CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – There’s only one team in Montgomery County with an unblemished record: the Montgomery Central Indians. Led by Head Coach Jeff Tomlinson, the Indians are 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the region.
So far, the success of the team has come from a simple formula: Run the ball. It’s old school football, but it’s working for the Indians.
“What we’ve done so far this year is we’ve played to the strengths of our team, and offensively we are a ball control football team that loves to run the football, and we run it downhill hard right at you,” Tomlinson said.
The success of the running game has made it easy for Central to not have to attempt many passes. As a team, the Indians attempted six passes against Creek Wood, and before that they were just over the double figure mark in passes the entire season. This has not seemed to hinder the Indians, though, as they have scored 166 points.
The right ingredients
Part of what makes the offense so successful is having a quarterback that can make adjustments and read the opposing defensive before the play even starts. The Indians called on Logan Sykes to do that for them, and he has yet to disappoint.
On the success of Sykes, Tomlinson said, “The quarterback’s got to make calls at the line of scrimmage, and we adjust because what we do you can’t just line up and run it if it’s not there, so we have to make audibles, adjust off of it. So (Logan) has got to do that, and he’s been doing it for a while now, so he does a pretty good job.”
Not only does Tomlinson rely on his quarterback to get the offense going, he also calls upon a heavy-hitter to get the ball moving downhill in Kade Davis.
“As far as the style that we are running, it has to go through our fullback,” said Tomlinson. “(Kade) is a big guy, about 230, and he runs downhill and runs hard. I wouldn’t want to tackle him.”
The offense is not the only side of the ball that is causing troubles for the opposition. Central’s defense has only allowed 19 points on the season and have shut out three opponents already.
“I love what we do defensively. We play a 3-5 defense, we bring pressure every play, we call it organized chaos. What’s good about it is we are senior heavy on the offense and defense and they know what they are doing, and they don’t have to think so they play really fast,” said Tomlinson.
It feels like 2018
This impressive start is not the first one in Tomlinson’s career as the head coach at Central. In fact, if you go back to the 2018 season, the Indians started 7-0 before falling to Springfield in Week 8. The Indians would finish the regular season 9-1 and make it to the second round of the playoffs where they lost to Jackson North Side, 28-26, ending the year 10-2. While every year and team is different, Tomlinson has seen some similarities to the 2018 squad.
“The defense. Our defense was a senior-heavy defense that year, too, and they played really good football and complemented the offense very well,” said Tomlinson.
As for a difference, Tomlinson noted the running backs. “That team had a back that had a little more flash to him and could score from anywhere on the field. This year’s team unfortunately we don’t have that, but we do have a little bit more power.”
The road to 6-0
The road to remaining undefeated got a slow start for the Indians after they found themselves without an opponent in Week 1 due to a COVID forfeit by Sycamore. That did not damper the team’s spirits as they shut out the Northeast Eagles 16-0 in their season opener.
Central would rattle off four more victories, all in the region, after beating Lawrence County on the road, then two home victories against Hillwood and Glencliff, and most recently a 14-7 victory over Creek Wood.
The Indians went up 14-0 over the Red Hawks before allowing a late first half touchdown. However, in the second half, the Indians defense played lights out and held on to the 7-point victory.
As for the Bobcats of Greenbrier, their season got off to a shaky start after losing to Springfield and White House in back-to-back weeks. Greenbrier would add a blowout victory over Glencliff, 53-0, before falling to Lawrence County. Last Friday, The Bobcats would get back into the win column with another shutout victory, 36-0, against Hillwood. Greenbrier is currently 2-3 on the season with a 2-1 region record.
What’s on the line
This game is much more than just a region game for Central. A win gets the Indians into the playoffs. It will also push them to 7-0 for the first time since 2018.
What adds even more intrigue to this matchup is the team that Montgomery Central beat in 2018 to move to 7-0 just happened to be the Greenbrier Bobcats.
Kickoff for Friday night’s game is 7 p.m. from Montgomery Central.
Be sure to catch the game live on ESPN Clarksville 104.1 FM/540 AM and listen to the full interviews with the coaches starting at 6 p.m. Friday on Sports Night Clarksville, also on ESPN Clarksville.