Soon after celebrating their third straight undefeated state championship, Central Catholic's players realized how many of them won't be back next season.
The Knights could return 10 of the 22 starting spots from the Class A title victory against Scecina. That doesn't include junior offensive lineman Casey Bollock, who was injured late in the regular season and missed the state tournament.
However, among the departing are Purdue recruit Danny Anthrop, a two-way starter and special teams game-changer, two-year starting quarterback Austin Munn and the entire defensive line.
"It's hard to lose those guys because we've grown up playing with them for a while," junior fullback Brad Schrader said. "Next year, the upcoming senior class will have to take charge. They'll have to take care of business, too, and carry on the tradition."
No one can truly replace Anthrop, but CC coach Kevin O'Shea has spoken highly of sophomore wingback Joe Smith. He missed a large portion of the season due to injury.
The other wingback spot could also be vacated if Jake Churchill is moved to quarterback. But Schrader will be a third-year starter and could be featured more out of the backfield.
The new quarterback will inherit an established deep threat in Timmy Mills. Bollock, Matt Thieme and Patrick Mackey can all bring starting experience back to the offensive line. Whatever young players step up will have benefited from the extra practice and playing time the Knights earned by advancing deep in the state tournament.
"These extra practices do help," O'Shea said. "We're able to get a gauge on where we're at and where we might need to go."
The defense graduates six starters, and possibly loses a seventh if Churchill focuses on quarterback. But three starting juniors return at linebacker: leading tackler Ross Corcoran, Andrew Hubertz and Sam Kochert.
Another junior, Will Jones, started opposite Churchill at cornerback.
That 16-member junior class has never experienced a varsity football loss, which should provide plenty of offseason motivation. Another undefeated season, a tougher task than ever now that CC has returned to the Hoosier Conference, would extend the Knights' winning streak to 60 games and tie Bloomington's state record set from 1967-73.
"The classes before us really set the table," said Hubertz, who recalled that his last loss came as a freshman in a JV game against Roncalli. "We're kind of used to being (in the state finals) now. It's becoming a standard at CC, winning state championships."
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