BOURBON - The expectations were high, maybe too high.

The fans came out in droves to see their new-look Triton Trojans. This was the Triton football team with the winning record. Maybe the players, fans and coaches looked past Northfield and Culver Community to a date with Bremen. After all, Triton defeated Culver last year and only lost to Northfield in overtime.

But the expectations came crashing down Friday night in Bourbon. After taking an early 6-0 lead over Northfield, the Triton offense came to a screeching halt and the Norsemen had just enough offense to win 9-6.

Although it won't destroy this team, maybe it will remind everyone that this Triton program is still taking baby steps toward respectability in the Northern State Conference.

No one will confuse Triton with a top 10 team yet, but neither will the team be seen as a walkover anymore. Despite the loss, the Triton football team continues to improve and can only gain confidence from knowing that they were so close to going 2-0.

"We had a little drive going there in the fourth quarter," head coach Rod Wildman said. "We were down to the 37-yard line, and we fumbled the snap. Any time you fumble the snap it will kill you. If the offense could have scored one more time, we would have won the ball game. Just giving up nine points is great."

Tackling was a major problem for Wildman's team. Numerous times, Northfield runners would be hit early and break a tackle or two, especially on key third and fourth down plays.

"We didn't come up with the big tackles when we needed it," Wildman said. "We had a lot of missed tackles and one-arm tackles. Things like that where they would break a tackle and get five or six yards and the first down. It's a correctable problem. Tackling can be developed. We're flying at them trying to get the big hit rather than wrapping them up. We're going to be tackling this week in practice."

Triton looked good early in the game.

Northfield opened the game with the ball at its own 22-yard line. After five running plays, the Norsemen were on the Triton 31-yard line. Then the Trojan defense stepped up. On a fourth-and-four, Sung Chin Kim fumbled the ball for a five-yard loss and a turnover on downs.

After Jason Disher rushed for six yards and Jack Hackworth added an 11-yard scamper, Justin Grubbs ran 25 yards on a misdirection play. At the 22-yard line, Nathan Setser threw a perfect pump fake on a screen and hit Nick Treber on a fade for a touchdown.

"We scored so quick," Wildman said. "Things went just like the game plan. It was just clicking. It took something out of us. I don't know if they thought that it was going to be easy or if they thought it was over. I don't what it was."

Triton played bend-but-don't-break defense the rest of the half. Northfield ended the half with 114 rushing yards to Triton's 68. The Norsemen had six first downs to Triton's three and held a four minute time of possession advantage, but still trailed 6-0 at the half.

In the third quarter, what looked like a momentum swing turned into Triton's downfall.

Northfield started from the Triton 15-yard line after recovering a botched punt attempt. On fourth-and-one from the six-yard line, Disher and Derek Gross stacked up Dennis Vigar to reclaim possession of the ball.

With the shadow of their own goal posts on their backs, the Trojans rushed three times without gaining a yard. On the ensuing punt attempt, Kim blocked the kick and it went through the back of the end zone for a safety to cut the lead to 6-2.

After the safety, Triton was forced to kick off from its own 20-yard line and Northfield got a solid return to the Trojan 31-yard line. After a five-yard gain, Vigar scored from 26 yards out and the extra point was good to put Northfield ahead 9-6.

Triton's best opportunity after that came early in the fourth quarter. On fourth and two from the 25-yard line, Setser fumbled the snap, and Northfield got the ball back on downs to seal the victory.

After throwing a solid game last week, Setser struggled to stay in the pocket. He completed just three passes. However, he threw the one touchdown and had no interceptions. Hackworth put in a solid effort, carrying the ball 19 times for 86 yards, a 4.5 average.

On defense, Mason Holloway played big in the first half, recording a sack, adding another tackle for a loss and breaking up a number of passes. In the second half, Disher helped with the big tackle at the six-yard line and added a tackle for a one-yard loss in the fourth quarter as Northfield tried to run some time off the clock.

Next week, Wildman will take his team to Culver Community.

Wildman, the former coach at Culver, looks forward to the game.

"It will be a lot of fun," Wildman said. "I've got a lot of friends there. There's a lot of good people there and a lot of the people I coached with and taught with are still there. I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully, we'll win." [[In-content Ad]]