LaVille Edges Triton In Sectional Thriller
November 4, 2017 at 6:25 a.m.
By Mark [email protected]
All season long, the Trojans have handled high points, dealt with the lowest of lows and found ways to win twice the number of games as the previous two seasons combined.
So for it all to come to an end in a 10-7 Class 1A Sectional 41 loss at LaVille, there’s a little extra sting.
Triton had a chance late in the game it normally wouldn’t have. LaVille needed one more first down to run out the clock, but Kolby Watts fumbled the ball and the Trojans recovered at the Lancer 18 with 1:51 left.
Three plays later, Brandon Lenker was lined up for a 30-yard game-tying field goal. He had missed from the same distance just a minute earlier.
LaVille called timeout to ice the kicker, and that was long enough for Trojan coach Ron Brown and his staff to decide to go for the win.
Quarterback/holder James “Bo” Snyder took the snap, got up, rolled a few steps to his right and tossed a high, arcing pass that resembled the victorious ending in a movie. But the ball landed in the end zone with no Trojans within 15 yards of it.
“I trust the kids to make plays to win the game,” said Brown. “I did it again. Either you win with your kids or you lose with your kids, and either you trust them or you don’t. I trust my kids, and that’s what happened there. We were going to do what we thought would be open, and it didn’t work out.
“They were pressing and bringing everyone up. We thought we could just drop it over the top, no big deal.”
Snyder was playing with an injured knee that severely limited his mobility. But he was able to loft a pass in the third quarter that Ethan Berry could run under, catch and scoot into the end zone from 47 yards out to give Triton a 7-3 lead.
The junior QB wasn’t the only one hurting, according to Brown.
“We have a lot of kids who do a lot of things well, and a lot of them played through injuries this week to even get to this game. I’m very impressed with that,” he said.
“We kept it under wraps all week, but Bo wasn’t able to run. Hats off to him to be able to do what he did.”
The Lancers knew they needed to hold Triton’s high-powered offense in check. In the Trojans’ eight wins this season, they scored no less than 27 points a game. In four losses, the Trojans scored 10 or fewer.
The Lancer defense, which Brown described as “magnificent” earlier in the week, held Triton to one first down in the first two quarters.
Then LaVille caught the big break it needed early in the fourth quarter. Riley Wagoner picked off a Snyder pass and returned it to the Trojan 29. Three plays later, Watts scored what proved to be the game winner from eight yards out with 9:55 to play.
Still, Triton had a chance to win a sectional title to honor the memory of Cam Scarberry. Instead, LaVille walked off the field with its first sectional title since 2003.
“You want to believe things are going to fall on your side. It was great that our kids made plays when they had to, and in the end LaVille had just a little bit more than what we had,” Brown said. “They pulled it off, and if I?have to lose, I prefer to lose to a program with class, and this program has class.”
Max Slusser closed out his high school football career with 29 yards on eight carries. In addition to his long touchdown catch, Berry had 46 yards on seven rushes. Snyder had 109 yards passing.
LaVille (8-4) will travel to Royal Center to take on Hoosier North Athletic Conference champion and top-ranked Pioneer (12-0) in the regional Friday night.
LAVILLE 10, TRITON 7
T 0 0 7 0 – 7
L 3 0 0 7 – 10
T L
1st downs 7 14
Rushing yds 77 154
Passing yds 109 66
Comp-Att-Int 9-19-1 5-13-1
Total yds 186 220
Fumbles/lost 2-0 2-1
Penalties/yds 2-11 3-22
Punts/avg. 4-33 1-31
First Quarter
L – Dakota Figg 32 FG, 0:02, 3-0
Third Quarter
T – Ethan Berry 47 pass from James Snyder (Brandon Lenker kick) 2:52, 7-3
Fourth Quarter
W – Kolby Watts 8 run (Trenton Emerick kick) 9:55, 10-7
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Triton, Berry 7-46, Max Slusser 8-29, Snyder 5-14, Delano Shumpert 1-(minus 12); LaVille, Watts 21-94, Braxton Sauer 21-45, Figg 2-9, Andrew Dill 1-5, Cody Wireman 2-1.
Passing – Triton, Snyder 9-19-109 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int.; LaVille, Sauer 5-13-66 yards, 0 TDs, 1 Int.
Receiving – Triton, Berry 2-49, Tye Orsund 4-34, Drew Stichter 2-21, shumpert 1-5; LaVille, Wireman 2-27, Aiden Doyle 1-20, Jacob Good 2-19.
