INDIANAPOLIS — The East Central Trojans' 2023 season might go down as one of the most dominant seasons in all of Indiana high school football history.
The Trojans had a five-game winning streak during the regular season in which they shut out all five different teams with a margin of victory of 42 points or better. The only times the Trojans have faced opponents with high-power offence were against Cincinnati Moeller from Ohio early in the season and Martinsville in the sectional semi-final.
The NorthWood Panthers entered the game looking for their first state championship since 2005. They last made a trip to Lucas Oil Stadium during the 2016 season where Roncalli handed them their first and only loss that year.
It was likely going to be a tall task for the Panthers, but they managed to put up a fairly good game against the eastern Indiana powerhouse.
The first quarter was a scoreless stalemate. It wasn't until the second quarter that Trojan running back Cole Burton punched his way into the end zone to give East Central the early lead.
Not getting discouraged, NorthWood struck back almost immediately with quarterback Owen Roeder tossing a 65-yard bomb to Nitro Tuggle to even the score at 7.
The Trojans' ground game was almost unstoppable. Ryan Brotherton scored the second touchdown of the game for East Central with a quick 30-yard rushing touchdown not long after the Panthers evened the score.
Josh Ringer scored the next touchdown for the Trojans on a 12-yard run into the end zone to put East Central up 21-7 before halftime.
Ringer scored East Central's next touchdown on a 4-yard run with about six minutes to play in the third quarter. Now up 28-7, East Central was ready to roll into their second consecutive state championship.
Moses Wheat intercepted NorthWood quarterback Owen Roeder for a pick six to make the score 35-7 with eight minutes to play. East Central poured on another score with five minutes to play off a 25-yard rushing touchdown by Josh Ringer.
Playing for pride, Owen Roeder found Nitro Tuggle for an 11-yard touchdown pass and NorthWood's second score of the game.
The Panthers made a successful onside kick with less than a minute to play, but Carson Pieczonka handed Roeder his fourth interception of the game to seal the win for the Trojans.
Ringer ended the game with an incredible 251 rushing yards for East Central and accounted for three of the team's touchdowns. East Central put up 353 total rushing yards. Quarterback Cole Burton had an easy game under center, completing two out of three passes for 7 yards. Burton was only sacked once.
Despite the four interceptions, Owen Roeder otherwise had a big game for NorthWood. He completed 22 out of 34 of his passes for 228 total yards and two touchdowns.
