Central’s defense plays with an edge

There’s nothing milquetoast or passive about Pickerington Central’s defense. The Tigers’ success isn’t judged by points allowed, but rather by how much it makes opponents uncomfortable.

Coach Jay Sharrett and his longtime defensive coordinator, Jeff Lomonico, work in symmetry not only in gameplanning but establishing a desired attitude. The Tigers always have played with an edge.

“We like to be aggressive,” Sharrett said. “Jeff and I share the belief that pass rush always beats pass coverage in high school football. At the same time, the real strength of this year’s defense is its depth and flexibility. We flip our personnel a lot depending on our objective and the kind of team we’re facing on any given night.”

The past two weeks, Central applied heavy pressure on dual-threat all-district quarterbacks Josh Stewart

of Hilliard Bradley and Jimmy Weirick of Pickerington North, creating eight turnovers and numerous bad decisions. Their respective ace receivers, Daevon Anderson and Ty Wiley, were essentially negated by the Tigers’ dynamic secondary.

But this week presents a different scenario for the Tigers (12-1), who face run-oriented Cincinnati Colerain (11-2) on Friday in a Division I state semifinal at Springfield’s Evans Stadium. The Cardinals operate out of a triple-option and veer in an effort to steamroll defenses. Colerain

averages 279 rushing yards per game, and its playoff totals have been 355, 476 and 374.

“We’ve faced running teams before, but Colerain is just the total package,” Lomonico said. “What they do is just so hard to stop. The offensive line is huge and agile, and they’ve got a bunch of backs with different skills and are used interchangeably. They’ve also got a quarterback who can hurt you with big plays to speed guys on the wings.”

Lomonico hinted that finding a way to negate the fullback run is a top priority. Sharrett added that forcing the Cardinals into secondand third-and-long situations would tilt the advantage to Central’s defense.

The Tigers’ defense has bona-fide stars on all three levels. The front is anchored by Division I recruit DeWayne Carter (11 tackles for loss) and two-way starter Trey Madison.

At linebacker, careerleading tackler Grey Brancifort (138 tackles, seven for loss), West Virginia recruit Alex Morgan (four sacks), Michigan State-bound Trenton Gillison and Isaiah O’Connor (69 tackles, eight for loss) lead a strong contingent. Michigan State recruit Xavier Henderson (67 tackles, three interceptions), Division I prospect Jeremiah Wood (83 tackles), Terry Simuel (56 tackles) and Jaquwon

Crawford (four interceptions in the playoffs) form an imposing back end.

“I consider us to have 19 or 20 guys who actually start for us on the defensive side,” Lomonico said. “We’ve got so many quality athletes, we can mix and match them according to what we’re trying to achieve. Everybody complements each other so well.”

Henderson, the twotime Central District defensive player of the year and a four-year starter, said the Tigers’ depth and versatility is the strength of the unit.

“Everybody in various grade levels contribute in some way,” he said. “We move a lot of pieces around according to our

game plan and various situations. If there’s one word to describe our defense, I’d say it’s aggressive. The coaches want us to determine and establish the tone of the game, not the other way around.”

Lomonico, who has served as Central’s defensive coordinator during Sharrett’s 15-year tenure and also was a defensive coach under previous coach Jack Johnson, insisted that his job isn’t, in his words, “rocket science.” But rival coaches frequently refer to Lomonico as a genius game-planner.

“I just try to put kids in spots where they can excel or match up favorably against the player across from him,” he said. “The first thing I look at on film is how the (opposing) center runs and how we can negate him. We try to find ways to make our opponent onedimensional. That’s a challenge against teams at this level. To put it as simply as a I can, I want to break down what we can do to enable our guy to beat their guy.”

Neither Sharrett nor Lomonico would commit to calling this the best defense in program history.

“It’s certainly one of the best, though,” Lomonico said. “It’s been good enough to get us to where we are now. Ask me in another week or two.”