Records: Triton 8-4, LaVille 8-4
E-Editions
All season long, the Trojans have handled high points, dealt with the lowest of lows and found ways to win twice the number of games as the previous two seasons combined.
So for it all to come to an end in a 10-7 Class 1A Sectional 41 loss at LaVille, there’s a little extra sting.
Triton had a chance late in the game it normally wouldn’t have. LaVille needed one more first down to run out the clock, but Kolby Watts fumbled the ball and the Trojans recovered at the Lancer 18 with 1:51 left.
Three plays later, Brandon Lenker was lined up for a 30-yard game-tying field goal. He had missed from the same distance just a minute earlier.
LaVille called timeout to ice the kicker, and that was long enough for Trojan coach Ron Brown and his staff to decide to go for the win.
Quarterback/holder James “Bo” Snyder took the snap, got up, rolled a few steps to his right and tossed a high, arcing pass that resembled the victorious ending in a movie. But the ball landed in the end zone with no Trojans within 15 yards of it.
“I trust the kids to make plays to win the game,” said Brown. “I did it again. Either you win with your kids or you lose with your kids, and either you trust them or you don’t. I trust my kids, and that’s what happened there. We were going to do what we thought would be open, and it didn’t work out.
“They were pressing and bringing everyone up. We thought we could just drop it over the top, no big deal.”
Snyder was playing with an injured knee that severely limited his mobility. But he was able to loft a pass in the third quarter that Ethan Berry could run under, catch and scoot into the end zone from 47 yards out to give Triton a 7-3 lead.
The junior QB wasn’t the only one hurting, according to Brown.
“We have a lot of kids who do a lot of things well, and a lot of them played through injuries this week to even get to this game. I’m very impressed with that,” he said.
“We kept it under wraps all week, but Bo wasn’t able to run. Hats off to him to be able to do what he did.”
The Lancers knew they needed to hold Triton’s high-powered offense in check. In the Trojans’ eight wins this season, they scored no less than 27 points a game. In four losses, the Trojans scored 10 or fewer.
The Lancer defense, which Brown described as “magnificent” earlier in the week, held Triton to one first down in the first two quarters.
Then LaVille caught the big break it needed early in the fourth quarter. Riley Wagoner picked off a Snyder pass and returned it to the Trojan 29. Three plays later, Watts scored what proved to be the game winner from eight yards out with 9:55 to play.
Still, Triton had a chance to win a sectional title to honor the memory of Cam Scarberry. Instead, LaVille walked off the field with its first sectional title since 2003.
“You want to believe things are going to fall on your side. It was great that our kids made plays when they had to, and in the end LaVille had just a little bit more than what we had,” Brown said. “They pulled it off, and if I?have to lose, I prefer to lose to a program with class, and this program has class.”
Max Slusser closed out his high school football career with 29 yards on eight carries. In addition to his long touchdown catch, Berry had 46 yards on seven rushes. Snyder had 109 yards passing.
LaVille (8-4) will travel to Royal Center to take on Hoosier North Athletic Conference champion and top-ranked Pioneer (12-0) in the regional Friday night.
LAVILLE 10, TRITON 7
T 0 0 7 0 – 7
L 3 0 0 7 – 10
T L
1st downs 7 14
Rushing yds 77 154
Passing yds 109 66
Comp-Att-Int 9-19-1 5-13-1
Total yds 186 220
Fumbles/lost 2-0 2-1
Penalties/yds 2-11 3-22
Punts/avg. 4-33 1-31
First Quarter
L – Dakota Figg 32 FG, 0:02, 3-0
Third Quarter
T – Ethan Berry 47 pass from James Snyder (Brandon Lenker kick) 2:52, 7-3
Fourth Quarter
W – Kolby Watts 8 run (Trenton Emerick kick) 9:55, 10-7
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Triton, Berry 7-46, Max Slusser 8-29, Snyder 5-14, Delano Shumpert 1-(minus 12); LaVille, Watts 21-94, Braxton Sauer 21-45, Figg 2-9, Andrew Dill 1-5, Cody Wireman 2-1.
Passing – Triton, Snyder 9-19-109 yards, 1 TD, 1 Int.; LaVille, Sauer 5-13-66 yards, 0 TDs, 1 Int.
Receiving – Triton, Berry 2-49, Tye Orsund 4-34, Drew Stichter 2-21, shumpert 1-5; LaVille, Wireman 2-27, Aiden Doyle 1-20, Jacob Good 2-19.
Records: Triton 8-4, LaVille 8-4
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092