Triton Fumbles Chance At Win
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Playing in the second round of Class 1A Sectional 33 in Culver, the Trojans (4-7) held a 13-6 lead midway through the third quarter, but allowed the Cavs (7-4) to take the win with fumbles on back-to-back possessions.[[In-content Ad]]"I'm so proud of our kids," Culver coach Andy Thomas said. "This is two weeks in a row where we've been down at halftime, and this week was probably worse. (Triton) had all the momentum. The kids didn't hang their heads. They showed a lot of character to defeat an outstanding football team."
Triton's first miscue came on its own 1-yard line, when senior Adam Creighbaum, who was playing quarterback, had the ball stripped in the end zone. Culver freshman Matt Hurford pounced on the ball, cutting the Triton lead to 13-12 after a failed two-point conversion with 7:18 left in the third.
"In a situation like that, he's trying to make a play," Triton coach Rodney Younis said of the play. "He's trying to make the big play, instead of just trying to get us out of the hole. You can't fault a kid for that. They did a good job of stripping it away and falling on the ball. That really gave them the momentum."
Compounding the problem, Triton fumbled again on the second play of its next possession, awarding the Cavs the ball at the Trojans' 47-yard line.
Instead of playing it conservative, Culver took one of the night's few vertical throws down the field, with freshman quarterback Collin Stevens finding junior Sam Hendrickson for a 42-yard gain to the 5-yard line.
"He did a nice job of not trying to do too much with it, he just tried to make the catch," Thomas said. "We had outstanding protection on that - one of the few times. They were blitzing so much, but the offensive line did a good job of giving (Stevens) time to make the play for us."
Two plays later, Stevens plunged the ball in from a yard out, giving Culver the 20-13 lead following a successful two-point conversion with 5:21 to play in the third.
The Trojans had another opportunity to score in the fourth quarter, marching from the 50-yard line to the 5, but couldn't get the ball in on three tries, and that would be the Trojans last, best shot.
Coming into the game, each team featured an outstanding running back with Creighbaum running for the Trojans and junior Michael Salary carrying the load for the Cavs.
When it was all said and done, Creighbaum got the best of the individual battle, picking up 203 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries, but Salary's 175 yards and a score on 30 attempts led to the team win.
"It was fun to watch," Younis said. "Obviously, as a coach on the losing end, that's hard to swallow. (Salary's) an amazing player. I wish he'd be graduating, but he's only a junior."
Younis' player will be graduating, but not after having a great career at Triton High School.
After coming of age as a sophomore on Triton's first-ever sectional team, he rushed for 1,500 yards on last year's sectional-title winning and had another big year as a senior, running for 1,240 yards.
"Our first sectional title we won when he was a sophomore - that's when we really took off," Younis said of the 2008 Times-Union Offensive Player of the Year. "He really started helping us on the outside. We had a good combination of quarterback and fullback, then all of the sudden, Adam came on as a sophomore and really helped us. Last year, he was a big part of our offense and he was again this year."
In the first half Friday, it appeared Creighbaum would carry his team to the win, picking up 129 yards and two scores, including a lunging touchdown with only 10 seconds remaining, but Culver proved to have too much over a 48-minute span.
"We were just fortunate to keep him out of the end zone in the second half," Thomas said. "We tell our kids all the time to keep flying around and good things will happen. I think that's what happened tonight. We made some mistakes early - not keeping containment on the sweep they were running.
"That Creighbaum, he is a special kid," the Culver coach added. "He is a once over 10 years or 20 years kind of kid. They have a lot of good kids that played hard. It's just, we were holding our breath each time he got the ball."
While Culver was holding its breath in anticipation of Creighbaum, Triton also hit the Cavs with junior Neil Robinson, who got 60 yards on 13 carries, while senior Ethan Rutherford also picked up 23 yards on four carries.
Following back-to-back sectional championships, expectations have risen at Triton, but Younis would be the first to admit that the better team may be moving on to the sectional championship at Whiting this Friday at 7 p.m.
"Before the season started, I thought Culver would be one of the favorites (to win the sectional)," he said. "I was proud of our guys. Obviously, you'd like to win every game, but that's not how it usually works."
