Triton's Dream Season Ends
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
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Down 14-0 at the half, the Trojans tied the game in the first 4:46 of the second half behind touchdown runs of one and nine yards by senior Chad Ulmer. But from there, Churubusco gradually got its ground game going, resulting in a 28-14 regional championship win.[[In-content Ad]]"The third quarter kind of showed their offensive explosiveness," Churubusco coach Lee Etzler said of Triton's two quick scores. "They have very good athletes. The two halfbacks (Adam Creighbaum and Reggie Davis), the fullback (Ulmer) and the quarterback (Troy McIntyre) - we were extremely concerned with them all week. They jumped on us there."
With their season, and prep careers, on the line at the half, Triton came out with renewed purpose in the second half.
"I just told them, 'This is it. You have to lay it all out on the line. If you lose, it's over,'"Triton coach Rodney Younis said of the Trojan's halftime talk. "Really, at that point, you can't scream at them. They understood the situation. They knew they had to step it up."
The Trojans did step up, with Ulmer carrying the ball nine times for 51 yards and two touchdowns in the third quarter.
"Chad came out and ran the ball hard, but our offensive line - they came out firing too," Younis said.
On the night, Ulmer ran for 65 yards on 14 carries, but it was Churubusco's 5-foot-11, 221-pound Brandon Hiatt that filled the stat book. The Eagles fullback ran for 172 yards on 27 carries, scoring the game's go-ahead touchdown with 8:08 remaining.
"We battled," Younis said. "But then, at the end, the Hiatt kid is a hoss. He wore us down."
In the fourth quarter, Etzler went to his big fullback 16 times, as he ate up 109 yards on the ground. Of those 16 carries, Hiatt had runs of 17, 16, 11, 10, 13 and 12 yards, wearing down the Trojans and deflating their morale.
In their first-ever regional game, Triton appeared to be overmatched in the first half, compiling just 38 yards of total offense. Compounding the problem were penalties, two of which were of the pass interference variety, which almost directly led to Churubusco's first score.
With the two teams still feeling each other out midway through the first quater, McIntyre found Davis on an apparent third-down-and-eight conversion. On top of gaining first-down yardage, Davis found open field, taking the ball all the way down to the Eagles' 1. But the joy quicklyturned sour when a flag was thrown for offensive pass interference, forcing the Trojans to punt on fourth-and-23.
On Churubusco's ensuing possession, Triton was whistled for defensive pass interference on the first play, giving the Eagles the ball at the Triton 33-yard line. On first-and-10, Eagles quarterback Cameron Amber found Corey Richards for a 33-yard touchdown strike, putting Triton in an early hole.
"Those (penalties) didn't help us any, but we had plenty of time to overcome those," Younis said.
"We came out flat, but you can't take anything away from Churubusco," the Triton coach added. "They were fast and they were physical off the line. Unfortunately, it took us about a half to get going."
In the end, Triton just got started a little too late, putting an end to a big season for the squad.
"It hurts, and it should hurt right now, but in a week or two, we're going to be able to reflect back on this season," Younis said. "We had a lot of great things go our way this year. First time beating Bremen in 33 years and then, of course, winning the first-ever sectional title. I told our underclassmen, 'From here on out, this is our expectation.' That's how you build tradition. It starts somewhere, and now we build on it."
Down 14-0 at the half, the Trojans tied the game in the first 4:46 of the second half behind touchdown runs of one and nine yards by senior Chad Ulmer. But from there, Churubusco gradually got its ground game going, resulting in a 28-14 regional championship win.[[In-content Ad]]"The third quarter kind of showed their offensive explosiveness," Churubusco coach Lee Etzler said of Triton's two quick scores. "They have very good athletes. The two halfbacks (Adam Creighbaum and Reggie Davis), the fullback (Ulmer) and the quarterback (Troy McIntyre) - we were extremely concerned with them all week. They jumped on us there."
With their season, and prep careers, on the line at the half, Triton came out with renewed purpose in the second half.
"I just told them, 'This is it. You have to lay it all out on the line. If you lose, it's over,'"Triton coach Rodney Younis said of the Trojan's halftime talk. "Really, at that point, you can't scream at them. They understood the situation. They knew they had to step it up."
The Trojans did step up, with Ulmer carrying the ball nine times for 51 yards and two touchdowns in the third quarter.
"Chad came out and ran the ball hard, but our offensive line - they came out firing too," Younis said.
On the night, Ulmer ran for 65 yards on 14 carries, but it was Churubusco's 5-foot-11, 221-pound Brandon Hiatt that filled the stat book. The Eagles fullback ran for 172 yards on 27 carries, scoring the game's go-ahead touchdown with 8:08 remaining.
"We battled," Younis said. "But then, at the end, the Hiatt kid is a hoss. He wore us down."
In the fourth quarter, Etzler went to his big fullback 16 times, as he ate up 109 yards on the ground. Of those 16 carries, Hiatt had runs of 17, 16, 11, 10, 13 and 12 yards, wearing down the Trojans and deflating their morale.
In their first-ever regional game, Triton appeared to be overmatched in the first half, compiling just 38 yards of total offense. Compounding the problem were penalties, two of which were of the pass interference variety, which almost directly led to Churubusco's first score.
With the two teams still feeling each other out midway through the first quater, McIntyre found Davis on an apparent third-down-and-eight conversion. On top of gaining first-down yardage, Davis found open field, taking the ball all the way down to the Eagles' 1. But the joy quicklyturned sour when a flag was thrown for offensive pass interference, forcing the Trojans to punt on fourth-and-23.
On Churubusco's ensuing possession, Triton was whistled for defensive pass interference on the first play, giving the Eagles the ball at the Triton 33-yard line. On first-and-10, Eagles quarterback Cameron Amber found Corey Richards for a 33-yard touchdown strike, putting Triton in an early hole.
"Those (penalties) didn't help us any, but we had plenty of time to overcome those," Younis said.
"We came out flat, but you can't take anything away from Churubusco," the Triton coach added. "They were fast and they were physical off the line. Unfortunately, it took us about a half to get going."
In the end, Triton just got started a little too late, putting an end to a big season for the squad.
"It hurts, and it should hurt right now, but in a week or two, we're going to be able to reflect back on this season," Younis said. "We had a lot of great things go our way this year. First time beating Bremen in 33 years and then, of course, winning the first-ever sectional title. I told our underclassmen, 'From here on out, this is our expectation.' That's how you build tradition. It starts somewhere, and now we build on it."
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