WEST SIDE — The Ben Davis Giants are one of four teams preparing to play in this Friday’s Class 6A Semi-State. After a 1-3 start nobody saw the traditional powerhouse playing this deep into the playoffs. They were 0-2 after losing to Brownsburg in a nail biter and then getting their doors blown off by Avon 41-17. In Week 3 they squeaked by Pike 35-34 before going down to Center Grove and getting the wake up call of their lives in a beat down 48-20.
That was the difference in their season according to Coach Jason Simmons. He told me on Tuesday in a phone interview that after that loss “For us it was time to start playing Ben Davis football or go find something else to do. Aw…you know…we talked a great deal to our guys about the standard they represent every time they take the field and the standard was set a long time ago by people that put that jersey on. It’s our responsibility for us to uphold that stand.”
He went on to say, “We have Ben Davis alum on staff that uphold that standard. Obviously we have players on our team that have parents that played for Ben Davis. So it was a matter of us embracing that standard everyday and taking a great deal of pride in it. That moment down on the south side got everybody’s attention.”
He went on to say, “From that point on we began practicing harder, preparing harder, playing harder and coaching harder and that’s allowed us to be in the position that were in right now.”
Ironically enough the Giants have to make that ride back to the south side for a chance to play for a state championship next week and it won’t be easy.
Most folks on the outside looking in thought that the M.I.C. was down because there wasn’t that one dominant team running the table. There was a four-way tie at the top holding the conference championship trophy. Carmel, North Central, Warren Central and Ben Davis all came through the fire battle tested with a piece of the title.
When I asked Simmons about that perception he had this to say, “The common theme that you heard in 6A was that 6A is wide open because the M.I.C.’s down. The M.I.C. wasn’t down. The M.I.C. just wasn’t flashy. In 2017 Ben Davis hung a 50 ball on everybody. Last year Warren rolled in and beat the brakes off of everybody and everybody thought it was flashy and cool. When you look at the 2019 version of the M.I.C. everybody has a good defense and everybody has a running back that had a chance to to exploit you. The M.I.C had really good defenses and really good running backs.”
Speaking of defenses and running backs the Giants had both this year and they’ve carried the kids from the west side to the semi-state. According to Simmons “We’ve got a really good defense and we’ve got Alijawon Hassel but nothing about that is flashy. There’s nothing about the M.I.C. that’s down it just looks different this year.”
The Ben Davis defensive line sets the tone for their entire team according to Simmons. “They allow everybody else to make plays.
When you look at our offense as our offensive line goes so goes our skill kids. It start with Trent [Gipson]. When Trent takes care of the football and he takes care of himself we’re a better offense. When he tries to do too much and tries to be flashy and turns the ball over it kills us and he knows that. There’s a lot of little things along the way that has allowed us to get better and we don’t want to be done yet either.”
Ben Davis goes into Center Grove this Friday with a ton of history and tradition on their shoulders. The standard is what the Giants will be playing against and not necessarily the Trojans. If they can play to the standard set by the history of their program they’ve got a chance to redeem themselves on the south side.
They also realize that they’ve got a blowout loss in Week 4 to overcome and it won’t be easy. Playing on the road makes it tough but the renewed Ben Davis team that’s on a four game win streak looks to be up for the challenge. It should be a good one to see and I’ll be front and center with my eye balls on it. In my Terrell Owens voice, “Get Ya Popcorn Ready.” Stop me when I start lyin’!
