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BENNETT'S MINUTES: Former county rivals excited for finals games
INDIANAPOLIS — When the Indiana High School Athletic Association football state finals take place over the next two days, two of the 12 head coaches formerly worked in Putnam County.
Evansville Central, which plays in the 4A championship game at 3:30 p.m. today against Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, is led by former South Putnam coach Troy Burgess.
Burgess coached for eight years at South Putnam from 2006-13, compiling a 50-36 record and winning two sectional titles. His final five Eagle teams all finished with winning records.
He retired from coaching to become athletic director at South Putnam for four years, which enabled him to watch his son play for Plainfield High School. Burgess took the Central job last summer.
North Vermillion, led by Brian Crabtree, will open Saturday’s three-game set in the Class A final game against Pioneer.
Crabtree coached one season at North Putnam in 2011 when highly-successful coach Greg Barrett took a one-year leave to coach collegiately at Indiana State. He also taught for three years at Cloverdale Elementary while working as an assistant football coach at Monrovia. Crabtree led North Vermillion to the 2014 state title.
On Monday morning, the 12 coaches and their administrators traveled to Lucas Oil Stadium to receive tickets, information on the weekend’s schedule and to meet with the media.
Bears seeking first title
While one-third of the 12 teams still playing this weekend have previously won state championships, and six others have been runnerup, Burgess and his school are both making their debuts at the state finals level.
Their opponent today is Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, a private school that has won four previous state titles in 11 appearances in Indianapolis.
“They are not going to make mistakes,” said Burgess. “They will do things the right way. This is nothing new for them. We have to not only match their intensity, but play heads-up, smart football.”
Burgess admits he feels fortunate to have landed such a high-profile job. While the Bears have not made it past the semistate before, several key players returned from last year’s sectional championship team.
“The cupboard was definitely not bare,” he said. “I have 22 seniors, and a lot of those kids are back from last year’s 11-1 team. This was not a rebuilding job. Take that group of seniors, bring in some young guys, and maybe do some things a little differently.
“For these seniors, winning a state championship has been a goal of theirs.”
Getting to Lucas Oil Stadium was hardly easy for the Bears, who had to have had a set of opponents with one of the highest percentages during the five-game journey.
“Three of the teams we played were unbeaten at the time [Northview in the sectional semifinals, Boonville in the sectional finals and Marion in the semistate], and one had one loss [defending state champion East Central in the regional],” Burgess said. “And maybe the best team of those five teams had three losses [Evansville Reitz in first round of the sectional]. We had to play them and beat them a second time, and they were really tough.
“There haven’t been any ‘gimmes’ and I’m proud of our kids, and the way they’ve battled through it.”
The only blemish on Central’s record this year was a 47-27 pounding at the hands of defending 3A state champion Evansville Memorial. Not surprisingly, Tiger coach John Hurley was seated just across the interview room.
“They are really good,” Burgess said. “I’m really happy for coach Hurley and his kids that they made it here. I’ve said if there’s anybody in 3A who can beat them, I want to see it.”
Burgess obviously did not forget how to coach during his four-year hiatus, and the game has hardly passed him by.
He feels the absence has actually helped his coaching.
“I’m a better football coach than I was four years ago,” he said. “Having that time away from it, and being on the other side of the fence and seeing things from a parent’s perspective, I think has helped me.
“Some of my guys who have come back to watch my teams now tell me I’ve gotten softer as I’ve gotten older,” Burgess added with a laugh.
Burgess admits the state finals trip is a dream come true for him.
“As a coach, you always say if you make it I’m going to act this way and do things that way,” he said. “That stuff all goes out the window. I’m really enjoying this, and I’m happy for our kids.”
Falcons have tough job
Pioneer is the defending Class A state champion and has won 29 straight games. Senior Jack Kiser leads the team in every category, and is one of few players at a school his size to get a scholarship from Notre Dame.
Crabtree knows his team will have its hands full.
“They deserve every accolade thrown their way,” he said. “What I like about their team is that they play hard, but they play clean. It’s easy to respect an opponent who does those things.”
The Falcons are 13-1 this season, with their only loss a 34-7 setback at Linton-Stockton in the fourth week of the season. They were bolstered in the state tourney by the addition of running back Wyatt Reynolds, a transfer from Covington who recently became eligible.
The Falcons already had two 1,000-yard rushers, but Reynolds has run for more than 500 yards in the past four games.
“This is a great opportunity for our kids to go up against the best 1A team I’ve ever seen,” Crabtree said. “I’ve been coming up here since the sixth grade.”
Memorable games in 2011
Burgess and Crabtree coached against each other twice in the 2011 season, with recollections of those encounters bringing joy to one of their faces and some bad memories to the other.
North Putnam zoomed through the regular season undefeated that year, including a 48-6 pounding of South Putnam (coached by Burgess) in the fourth week of the season.
The Cougars averaged 49.6 points per game in the regular season, then routed Speedway 48-10 and edged Cardinal Ritter 41-34 in the sectional.
South Putnam had lost only one other game (29-13 to Tri-West) , and went to North Putnam for the sectional finals.
Running back Rob Gibson had a huge night for the Eagles, and they turned the tables with a 40-22 win.
“That North Putnam is the most talented team I’ve had the opportunity to coach,” Crabtree said. “It was good enough to still be playing on Thanksgiving weekend, but unfortunately I didn’t get my job done.”
Crabtree recalls Burgess doing an outstanding job to turn the tables.
“Troy is an outstanding football coach,” he said. “I don’t think the first time we played was indicative of how good their team was.”
Crabtree is still in contact with players from that team.
“As painful as that was, having the season we had and losing in the sectional, I learned a ton,” he added. “I think things I learned there have helped me since then.”
Burgess obviously has fonder memories.
“That was a great year for us,” he said. “North had a very good football team that year, and again we had a good group of seniors on our team.
“That team probably continued to get better more than any team I’ve coached,” Burgess added. “We improved immensely every week. By the time we were able to reach the sectional championship, we were playing our best football.”
Burgess recalls, besides Gibson, that Seth Hammond had a big game at quarterback that fateful November night.
“I’m still very close with that group of guys,” he said. “Robbie was on my sideline the last two Saturdays, along with Nathan Aker [the successor to Burgess at South Putnam]. That was a special group.”
Eagles fly high again
Burgess followed the progress of South Putnam this season, and was thrilled that Aker and the Eagles were able to win another sectional title for the tradition-rich school.
“I’m really happy for coach Aker,” Burgess said. “He was with me for all eight years I was head coach there as defensive coordinator, and I was thrilled he got the job after I was done.
”For him to get that first sectional is great for him,” he added. “I’m also very happy for South Putnam. I have a lot of great memories from there.
“I spent 12 years teaching and coaching there, and I made a lot of great friends,” Burgess added.