INDIANAPOLIS — With a deep-belted yell worthy of sending an echo throughout Fountain County — or at least Veedersburg, Ind. — Fountain Central defensive coordinator Brian Moore caught the attention of everyone on the Mustangs’ practice field.

None of the members of Fountain Central’s stingy defense were being called out by their coach, and the commands weren’t the result of a lack of effort.

It was just one example of the intense nature of Fountain Central’s coaching staff that has spread throughout this year’s team.

“It just makes it a lot more fun,” senior lineman Coy Knecht said. “When he starts yelling like that, it’s in a very positive way. It just gets everybody hyped up and makes people start going crazy.”

And crazy is how the Mustangs’ defense has played throughout the 2009 campaign.

The Mustangs’ first team defense has allowed only eight touchdowns this season and has forced a total of 32 turnovers.

This year’s squad contends that Moore’s intensity, along with a renewed dedication, has led to a much more focused defensive effort.

Knecht pointed to the three letters, “B-F-S” (Bigger, Faster, Stronger) as one of the many reasons for this year’s improved defense.

“After we got in the weight room, things became a lot easier,” Knecht said. “We had 50 guys in the weight room from freshmen to seniors (during the offseason) and that helped out a lot.”

Team speed has allowed the Mustangs to fly to the ball, prevent big plays, and at times out-hustle their bigger and stronger opponents.

Beginning every contest with a solid effort has also helped greatly in the Mustangs’ success. Through 14 games, they have outscored their opponents 214-7 in the first quarter.

Without a relentless defensive effort, the numbers might be less favorable.

“Everybody’s been working really hard,” senior defensive back Ryan Carver said. “We gave up a few plays (in last week’s 42-14 semi-state win over Clinton Central), but we just believed in what coach Moore was teaching us and that has helped a lot. You’ve got to believe in what the coaches are teaching us.

“(Moore’s intensity) rubs off on us a lot. When he talks to us, I get goose bumps sometimes because he’s just great with his words. It makes me want to play harder for him and harder for the team because of what he says to us.”

But Moore would rather take little credit for the Mustangs’ stout defense, other than instilling in his players the idea of playing to their potential.

To him, and the athletes that buy into his defensive mindset, the success comes more from respecting the game and the effort they put forth every time they step onto the field.

“I’m not the only one that is intense,” Moore said. “We’ve got an intense coaching staff and we want our kids to take on our personalities a little bit. We coach this game with a love for the game and a respect for the game and with an intensity. Do everything you can to play as well and as hard as you can because to do anything different would be a disgrace to the game.

“You are doing a discredit to yourself, you’re doing a discredit to the game of football, and you are doing a discredit to your teammates and your coaches if you don’t do everything as hard as you can. We coach that way so the kids learn to play that way, and I think we have a coaching staff here that does that.

“They’re really enjoying learning the game defensively, and they’re doing a great job with it,” Moore said. “They are buying in to what coach (Rick) Malone and our coaching staff is selling. Because of that, we are having some success. It’s a lot of fun.”

So far, the formula has worked, and the Mustangs (14-0) will attempt to make it work for four more quarters as they take on the Lafayette Central Catholic Knights (14-0) in Friday’s Class A state championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. (Eastern).