our commitment to those words," says Moore. The 2009 senior class has bonded through years of football together. "Everyone's pretty tight," says 6-foot-2 senior wing back Luke Swift, whom Moore thinks could play in the NFL one day. "It seems like even when we're working our tails off, we're doing it together." "Kieth Dietel has a lot of land, so we'll do some bonfires there two or three times a month - but we bond the most during, when everyone's tired and beat-down," says senior Anthony Elias. Or, they bond over a buffet. Kyle Jones, a senior running back, notes that the Trojans have little problem devouring multiple slices of pizza. "We get together and watch UFC fights or head to town for some all-you-can eat pizza at Chicago's Pizza in Bargersville - its responsible hanging out." Remember the Tigers It would be easy to overlook the Triton Central football team coming into the 2008 season. After all, the Tigers haven't advanced out of sectionals the last two years. But, go beyond the 31-3 loss to eventual Class 2A state runner-up Heritage Christian. You'll discover that the Tigers were, aside from 2A champion Ft. Wayne Luers, the only team to beat Heritage Christian last season - a 21-14 win in Week 3. Look even deeper and you might notice Triton Central has won 18 straight regular season games over the past two seasons, including two straight Mid-Indiana Conference titles. The Tigers' only losses the last two years were in sectional play against opponents with 10 wins. Triton Central knows, with a senior-laden team, that it's on the cusp of something big this season. Enter former Evansville Reitz assistant coach Kevin Kling. Hired on June 23, Kling has the task of taking the Tigers to the next level. Kling's quite familiar with winning programs, having a hand in guiding Reitz to the Class 4A title last fall and working with 2007 Mr. Football Paul McIntosh. "When I saw these players working their butts off in the weight room, five days a week, it said a lot about the players and their character," says Kling, who has coached in the state for seven years. "I want them to get a taste of what I had last year; I want that hunger to last 15 weeks, until Thanksgiving." Kling's arrival has, in turn, piqued the interest of his players, including standout senior quarterback Jordan Martin, who passed for 1,717 yards and 22 touchdowns last season. "It's exciting, spreading the ball around a little bit," says Martin. By spreading the ball around, Martin is referring to the newly installed option offense that the Tigers will use, something Kling will bring with him from Reitz. "The option puts the defense in a bind, slowing them down and if you have the guys who can run it, every play has several options off of it," Kling remarks. "It's a foundation, but there's a lot you can do off of it." Other than Martin, senior running back Garrett Pritt will be a main cog in the option attack. Pritt saw limited carries a season ago behind now-graduated backs Evan Beck and Drew Garrison, a potent duo that led Triton Central in rushing, but still managed to make the most of his opportunities: he gained a whopping 8.6 yards per carry. Against Park Tudor, on just eight carries, Pritt gained 123 yards and ran for two touchdowns. "We've got plays that will capitalize on the skills that each one of them brings," says Kling. Additionally, Kling likes having a kicker such as junior Bryan Sullivan to punch-in needed points with his strong leg. In 2007, Sullivan booted 46 PATs and hit 8-of-10 field goal attempts, the longest a distance of 37 yards. "As a coach, hearing the other coaches and players talk about the confidence they have in him, it's a pretty positive impact on the team - that thing is like a cannon coming off his foot," says Kling. In the end, though, it will be Martin's responsibility to guide the offense. And, Kling likes what he sees of the 6-foot-1 signal caller. "I try not to compare players and I don't expect Jordan to be Paul McIntosh, but I see a lot of similar qualities," praises Kling. During his first month on the job, Kling talked to his team about being a group that deserves to win championships. "Championships aren't going to fall in your lap; you have to come out every year and get it done. There will be a target on this team," explains Kling. Indeed, Triton Central will be a team to watch for in 2A this season - it would serve opposing schools well to remember the Tigers. -