A year after the Triton Trojans ended the South Newton Rebels' season in Bourbon, the two squads are back in the Class A Sectional 33 championship game again - only this time the game will be played in Kentland.
"There's a little bit of a role reversal," Triton coach Rodney Younis said of playing this year's championship away from home.
The championship game will take place at 7:30 p.m. (EDT) tonight near the Indiana/Illinois border, making for a long road trip for the Trojans."We're gonna leave early and stop halfway to let the kids eat and get out of the bus to stretch their legs," Younis said of the near 100-mile trip. "We'll get there early enough to get on the field and get their energy up."
South Newton coach Chris Bell knows how tough the approximate two-hour and 15-minute drive can be, having done it last year before losing 36-21 at Triton.
"That's nearly two-and-a-half hour drive on a bus, so we're happy to be home," Bell said.
On top of dealing with the ride, the Trojans will also need to deal with a pass-happy offense, which has averaged 23 points a game for the 8-3 Rebels.
"They're a good team," Younis said. "They run a spread offense similar to Whiting (who lost to Triton 35-14 two weeks ago), which is a system they've been running for years now. They've gotten a lot of success out of it, having reached semistate just two years ago."
Ben Welsh was running that Rebel offense during the semistate run, and was also there for last year's sectional championship loss to the Trojans. This year, Bell will have Tyler Lowe at quarterback, a more than capable signal-caller.
"Tyler doesn't run as well, but he's getting better," Bell said. "I'm happy with his play."
When the Rebels do run the ball, they remain in shotgun formation.
"They're in shotgun the whole time," Younis said of the Rebels. "If it's fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line, they're going to be in shotgun."
While the Rebels are looking to pick up chunks of yards in the passing game, the Trojans will be on the other end of the spectrum.
Averaging 18 points a game, the Trojans' offense almost begins and ends with junior quarterback Adam Creighbaum.
"They have a great player in Adam Creighbaum," Bell said. "We'll need to focus on stopping him. After watching the film, we'll need to stop him."
On the year, Creighbaum has averaged 7.8 yards per attempt, amounting to 1,295 yards and 14 touchdowns on 165 carries. When he does go to the air, Creighbaum has completed 32 of 76 passes for 457 yards, two touchdowns and seven interceptions.
"Our offense will need to take care of the ball and sustain drives," Bell said. "We need to try to stay away from going for the home run."
Bell probably wants to stay away from the home run swing, because if a strike out happens, Triton's ball-control offense may take over, illustrated by their 2,284 rushing yards compared to 882 passing yards this year.
Along with Creighbaum's rushing stats, the Trojans have also received 375 yards from Neil Robinson, as well as Cale Kennedy's 222, Miles Reichard's 196, Blake Hoffer's 137 and Ethan Rutherford's 136.
On top of getting holes opened by their offensive line, the Trojans will also need to avoid any unnecessary penalties that may stall a drive. But by going 10-1 in their last 11 games against 1A teams, Younis feels he has a pretty good formula.
"It's been working for a while now," he said.
That success brought Triton its first sectional championship appearance a year ago, but the second go-round hasn't been any less exciting for the Trojans.
"It's close to the same," Younis said about the excitement surrounding the championship game. "For a school that's only been to the sectional championship game twice in school history, it's hard not be grateful of where we are."