Playing in the second round of Class 1A Sectional 33 in Culver, the Trojans (4-7) held a 13-6 lead midway through the third quarter, but allowed the Cavs (7-4) to take the win with fumbles on back-to-back possessions.[[In-content Ad]]"I'm so proud of our kids," Culver coach Andy Thomas said. "This is two weeks in a row where we've been down at halftime, and this week was probably worse. (Triton) had all the momentum. The kids didn't hang their heads. They showed a lot of character to defeat an outstanding football team."
Triton's first miscue came on its own 1-yard line, when senior Adam Creighbaum, who was playing quarterback, had the ball stripped in the end zone. Culver freshman Matt Hurford pounced on the ball, cutting the Triton lead to 13-12 after a failed two-point conversion with 7:18 left in the third.
"In a situation like that, he's trying to make a play," Triton coach Rodney Younis said of the play. "He's trying to make the big play, instead of just trying to get us out of the hole. You can't fault a kid for that. They did a good job of stripping it away and falling on the ball. That really gave them the momentum."
Compounding the problem, Triton fumbled again on the second play of its next possession, awarding the Cavs the ball at the Trojans' 47-yard line.
Instead of playing it conservative, Culver took one of the night's few vertical throws down the field, with freshman quarterback Collin Stevens finding junior Sam Hendrickson for a 42-yard gain to the 5-yard line.
"He did a nice job of not trying to do too much with it, he just tried to make the catch," Thomas said. "We had outstanding protection on that - one of the few times. They were blitzing so much, but the offensive line did a good job of giving (Stevens) time to make the play for us."
Two plays later, Stevens plunged the ball in from a yard out, giving Culver the 20-13 lead following a successful two-point conversion with 5:21 to play in the third.
The Trojans had another opportunity to score in the fourth quarter, marching from the 50-yard line to the 5, but couldn't get the ball in on three tries, and that would be the Trojans last, best shot.
Coming into the game, each team featured an outstanding running back with Creighbaum running for the Trojans and junior Michael Salary carrying the load for the Cavs.
When it was all said and done, Creighbaum got the best of the individual battle, picking up 203 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries, but Salary's 175 yards and a score on 30 attempts led to the team win.
"It was fun to watch," Younis said. "Obviously, as a coach on the losing end, that's hard to swallow. (Salary's) an amazing player. I wish he'd be graduating, but he's only a junior."
Younis' player will be graduating, but not after having a great career at Triton High School.
After coming of age as a sophomore on Triton's first-ever sectional team, he rushed for 1,500 yards on last year's sectional-title winning and had another big year as a senior, running for 1,240 yards.
"Our first sectional title we won when he was a sophomore - that's when we really took off," Younis said of the 2008 Times-Union Offensive Player of the Year. "He really started helping us on the outside. We had a good combination of quarterback and fullback, then all of the sudden, Adam came on as a sophomore and really helped us. Last year, he was a big part of our offense and he was again this year."
In the first half Friday, it appeared Creighbaum would carry his team to the win, picking up 129 yards and two scores, including a lunging touchdown with only 10 seconds remaining, but Culver proved to have too much over a 48-minute span.
"We were just fortunate to keep him out of the end zone in the second half," Thomas said. "We tell our kids all the time to keep flying around and good things will happen. I think that's what happened tonight. We made some mistakes early - not keeping containment on the sweep they were running.
"That Creighbaum, he is a special kid," the Culver coach added. "He is a once over 10 years or 20 years kind of kid. They have a lot of good kids that played hard. It's just, we were holding our breath each time he got the ball."
While Culver was holding its breath in anticipation of Creighbaum, Triton also hit the Cavs with junior Neil Robinson, who got 60 yards on 13 carries, while senior Ethan Rutherford also picked up 23 yards on four carries.
Following back-to-back sectional championships, expectations have risen at Triton, but Younis would be the first to admit that the better team may be moving on to the sectional championship at Whiting this Friday at 7 p.m.
"Before the season started, I thought Culver would be one of the favorites (to win the sectional)," he said. "I was proud of our guys. Obviously, you'd like to win every game, but that's not how it usually works."
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