BOURBON — Entering his 10th season at the helm of the Triton High School football program, coach Rodney Younis is implementing a new offensive scheme with a young team. In past seasons, opposing teams' scouting reports of the Triton Trojans was to focus on stopping the run, but according to Younis, those reports may need to be thrown out this season. "We're going to a spread offense," he said. "We're going to try to spread it out a little bit, but we won't be doing it all the time. We're going to try to be a little more balanced this year." The shift in offensive philosophy falls on the shoulders of senior quarterback Zak Shively, a player Younis believes can handle it. "He's been playing really well," the coach said. "We played in a seven-on-seven league (in Rochester) this summer, and I think that really helped to get us going. We're putting a lot more on Shively." Shively, a three-sport athlete at Triton, has shown Younis he can take instruction, as Younis noticed his work ethic while serving as an assistant baseball coach in the spring. "From last year's football season to the baseball season, I could see how much stronger his arm had gotten," Younis said. "And as a senior, he's making better decisions and not taking unnecessary risks." And outside of Shively, the Trojans have just five other seniors. "Of the 36 players on the roster, 23 are freshmen and sophomores," Younis said. "We're definitely young, but we do have some experience in those grades." Among those young, experienced players is sophomore running back Cody Shively. "He led us in rushing as a freshman, so he will be a guy we are looking to," Younis said. Along with Cody Shively in the backfield, the Trojans will also have sophomore Cole Creighbaum, junior D.J. Riffle and freshman Kevin Heckaman at slot back. At receiver, the Trojans will have experience returning with senior Marc Lindsey, who will be joined by sophomore Drew Mosson, Tippecanoe Valley-transfer sophomore Tanner Shepherd and junior Bryson Mosier, who Younis will play at other positions, describing him as a "utility man". On the front line, Younis is looking at junior Drew Fleagle to anchor the line at center, while senior Erik Hoffman, senior Chad Sellers and freshman Tyler Milton vie for time at guard. Like the guard position, three players are also jockeying for time at tackle, as senior Shelby Wright, senior Mike Horne and 6-foot-4, 275-pound freshman Zac Edmonds are in competition. On the defensive side of the ball, Wright, Shepherd, Milton and junior Joseph West will be on the line, while Hoffman, Cody Shively, Mosier and freshman Cordale Keyser fill in the linebacking position in the 4-4 scheme. "Our linebackers are aggressive and they can run," Younis said of his linebacking corps, which has last season's leading tackler Cody Shively at one of the middle linebacker positions with Hoffman. Rounding out the defense is Zak Shively at safety, with Lindsey and Creighbaum manning the cornerback positions. "I feel pretty good about the experience we have back on defense," Younis said. "At every level, we have experience back. We have Shelby Wright on the line, who's an all-conference player. He did good for us last year. At linebacker, Cody Shively returns and we have Zak Shively at safety, who really came on at the end of last season. At each level, we have someone to bring the others along." Triton scrimmaged Manchester Friday, giving Younis an idea of what he has, and he was pleased with the run-through. "An area I was concerned with was the defense, but they did a good job," Younis said. "They really rallied to the ball and tackled well." Triton opens its regular season Friday at home against Caston, a team it defeated 15-14 last season, accounting for half the team's win total in a 2-9 campaign. "Caston returns a lot," Younis said. "They have a good number of seniors, so it will be a matchup of their seniors against our inexperience. I kind of think our switch to a spread offense will help us. We can spread them out and get into some good matchups." After opening the season with back-to-back home games against Caston and Northfield, the Trojans enter Northern State Conference play, beginning at Culver on Sept. 2. "I think the conference is going to need to go through John Glenn," Younis said about his view of the NSC in 2011. "They return everybody from last year. I thought they were the best team in the conference last year. They just need to get over the mental mountain of Jimtown. So, I think they're the team to beat. Bremen also returns a lot and Jimtown lost some people, but they return a lot of speed." And if his guys can minimize their own mistakes, Younis can see his team also being competitive in a conference in which they're one of the smallest squads. "We were in a lot of ballgames last year, but we lost some because of turnovers," Younis said. "If we would have taken care of the football, I think we could have flipped our record around. Taking care of the ball has been one of the things we've been working on."
