Triton Trojans Fall In Emotion-Filled Game
September 22, 2017 at 4:11 p.m.
Triton Trojans Fall In Emotion-Filled Game
By Dale [email protected]
Such was the case Thursday night when the Triton Trojans traveled to Royal Center to play the Class 1A No. 1 Pioneer Panthers in a matchup of first-place teams in the Hoosier North Athletic Conference.
The box score will show a 62-8 win for the Panthers, who racked up 519 yards rushing and 562 yards of total offense.
What it won’t show is how two small-school communities came together in the wake of tragedy.
Triton High School junior Cameron Scarberry, who wore jersey No. 54 and was an offensive linemen and a linebacker, was killed in an automobile accident Sunday afternoon near Atwood.
Because Scarberry’s visitation is tonight, and the funeral tomorrow, the game was moved to Thursday.
There was a moment of silence for Scarberry before the opening kickoff.
Both teams wore No. 54 stickers.
There was a collection bucket passed through the crowd for monetary donations for the Cameron Scarberry Memorial Fund.
There were rubber bracelets passed out that read “No. 54 Forever Missed.”
After the game, the scoreboard showed each team with 54 points and 5.4 seconds on the clock.
Both teams, as well as fans from both communities, gathered at midfield afterward. Pioneer coach Adam Berry eloquently addressed the crowd, talking about how short life is, and recognized that it very well could have been Pioneer in the same tragic situation.
Berry then led the group in a somber prayer, as his voice cracked with emotion several times.
When Triton coach Ron Brown spoke with the media, he talked of how helpful and classy Pioneer has been throughout this week.
“Pioneer, the school, the community, they’re a top-rate school,” said Brown.?“I can understand why their sports programs and their kids always do so well ... it’s because of the people they have backing them. The great morals they’re instilling in these young people, we appreciate it a lot.
“It really means a lot to us that another community that we don’t know very well would reach out to us and help us like this. I hope that other schools can look at this as an example of how you take care of other people.
“Like someone said earlier, we got knocked down for a nine-count, and it is hard, but it’s important to show that you can get back up. Maybe we can find something good to come out of all this.”
Brown said he was impressed by his players and the character they’ve showed in an extremely difficult week.
“I’m really impressed with their character,” said Brown. “The school administration allowed me to give the kids the opportunity to choose what they wanted to do.
“We didn’t know if we were going to be able to play the game physically, emotionally, any of that. They voted that we couldn’t play Friday because they needed to say goodbye to Cameron, and with the funeral on Saturday they said they couldn’t play here. It’s amazing the flexibility that both schools were able to have to allow us to play on Thursday night, so that we could get the game in and start the healing process and hopefully get to a new normal.”
The Panthers, who scored on each of their nine possessions, proved worthy of their No. 1 ranking, racing out to a 21-0 lead before Triton junior quarterback James Snyder tossed a 42-yard touchdown pass to classmate Delano Shumpert.
Snyder connected with junior Tye Orsund for the two-point conversion, cutting the deficit to 21-8 with 9:27 remaining in the second quarter.
It was the first time this season the Panthers have given up any points, as they have outscored their six opponents 326-8.
Pioneer improved to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the HNAC, while Triton fell to 4-2 and 3-1.
“I don’t wanna say I’m surprised we were able to score on their No. 1 defense, but it was nice to see that we had some sort of silver lining that came out of that,” said Brown. “I like to think we had an extra block or something out on the field.”
Triton finished the game with 191 yards of offense – 98 through the air and 93 on the round.
Freshman Hunter McIntyre led the Trojans with four carries for 51 yards, all of which came in the fourth quarter.
Senior Max Slusser tallied 35 yards on 11 carries, while junior Ethan Berry had 20 yards on six attempts.
Snyder, who completed 5 of 19 passes, carried the ball seven times for –11 yards, losing 15 yards on a pair of sacks by the Pioneer defense.
Shumpert caught three passes for 66 yards, while Orsund had one reception for 32 yards.
For Pioneer, junior quarterback Jack Burley Kiser led the way, as he rushed for 198 yards and three touchdowns on just seven carries.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Kiser, who will take a visit to Iowa when the Hawkeyes play Big Ten rival Penn State Saturday, scored on runs of 35, 60 and 66 yards.
Senior Austin Mersch tallied 113 yards on three carries and scored on runs of 37 and 67 yards.
Freshman Ezra Lewellen lost a yard on a carry but finished the game with three carries for 85 yards, scoring on runs of 15 and 70 yards.
Sophomore Keaton Schroder scored for Pioneer on a 21 yard-run, the final touchdown of the game, while junior Danny Gregorich scored on an 11-yard run that gave the Panthers a 13-0 lead in the first quarter.
Kiser completed 3 of 5 passes for 42 yards.
