But Puckett, the Elks’ defensive coordinator, will remember so much more. He will talk about how his 11 responded to every challenge Springfield’s offense hit them with, how they dug in after each of the four turnovers the Elks’ offense committed and how his team consistently showed toughness through the ups and downs.
“This game is a microcosm of why I love Centerville High School, why I love Centerville football, why I moved my family here,” said Puckett, who previously coached at Centerville before being the head coach at Butler from 2018-20. “I wanted my family to be around it.”
Part of that family is junior linebacker Jackson Puckett. He led the Elks with eight tackles Friday, and his size of 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds reflects the undersized and blue-collar nature of the defense and what Coach Puckett likes so much about coaching at Centerville.
“We’re not the most athletic group, but we don’t back off,” the coach said. “We push ourselves, we challenge everybody, we challenge everything. It’s just attitude and effort and toughness, and it permeates throughout the entire athletic department.”
The Elks (7-1, 5-0) might have entered the game as favorites. But no Greater Western Ohio Conference game, even against a Springfield (3-5, 2-3) team having a down year, can be taken for granted. Every week, it seems, there is a so-called upset. Puckett’s defense made sure that didn’t happen after trailing 16-10 at halftime.
Coppock’s two interceptions, one by Division I prospect Reggie Powers, another by Evan Thompson and a Springfield fumble in the red zone were the responses the Elks made throughout the game to being put in some difficult situations.
“They played the run really well, they played good enough against the pass and they made their own turnovers as well,” head coach Brent Ullery said. “When your errors are being made up for by your defense, it’s going to wash out.”
During the week Puckett never stopped game planning. Coppock said he sent them information every night about new things to consider about Springfield’s offense. One of those revelations helped Coppock read the play that led to his touchdown.
“I’ve never been around a man that knows more football than him,” Coppock said. “We all trust him wholeheartedly. We know he knows more than any of us, and he’s forgotten more football than we will ever know.”
Puckett saw the game plan pay off like never before against the Wildcats.
“We were just attacking,” he said. “For the first time in a long time that we’ve played Springfield, we weren’t back on our heels. There’s just no quit in this group. They just keep coming and keep coming and keep coming.”
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