Trojans No Match For Bremen Lions
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
After fumbling on its first possession, Bremen (2-2, 1-1 Northern State Conference) responded with touchdowns on three of its next four first-quarter possessions, leading 21-0 after one quarter.
Triton (1-3, 0-2 NSC) cut the lead to 21-7 following a 90-yard interception return for a touchdown by senior Jayden Mosier, but that was its last score in a 52-7 conference loss.
“Like I told the guys, you can’t take anything away from (Bremen),” Triton coach John Johns said. “They’re pretty darn good and they’re going to win a bunch of football games. It just seemed at times we were unsure of ourselves. It shouldn’t be that way. We have a pretty good offensive line. They’re young. Across the board, we’re pretty young. We just made mistakes. We got to the point where we were worried about making the wrong decision and that kept us from doing our job. Part of that is just learning. These guys are going to keep getting better.”
Triton’s offense struggled throughout, generating just 45 total yards, including negative-eight yards rushing, but Bremen didn’t have that problem.
On the ground, Bremen rushed for 202 yards, and senior quarterback Kai Slough completed 7 of 11 pass attempts for 135 yards and three touchdowns, with all three scores coming in the opening quarter.
Slough’s favorite target was senior Ryan Zellmer, who caught five balls for 111 yards and two touchdowns.
Despite the good performances from his seniors, Bremen coach Bob Holmes was most impressed with freshman running back Grant Klockow, who ran for 76 yards and a score on 11 carries in his first varsity start.
“This was his first game starting and he did an outstanding job,” Holmes said of the 5-foot-9, 134-pound running back. “We expect those things out of Zellmer and Slough. We have high expectations here and we ask them to compete at a very high level.”
In all, Bremen had four running backs tally at least 32 yards, and only had one running back had carries in both the first and second half, that being Klockow with one rush for zero yards on Bremen’s first play of the second half.
Opening the season at 1-2, the Class 2A Lions had fallen to Class 4A Plymouth (34-13) and Class 4A No. 5 New Prairie (27-7), but had taken down Class 3A Tippecanoe Valley (22-7).
Playing the larger schools may not have helped with his team’s record, but Holmes was pleased with the lessons learned.
“The front part of our schedule is so tough,” he said. “We started out 1-2 and our two losses are to two 4A teams, but there’s a reason we play those guys early in the season – it helps us get better. I thought we came out tonight and executed a very good game plan. The kids did an outstanding job.”
On the flip side, the Class 1A Trojans had only played similar sized teams, with Bremen being the first team in a higher class.
“When you’re playing up against guys that are that good and have that many reps of experience on you, sometimes you take a little bit of a beating,” Johns said.
Highlights for the Trojans were sophomore Jeremy Jones, who ran for 62 yards on 11 carries, as well as Mosier’s long interception return.
“He got depth and was sitting back behind the receiver,” Johns said of Mosier’s pick. “He just made a good play. We had just pulled him off (the field) a couple reps before that to remind him to get depth.
“He’s made a lot of plays for us and he’ll continue to make plays for us this year,” he added.
With the Bremen game behind them, the Trojans must now prepare for another tough NSC contest, hosting Class 3A John Glenn Friday night.
“You never change throughout the season,” Johns said. “Your practice schedule gets made, you go back and watch the tape. We sit down and decide what we need to do for the team we’re getting ready to play and (Glenn’s) a good team too.
“The most important thing is to repair the mentality of the kids at this point,” he added. “I think they feel like they’ve let me down, they’ve let themselves down. They didn’t let me down. I just want them to understand how good they are and how good they can be. That’s one of the things we’ll do more than anything. Just repair our kids’ mentality to let them know how well they can play this game.”
BREMEN 52, TRITON 7
T 0 7 0 0 — 7
B 21 14 14 3 — 52
T B
1st downs 6 14
Rushing yds -8 202
Passing yds 53 135
Comp-Att-Int 7-17-1 7-11-1
Total yds 45 337
Fumbles/lost 5/2 1/1
Penalties/yds 5/30.5 4/40
Punts/avg 5/34.4 1/44
First Quarter
B – Kai Slough 17 pass to Ryan Zellmer (Lucas Schlarb kick) 7:00, 7-0
B – Slough 15 pass to Jacob Bennitt (Schlarb kick) 4:59, 14-0
B – Slough 31 pass to Zellmer (Schlarb kick) 0:00, 21-0
Second Quarter
T – Jayden Mosier 90 interception return (Josey Farmwald kick) 9:25, 21-7
B – Josh Fuchs 1 run (Schlarb kick) 4:32, 28-7
B – Grant Klockow 3 run (Schlarb kick) 2:03, 35-7
Third Quarter
B – Zellmer 7 run (Schlarb kick) 4:11, 42-7
B – Evan Wilson 4 run (Schlarb kick) 2:07, 49-7
Fourth Quarter
B – Schlarb 36 field goal 10:35, 52-7
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Bremen, Klockow 11-76, Fuchs 7-57, Jon Stoller 6-32, Wilson 11-32, Slough 1-5, Zellmer 2-3, Zach Campbell 2-3, Matt Box 1-(-6); Triton, Jeremy Jones 11-62, Mosier 1-0, Cole Creighbaum 5-(-18), Grant Stichter 14-(-49).
Passing — Bremen, Slough 7-11, 135 yds, 3 TDs, INT; Triton, Stichter 7-16, 53 yds, INT; Creighbaum 0-1.