Triton hosts North Judson on Sept. 29, while Pioneer entertains Knox, who entered the weekend tied with the Trojans and Panthers atop the HNAC standings.
E-Editions
Such was the case Thursday night when the Triton Trojans traveled to Royal Center to play the Class 1A No. 1 Pioneer Panthers in a matchup of first-place teams in the Hoosier North Athletic Conference.
The box score will show a 62-8 win for the Panthers, who racked up 519 yards rushing and 562 yards of total offense.
What it won’t show is how two small-school communities came together in the wake of tragedy.
Triton High School junior Cameron Scarberry, who wore jersey No. 54 and was an offensive linemen and a linebacker, was killed in an automobile accident Sunday afternoon near Atwood.
Because Scarberry’s visitation is tonight, and the funeral tomorrow, the game was moved to Thursday.
There was a moment of silence for Scarberry before the opening kickoff.
Both teams wore No. 54 stickers.
There was a collection bucket passed through the crowd for monetary donations for the Cameron Scarberry Memorial Fund.
There were rubber bracelets passed out that read “No. 54 Forever Missed.”
After the game, the scoreboard showed each team with 54 points and 5.4 seconds on the clock.
Both teams, as well as fans from both communities, gathered at midfield afterward. Pioneer coach Adam Berry eloquently addressed the crowd, talking about how short life is, and recognized that it very well could have been Pioneer in the same tragic situation.
Berry then led the group in a somber prayer, as his voice cracked with emotion several times.
When Triton coach Ron Brown spoke with the media, he talked of how helpful and classy Pioneer has been throughout this week.
“Pioneer, the school, the community, they’re a top-rate school,” said Brown.?“I can understand why their sports programs and their kids always do so well ... it’s because of the people they have backing them. The great morals they’re instilling in these young people, we appreciate it a lot.
“It really means a lot to us that another community that we don’t know very well would reach out to us and help us like this. I hope that other schools can look at this as an example of how you take care of other people.
“Like someone said earlier, we got knocked down for a nine-count, and it is hard, but it’s important to show that you can get back up. Maybe we can find something good to come out of all this.”
Brown said he was impressed by his players and the character they’ve showed in an extremely difficult week.
“I’m really impressed with their character,” said Brown. “The school administration allowed me to give the kids the opportunity to choose what they wanted to do.
“We didn’t know if we were going to be able to play the game physically, emotionally, any of that. They voted that we couldn’t play Friday because they needed to say goodbye to Cameron, and with the funeral on Saturday they said they couldn’t play here. It’s amazing the flexibility that both schools were able to have to allow us to play on Thursday night, so that we could get the game in and start the healing process and hopefully get to a new normal.”
The Panthers, who scored on each of their nine possessions, proved worthy of their No. 1 ranking, racing out to a 21-0 lead before Triton junior quarterback James Snyder tossed a 42-yard touchdown pass to classmate Delano Shumpert.
Snyder connected with junior Tye Orsund for the two-point conversion, cutting the deficit to 21-8 with 9:27 remaining in the second quarter.
It was the first time this season the Panthers have given up any points, as they have outscored their six opponents 326-8.
Pioneer improved to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the HNAC, while Triton fell to 4-2 and 3-1.
“I don’t wanna say I’m surprised we were able to score on their No. 1 defense, but it was nice to see that we had some sort of silver lining that came out of that,” said Brown. “I like to think we had an extra block or something out on the field.”
Triton finished the game with 191 yards of offense – 98 through the air and 93 on the round.
Freshman Hunter McIntyre led the Trojans with four carries for 51 yards, all of which came in the fourth quarter.
Senior Max Slusser tallied 35 yards on 11 carries, while junior Ethan Berry had 20 yards on six attempts.
Snyder, who completed 5 of 19 passes, carried the ball seven times for –11 yards, losing 15 yards on a pair of sacks by the Pioneer defense.
Shumpert caught three passes for 66 yards, while Orsund had one reception for 32 yards.
For Pioneer, junior quarterback Jack Burley Kiser led the way, as he rushed for 198 yards and three touchdowns on just seven carries.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Kiser, who will take a visit to Iowa when the Hawkeyes play Big Ten rival Penn State Saturday, scored on runs of 35, 60 and 66 yards.
Senior Austin Mersch tallied 113 yards on three carries and scored on runs of 37 and 67 yards.
Freshman Ezra Lewellen lost a yard on a carry but finished the game with three carries for 85 yards, scoring on runs of 15 and 70 yards.
Sophomore Keaton Schroder scored for Pioneer on a 21 yard-run, the final touchdown of the game, while junior Danny Gregorich scored on an 11-yard run that gave the Panthers a 13-0 lead in the first quarter.
Kiser completed 3 of 5 passes for 42 yards.
Triton hosts North Judson on Sept. 29, while Pioneer entertains Knox, who entered the weekend tied with the Trojans and Panthers atop the HNAC standings.
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