“I’ve studied some really great coaches, and everyone trends in the same direction of you have to be improving or else you can’t maintain your peak long enough,” said Ullery, a former Elk player who was a walk-on receiver at Ohio State from 2003-07 when the Buckeyes won three Big Ten championships and appeared in two BCS National Championship games under coach Jim Tressel.
“Coach Tressel always said you need to be peaking in November,” Ullery said. “Your best football’s gonna be played in November. Of course, that was his roundabout way of saying you gotta beat The Team Up North (Michigan), and you gotta win the Big Ten to give yourself a chance to make the BCS at the time, but I believe it.”
Ullery’s team beat archrival Wayne in the Division I, Region 2 final last week in a way that would make Tressel proud. The Elks did not generate a lot of offense, but they won the turnover battle and enjoyed much better field position thanks in no small part to the work of punter Leland Gantz, who pinned the powerful Warriors offense inside the 20 four times and boomed a 56-yarder while averaging 44.2 yards per punt.
Centerville started the season 2-3, but the Elks (11-3) have won nine in a row entering a Division I state semifinal matchup with Cincinnati Moeller on Friday night at Princeton High School in Cincinnati.
Ullery, who has been the head coach at CHS since 2017, credited a tough early-season schedule that included a win over Lakota East and losses to Cincinnati St. Xavier and Carmel, Ind., for helping his young squad figure out how it needed to improve — a luxury more easily afforded in the current expanded playoff format.
“It allows you that freedom of scheduling up and putting teams on our schedule that are definitely gonna show us our weaknesses and try to get better after that, so I do think there’s a little less pressure to win all your games and less pressure to peak and maintain that year round as opposed to how it used to be like in the ‘80s and ‘90s,” Ullery said.
Perennial powerhouse Moeller is testing the theory maintaining excellence from start to finish is not possible.
The nine-time state champion Crusaders, who were knocked out of the playoffs by Springfield each of the last three seasons, finished No. 2 in the Associated Press Division I state poll.
They are 13-1 with their only loss in overtime to Mallard Creek, N.C., in Week 4.
Coach Bert Bathiany’s team has nine players who earned at least honorable mention All-Southwest District, a group led by quarterback Matt Ponatoski.
A 6-foot-1, 195-pound junior, Ponatoski has 3,644 passing yards with 50 touchdown passes and two interceptions on the season.
“He’s got a really great release. He’s quick. He makes great decisions. He pushes the ball downfield. He’s impressive to watch, very impressive,” Ullery said. “I love his arm strength and love kind of his moxie in the pocket and everything. You can tell he’s confident in his receivers and in his route concepts and everything.”
His top two targets, 6-3 seniors Matt Fogler and Jovan Love, both made the all-district first team while offensive lineman Titus Land made the second team. The defense is headlined by linemen Christian Harris and Jonah Hayes.
“I think they’ve got great players all over the defense,” Ullery said. “It does look like one of their major strengths is their defensive line. They’re good. They’re fast off the ball, they have great technique. You can tell they’re extremely well-coached.
“They’re just a a very stout defense. I mean you can tell that not only are they gifted talent-wise, but they’re smart. They know exactly what they’re doing in their scheme. They hit blitzes at the right angles. They hit gaps at the right angles. They match routes extremely well. They do a really good job.”
Behind all-district senior left tackle Kuol Kuol on offense and end Mason Keeley on defense, Centerville evolved into a defense-and-run-the-ball squad that won a share of the Greater Western Ohio Conference championship.
Shane Cole has thrown for 1,410 yards and run for 853 while fellow junior Parker Johnson has 1,266 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns on the ground.
Keeley has 18 tackles for loss and seven sacks while junior linebacker Lucas Mullinger has 15.5 tackles for loss and 4 1/2 sacks, senior linebacker Jacob Taylor has 12 tackles for loss and six sacks and senior linebacker Jackson Puckett has 10 tackles for loss.
They will be trying to improve Centerville’s all-time record against Moeller to 3-5. The Elks knocked off the Crusaders in the regional quarterfinals in 2010, and they achieved perhaps the most famous win in school history when they shocked the nation’s top-ranked team 10-7 in the first round in 1984.
That was one of two years the Elks made the state semifinals. The other was 1991 when they beat Columbus Brookhaven then lost to Cleveland St. Ignatius in the championship game.
The winner Friday night will face three-time defending state champion Lakewood St. Edward or Powell Olentangy Liberty in the Division I state championship game at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 6, in Canton.
Also in action Friday night are West Liberty-Salem, Coldwater and Marion Local.
The Tigers (13-1) will face 13-1 Ironton in Chillicothe in a Division V semifinal while the 13-1 Cavaliers will face Bluffton (13-1) in Wapakoneta in Division VI.
Three-time defending state champ Marion Local will take on fellow unbeaten Columbus Grove at Lima Spartan Stadium in Division VII.
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