Receiving — Bremen, Zellmer 5-111, Bennitt 2-24; Triton, Creighbaum 4-27, Mosier 2-17, Farmwald 1-9.[[In-content Ad]]
After fumbling on its first possession, Bremen (2-2, 1-1 Northern State Conference) responded with touchdowns on three of its next four first-quarter possessions, leading 21-0 after one quarter.
Triton (1-3, 0-2 NSC) cut the lead to 21-7 following a 90-yard interception return for a touchdown by senior Jayden Mosier, but that was its last score in a 52-7 conference loss.
“Like I told the guys, you can’t take anything away from (Bremen),” Triton coach John Johns said. “They’re pretty darn good and they’re going to win a bunch of football games. It just seemed at times we were unsure of ourselves. It shouldn’t be that way. We have a pretty good offensive line. They’re young. Across the board, we’re pretty young. We just made mistakes. We got to the point where we were worried about making the wrong decision and that kept us from doing our job. Part of that is just learning. These guys are going to keep getting better.”
Triton’s offense struggled throughout, generating just 45 total yards, including negative-eight yards rushing, but Bremen didn’t have that problem.
On the ground, Bremen rushed for 202 yards, and senior quarterback Kai Slough completed 7 of 11 pass attempts for 135 yards and three touchdowns, with all three scores coming in the opening quarter.
Slough’s favorite target was senior Ryan Zellmer, who caught five balls for 111 yards and two touchdowns.
Despite the good performances from his seniors, Bremen coach Bob Holmes was most impressed with freshman running back Grant Klockow, who ran for 76 yards and a score on 11 carries in his first varsity start.
“This was his first game starting and he did an outstanding job,” Holmes said of the 5-foot-9, 134-pound running back. “We expect those things out of Zellmer and Slough. We have high expectations here and we ask them to compete at a very high level.”
In all, Bremen had four running backs tally at least 32 yards, and only had one running back had carries in both the first and second half, that being Klockow with one rush for zero yards on Bremen’s first play of the second half.
Opening the season at 1-2, the Class 2A Lions had fallen to Class 4A Plymouth (34-13) and Class 4A No. 5 New Prairie (27-7), but had taken down Class 3A Tippecanoe Valley (22-7).
Playing the larger schools may not have helped with his team’s record, but Holmes was pleased with the lessons learned.
“The front part of our schedule is so tough,” he said. “We started out 1-2 and our two losses are to two 4A teams, but there’s a reason we play those guys early in the season – it helps us get better. I thought we came out tonight and executed a very good game plan. The kids did an outstanding job.”
On the flip side, the Class 1A Trojans had only played similar sized teams, with Bremen being the first team in a higher class.
“When you’re playing up against guys that are that good and have that many reps of experience on you, sometimes you take a little bit of a beating,” Johns said.
Highlights for the Trojans were sophomore Jeremy Jones, who ran for 62 yards on 11 carries, as well as Mosier’s long interception return.
“He got depth and was sitting back behind the receiver,” Johns said of Mosier’s pick. “He just made a good play. We had just pulled him off (the field) a couple reps before that to remind him to get depth.
“He’s made a lot of plays for us and he’ll continue to make plays for us this year,” he added.
With the Bremen game behind them, the Trojans must now prepare for another tough NSC contest, hosting Class 3A John Glenn Friday night.
“You never change throughout the season,” Johns said. “Your practice schedule gets made, you go back and watch the tape. We sit down and decide what we need to do for the team we’re getting ready to play and (Glenn’s) a good team too.
“The most important thing is to repair the mentality of the kids at this point,” he added. “I think they feel like they’ve let me down, they’ve let themselves down. They didn’t let me down. I just want them to understand how good they are and how good they can be. That’s one of the things we’ll do more than anything. Just repair our kids’ mentality to let them know how well they can play this game.”
BREMEN 52, TRITON 7
T 0 7 0 0 — 7
B 21 14 14 3 — 52
T B
1st downs 6 14
Rushing yds -8 202
Passing yds 53 135
Comp-Att-Int 7-17-1 7-11-1
Total yds 45 337
Fumbles/lost 5/2 1/1
Penalties/yds 5/30.5 4/40
Punts/avg 5/34.4 1/44
First Quarter
B – Kai Slough 17 pass to Ryan Zellmer (Lucas Schlarb kick) 7:00, 7-0
B – Slough 15 pass to Jacob Bennitt (Schlarb kick) 4:59, 14-0
B – Slough 31 pass to Zellmer (Schlarb kick) 0:00, 21-0
Second Quarter
T – Jayden Mosier 90 interception return (Josey Farmwald kick) 9:25, 21-7
B – Josh Fuchs 1 run (Schlarb kick) 4:32, 28-7
B – Grant Klockow 3 run (Schlarb kick) 2:03, 35-7
Third Quarter
B – Zellmer 7 run (Schlarb kick) 4:11, 42-7
B – Evan Wilson 4 run (Schlarb kick) 2:07, 49-7
Fourth Quarter
B – Schlarb 36 field goal 10:35, 52-7
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing — Bremen, Klockow 11-76, Fuchs 7-57, Jon Stoller 6-32, Wilson 11-32, Slough 1-5, Zellmer 2-3, Zach Campbell 2-3, Matt Box 1-(-6); Triton, Jeremy Jones 11-62, Mosier 1-0, Cole Creighbaum 5-(-18), Grant Stichter 14-(-49).
Passing — Bremen, Slough 7-11, 135 yds, 3 TDs, INT; Triton, Stichter 7-16, 53 yds, INT; Creighbaum 0-1.
Receiving — Bremen, Zellmer 5-111, Bennitt 2-24; Triton, Creighbaum 4-27, Mosier 2-17, Farmwald 1-9.[[In-content Ad]]
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092