Jim Crowder got a lot accomplished in his two years at Central Holmes.
The first was to turn the Trojans around to a winning football program. The second was to win a playoff game. The Trojans accomplished that in Crowder’s second season with a 46-21 win over Glenbrook in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs.
“It was a special night,” Crowder said. “It put this team and this group of seniors in a pretty special play. They can be remembered as doing something at Central Holmes that hasn’t been done a lot. It was big for them. They haven’t had a lot of success in recent years, so this was a big win for our program.”
The Trojans got a huge night from Holmes Community College signee Wykece Johnson who rushed for 301 yards.
“We leaned on our offensive line and felt like we gave them some problems,” Crowder said. “So we just rode Wykece all night long. C.J. made some timely passes and we kind of stayed true to our identity.”
The game was back and forth as Central Holmes led 21-13 midway through the second quarter and 31-21 at the half.
“I thought we came in loose and ready to have fun,” Crowder said. “They did a great job of going out and playing and not worrying about the results. Glenbrook has a really good offensive scheme and gave us some issues. I thought we made some good halftime adjustments.”
The next week, the Trojans gave the eventual state champions Greenville St. Joseph all the wanted but fell 42-27 to the Irish.
The Trojans finished the season with a 7-5 record.
