Back-to-back Top 10 for THS
BOURBON - The challenge was a big one last week taking on perennial power Class 2A No. 3 Pioneer, but the loss was an informative one for Triton’s Trojans.
“We played ok at times, but we weren’t consistent enough and against a program like that with the talent they have you have to be able to match it every single play,” said Triton head coach Rodney Younis. “Unfortunately we weren’t there. A lot of credit goes to Pioneer. They are very solid at every level of the game and we just weren’t there with them.
“We wanted to be more competitive. We learned from our mistakes and moved forward. I like where our kids are at as far as their attitudes. They understand the things that we have to do and it’s just a matter of being more consistent.”
The teaching went beyond dissecting his own team’s performance, taking time to point out some other things on the film.
“We were pointing out good things that Pioneer did,” said Younis. “They run a similar offense to ours and it was a chance to say this is a good learning tool for us and let’s improve, let’s get better. This is the level that we want to be at.”
The grind of the Triton schedule continues this week with a trip to No. 9 (Class 1A) North Judson, who comes in at 5-1 averaging over 33 points a game and giving up just over 12. Looking ahead Knox and Winamac are waiting on the horizon.
“North Judson is a good program too,” said Younis. “They play physical. They play hard. Their offense seems to be clicking. When they get on you they keep going.
“It’s going to be important that we match their intensity and stick with our assignments and reading our keys so that we don’t find ourselves out of position. When you play an option team they may get
one or two yards a few plays in a row and then they bust a long one on you if you don’t follow your assignment.” They are run first, but the Blue Jays will put it in the air. “They will throw the ball pretty well when they have time,” said Younis. “We are hopeful that we will be able to get some pressure on them and make it more difficult.
“A team like them you have to stop the run, and in particular, the fullback. That’s where they work, inside out. It’s important that we focus on that first.”
Success on the offensive side of the ball for Triton depends on the players without the ball.
“Offensively we have to continue to improve our complete team blocking, not just with our linemen, but with our skilled players and focus on hitting our holes quicker with our running backs,” said Younis. “We felt last week that we were a little slow. We are asking a lot of our linemen to sustain blocks against good quality players so it’s important that everybody is doing their job and we are all clicking together.”
Game time is 7:30 p.m. at North Judson.