Smithson Valley caught the eye of Centennial’ s coach for not having the best athletes on the field, but still going out and being the top team. Meyer believes Centennial is in a similar position as the defending champs and could learn a lot from how they practice.

Continuing to be different in a lot of things they do, the Spartans are the sleepers in a newly-formed District 8-5A with powerhouses of high school football. DeSoto, Cedar Hill, Lancaster and Midlothian all look to break the 12-year streak of Centennial making the playoffs, but Adrion and his teammates aren’ t shying away from thinking beyond a simple playoff spot.“ The ceiling is really high. I think we should dominate this year,” Adrion said. Going against some of the best prospects in the country, the Spartans are excited to showcase themselves and prove they’ re not unranked prospects themselves.

The motto for the Spartans in 2026 is G. A. T. A.— Get after their a **.

Offense

Since the end of the 2025 season, the Spartans have not run anything under center all offseason. Meaning, the flexbone offense is gone and a spread formation can finally be installed like Meyer wanted when he first took over.

“ We’ re light years ahead of where we were,” said Meyer.

A young offensive line is the only unit of concern on paper for the Spartans, but Adrion assured that the group has looked good over the summer.

As long as Adrion can get the ball out, there’ s plenty of potential for the wide

receiver corps to be one of the best in the County. Using Deaton, whether that’ s getting him the ball or using him as a decoy, represents what the Spartans will do offensively. Other names to look for are a late addition to varsity last year, Sirr-kellen McClendon and JV call-up BJ Reece.

Defense Remaining in the unique 3-high safety set, Centennial brings six returners back on defense. Deaton expects dominance from a linebacker group highlighted by Garcia and recent transfer Aston Whiteside.

Feeling a connection during summer workouts, Garcia and Deaton sense the miscommunication issues are in the past and the entire group is in unison for a bounce-back year in 2026.

A key ingredient to Centennial’ s success this season is the play-making ability on special teams. Meyer recalled multiple wins last year stemming from a blocked field goal or extra point. Although many high school teams don’ t spend a lot of time on the third facet of their game, Meyer believes it’ s vital to his team’ s ability to win.

johnson county gridiron 2026 13

WR Sirr-kellen McClendon WR BJ Reece WR / SS Jaxson Deaton

Week 4 vs DeSoto( Sept. 18)