Brogan Damron continued to grind to become the starting center for Lake Central in his senior season.
He worked and paid his dues. He remained patient. He was the left tackle on the freshman team, a varsity role player on the defensive line as a sophomore and the backup center last season.
Now Brogan Damron’s time has arrived.
“It’s awesome,” he said. “Love it. I just want to be in.”
Making it even sweeter for the 6-foot, 285-pound Brogan Damron, he has earned the opportunity under the watchful eye of his father, Pat, Lake Central’s offensive line coach.
“I am proud of that,” Pat Damron said. “But what I’m more proud of, he’s a good person. His grades are good. He’s looking to go to college next year. That’s what makes me the most proud. Football, as I’ve learned, it’s temporary. But football teaches kids great lessons in life.”
Pat Damron would know. He played at T.F. South in Illinois when fellow alumnus Phil Mason, who is Griffith’s coach, was on the staff, and he was an offensive guard at Missouri State. Pat Damron later was an assistant under Mason at Clark and Wheeler.
Pat Damron is in his sixth season at Lake Central, with the last three under coach Rick Good, and he is the lone holdover from the previous regime. Good called him “a very vital member” of his staff.
“Pat’s been waiting for this,” Good said. “He’s been coaching other people’s kids for a long time. Now he’s coaching his own. He’s always been the life of the party. … He is the good-time guy. He keeps everybody up.”
Pat Damron’s spirits have been lifted even higher as he has watched Brogan flourish.
“I really was here primarily because I wanted to see him through it,” Pat Damron said. “My attitude has always been, if somebody’s going to coach, I want to be the one coaching because I’ve played and I’ve done it.”
For Brogan Damron, his football career will end when this season ends. With a broad smile on his face, he makes no bones about his status as the second-best athlete in the family behind his sister Tatumn, a 2021 Lake Central graduate who was the starting goalkeeper for three years and is in her second season as the No. 1 at Truman State.
Brogan Damron plans to double-major in finance and accounting. He has narrowed down his college choices to Indiana, with its Kelley School of Business; Marshall, as he has family ties to West Virginia and the school is building a new business program; and Arkansas, with its Sam M. Walton College of Business.
“Focus on schooling, get a job after, get that money,” Brogan Damron said.
He’s well on his way. He already had an internship with an accounting firm in Valparaiso this summer and gained valuable experience. His mother, Meghan, is the chief financial officer for Merrillville schools.
Along with his ability to crunch numbers, Brogan Damron also has a sharp sense of humor.
“He’s kind of the jester of the group. They have similar personalities,” Good said, referring to father and son. “They’re both just great guys.”
Brogan and Pat Damron typically get along well and are able to compartmentalize, they said.
“When we’re in the middle of everything, it seems like he’s just one of the kids,” Pat Damron said. “What I try to do, when we go home, we really don’t talk about football. We try to leave it here. Now there’s some days when we can’t. But for the most part, it’s been good.
“This group, I’ve seen all of these kids grow up together, and this is one of our most athletic groups we’ve had in a long time up front, certainly since I’ve been here.”
Lake Central (4-6), which last posted a winning record in 2014, hopes that offensive line can be a catalyst this season. The Indians also haven’t won a sectional game since 2014 but nearly upset Lafayette Jefferson in a Class 6A sectional opener before losing in overtime last year.
Brogan Damron knows that math as Lake Central begins the season at rival Munster on Friday, and he isn’t ready to settle for simply a record above .500.
“The team’s looking to be good,” he said. “We’re trying to win it all.”