East Central Returns to Lucas Oil Stadium With Repeat in Mind

The Trojans will take on NorthWood in the Class 4A State Championship on Saturday at 3:00.

INDIANAPOLIS - East Central is one win away from making history.

The Trojans are seeking to win a second consecutive state championships for the first time in program history when they take on NorthWood (12-2, #11 in Media, #16 in Coaches) in the Class 4A State Championship on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium.

🏈 Tickets info for Saturday’s State Championship game. All tickets have to be purchased through https://t.co/tI05mIIVl6 (see link attached below)https://t.co/F1ZbFJ5k7M pic.twitter.com/Zwm99RfJ0y

— EC Trojan Athletics (@ECTrojanSports) November 21, 2023

Should East Central come away with the win, they will be just the third program to win consecutive Class 4A state titles since 1983. Indianapolis Cathedral (twice) and Indianapolis Roncalli are the only other schools to do so in that time span.

The top-ranked Trojans (14-0) continued their dominate run to the state title game with a 49-0 win over #3 New Palestine last Friday. East Central's offense started slow, but a 21-point outburst in the second quarter gave the Trojans a 28-0 lead going into halftime. East Central ended up outgained New Palestine a staggering 479 yards to 161 yards. Those numbers are made more impressive based on the fact that all of EC's yards came on the ground. 

Dylan Maxwell rushed for a career-high 251 yards and two touchdowns. Josh Ringer, perhaps the Mr. Football frontrunner, added 117 yards and two touchdowns, while freshman Ryan Minges rushed for 99 yards and two scores.

• Josh Ringer now has 6,389 rushing yards for his career – 20th most all-time in the state of Indiana

The Trojans’ offensive line paved the way for 13 runs of 10-plus yards and 10.4 yards per carry.

Defensively, East Central held a New Palestine offense that features Mr. Football candidate Grayson Thomas to 3.4 yard per play. Thomas came into the semi-state game averaging 164.6 yards per game. He managed 45 yards on 18 carries against the Trojans.

Now, the Trojans shift their focus to NorthWood. The Panthers advanced to the state championship game with a 45-33 win over #9 Leo. 

NorthWood has been more of a passing team this season, but it was their rushing attack that helped lead the way to state finals. The Panthers rushed for 366 yards and four scores last Friday. Senior QB Owen Roeder led the way with 183 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He also threw for 153 yards and two more scores.

Roeder has had a fantastic year, completing 68 percent of his passes for 3,264 yards, 38 touchdowns and nine interceptions. His top wideout, Nitro Tuggle, is rated by 247Sports as Indiana's 2nd best prospect in the Class of 2024. The Georgia commit has caught 86 passes for 1,290 yards and 17 touchdowns. 

The Panthers roster also features Michigan commit Jojo Edmond. The senior defensive back and H-back has had an impressive year as well. He is the team leader in interceptions with five, and is one of the Panthers' top playmakers on offense with close to 1,000 yards of total offense and 11 touchdowns. 

After last week's semi-state round East Central moved up to #2 in the Sagarin with an overall rating of 105.73. Only Ben Davis has a higher rating. For NorthWood, they are rated as the 4th best team in Class 4A and the 21st best team in the state with a rating of 83.13. 

The John Harrell prediction for Saturday's state championship is 38-24 in favor of the Trojans. 

No team has played within two touchdowns of East Central since Week 3 when the Trojans defeated Moeller (Oh.) 38-28. The 28 points were the most any team has scored against EC all season. 

Entering the state finals, the Trojans are first in the state in points per game (49.8), T-2nd in points allowed (5.9), and first in average margin of victory (43.9). 

Saturday's Class 4A State Championship Game will air on Eagle Country 99.3 starting with pre-game coverage at 2:40 p.m. Our coverage is presented by Ivy Tech Community College (www.ivytech.edu)