Triton To Face Familiar Foe In Sectional Semifinal
Trojans hope to avenge 31-0 loss to conference rival LaVille
Posted
Mark Howe-mhowe@timesuniononline.com
BOURBON – Triton High School’s football team has experienced several positives this season. Among them are tripling its win total from a year ago and securing its first postseason win in five years with last week’s 34-20 victory over South Central (Union Mills). The road to a sectional title isn’t a smooth one, however. The Trojans will need to avenge an earlier loss to LaVille when they host the Lancers Friday, then defeat the Winimac-Whiting winner next week. LaVille enters the week at 7-3, while the other side of the bracket features a pair of 10-0 teams. But, first things first for the 3-7 Triton squad. “Most importantly, it’s been several years (2010) since a Triton team has advanced past the opening round of the postseason,” said head coach John Johns. “This is a big deal to them. They’ve worked really hard to get to this point; bought in to what we’ve taught them. (Advancing) is a big deal to them.” Johns took the responsibility for the 31-0 loss earlier this month at LaVille. “I don’t think we were ready to play, and that’s on me,” he said. “They were able to do some things defensively that we weren’t ready for. The kids understand (LaVille) was a pretty solid team last year, and are even better this year. They kind of lost faith in themselves in that game. “The faith level is much better this week, Johns continued. “We’ve battled through some things and come full circle to the point where the kids feel we’re as good as anybody out there. We also understand we have to be prepared for a team like LaVille.” The Trojan offense will want to run the ball more often than not. Junior tailback Jeremy Jones has rushed for 820 yards so far this season. The trio of Jones, senior quarterback Adam Stichter and senior fullback Nate Spangle have averaged more than six yards per carry while gaining 1,453 yards this season. Stichter has been known to thrown the ball some, and has five touchdown passes against 10 interceptions. His favorite targets are classmates Joey Corder and Tristan Hunsberger, who have combined to catch 19 passes. On the other side of the ball, Triton will have to slow a LaVille offense that is going to run the ball, and spread the work load among four players. Lancer running back Ethan Kertai needs only 60 yards on the ground to go over 1,000 for the season. The trio of Mason Leed, Caleb Dudeck and Ben Norton have combined for another 990 yards rushing this season, and the Lancers average nearly five yards per carry as a team. LaVille’s four running backs have scored 28 touchdowns so far this season, with no one back having more than eight or fewer than six trips to the end zone. Meanwhile, quarterback Adam Steinke averages only seven pass attempts per game, against 42 Lancer running plays per contest. Josiah Rock and Bryant Hunsberger anchor the LaVille defense, which leads the Northern State Conference, giving up only just under 11 points per contest in all games. While the road to a first Trojan sectional football title since 2008 is daunting, Johns said the Triton squad will be ready for the challenge. “The team understands they’ve got to beat a really good team to get to an undefeated team,” Johns said, “They’re pretty excited about it.”
