Nathan Hutchinson
RICHMOND — The Indians didn’t win a game during the regular season — and the vast majority of their losses were, well, rather lopsided.
Madison Central (0-8) really never even came close to claiming a victory. The Indians were outscored 281-95 and lost every game by a double-digit margin.
However, despite finishing as the only winless Class 6A team in Kentucky during the regular season, Central still has shot at a state title.
The Indians are set to take on Bryan Station (8-2) today in the opening round of the playoffs in Lexington.
Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. Live, in-game updates will be available at twitter.com/RichmondRSports.
“It’s just like a new season,” Central coach Kenny Turner said. “We’ve had real good practices this week. The kids have worked real hard and been real loose. That’s just the mental approach we are going to take. We are just going to see what happens.”
The Indians struggled badly on both sides of the ball during the regular season, but especially on offense. They scored more than 20 points just once and in eight games held a lead only once — and that was for just 3:11.
Senior John Moncrief and junior Nick Ford have split time at quarterback, but both have been ineffective at times and both have dealt with injury problems.
Ford broke his hand prior to the start of the season and missed the first three games. Moncrief has been banged up for most of the year.
In the regular-season finale two weeks ago against Clark County, Ford was six-of-10 for 28 yards and Moncrief was one-of-four for 11 yards and had an interception.
“They will both still play,” Turner said of the Central QBs. “It will just depend on what is going on. Nick also starts on defense. We are going to have to use both of them.”
After falling to Clark County on Oct. 23, the Indians did not play last Friday.
Essentially given an extra week to prepare for the playoffs, the Central coaching staff didn’t try to shake things up too much.
For the most part, the focus remained on fundamentals and execution.
“If anything we got more basic,” Turner said. “We really watered things down and get real basic, so whatever we are going to try to do we are going to try to do it well.”
Still, the Indians might throw some different looks at Station, especially on offense.
The gameplan will likely include more sets with an empty backfield and more multi-receiver formations.
Sophomore linebacker Jon Floyd has missed a couple of games with a leg injury, but he should be back in the line-up against the Defenders.
Led by Tevin McCaden, Bryan Station has put together a very impressive season. The Defenders opened the season with five-straight wins before losing to Scott County and Henry Clay.
Station heads into the playoffs on a three-game winning streak, including a 25-6 win last week on the road over North Hardin.
McCaden has rushed for 2,004 yards on 237 carries despite playing in just nine games and being slowed by an ankle injury. He has also scored 26 rushing touchdowns this season.
“He’s an excellent runner,” Turner said of McCaden. “He’s strong. He’s fast. He’s a real good back.”
Station and Central have not played since 2004 — a 42-14 Indian win in Richmond.
