Culver-triton could be an old-fashioned game

It was a Friday of firsts last week for the Culver and Triton football teams.

Culver (1-3, 0-2 HNAC) won its first game, 20-6 over West Central, while Triton (2-1, 1-0 HNAC) suffered its first defeat, 41-0, to Bremen.

“Any way we can get it, we’ll take it,” said Culver head coach Mike Zehner of last week’s win. “The kids played hard and we had some young guys step up and do some good things so I was excited to get the win. These guys have been working their tails off and I’m excited for them. It was a step in the right direction for us.

“We left some points on the field for sure, but our offense has been consistent and sometimes it has been our best defense. Our opening drive was over nine minutes, pretty much draining the first quarter. We can also speed it up if we want to. Defensively, we took a couple of big steps forward last week. We played a lot better than we had in the past. The guys in the secondary made some good sticks.

“Our goal is to get better each and every day and every week and I believe we are still doing that.”

For the Trojans, the taste of defeat was not enjoyable, but they have already moved on.

“The bottom line is Bremen was just so much more physical than us and that is just something we need to improve on,” said Triton head coach Rodney Younis of the Trojans’ loss. “We’ve got to match our opponent’s intensity, but give credit to Bremen. They flat out came out and played and put it to us from the beginning.

“Our effort has to be there every single play. That’s our focus. We didn’t execute at times because of lack of effort. That’s unacceptable and our kids understand that and owned that. Now we’re going to move forward and hopefully, we’ll show more effort.”

These two Hoosier North Athletic Conference foes have split their last four meetings, one going overtime, and this week’s contest has the makings of another close outcome. They have one common opponent this year - South Central (Union

Mills). Triton defeated the Satellites by 3, while Culver lost by 4.

Both teams rely on their running game so for football purists, this will be a game to watch.

Triton’s main ball carriers are Hunter Mcintyre and Trace Schuh. The quarterback is freshman Cole Shively. The defense is led by linebacker Jermemiah Farrell and interior lineman Caleb Lemler.

“They’re very similar to us,” Zehner said about the Trojans. “They’re big up front. They have a big fullback and their quarterback manages the game well. They are going to be a tough task for us. They run the wing-t and do a good job with it. We have our work cut out for us. They are big and physical.

“I think it is going to be an old fashioned football game. They want to pound the rock. We’re going to get after it. They’re going to get after it.

“We’ve got to maintain drives and put points on

the board. The turnover battle will be big. I don’t think they are a big-play team, hitting the deep ball, so there will probably be limited possessions on both sides. It should be a nice time in Bourbon.”

When all healthy, the Cavaliers can utilize three strong runners in Blake Thompson, Shane Shuman and Jalen King. Key linemen include Auston Zehner, Hunter Evans and Daulton Binkley.

“They have really improved their offense,” Younis said about this week’s opponents.

“They’ve been doing it now for a few years and are smooth with it. They sell their fakes, the line makes a good push and they continue their blocks. They move that line of scrimmage. Our defensive line is going to have to match their intensity.

“One thing when you go into Culver week is that you’re going to face some size. They always have good size for a 1A school and they’ll play physical. If you don’t match their physicality and are not ready to play from the beginning, it could be a rough night. They do an excellent job on offense of playing keepaway. They don’t mind doing threeyards-and-a-cloud-of-dust and grind it out on you.

“Offensively, we need to make sure we stay on blocks. We need to be as balanced as we can and keep them guessing.

“It’s odd to think that it’s Week 5 and we’re finally getting a home game, but we’re excited to play at home. It’s a county rivalry and we’ve had some good match-ups with Culver and hopefully we’ll be able to compete with them.”