Rushing Attack Leads Tritons to 49-45 Victory
Cold, wet conditions on Saturday (11/9) afternoon at Dodger Stadium made it a day for rushing the football and the Tritons knew they would have their hands full as they faced Garden City and one of the top rushing offenses in the country on Iowa Central's Hall of Fame Weekend.
After falling behind 7-0 following a 51-yard Garden City touchdown run in the opening 45 seconds, and then finding themselves down 35-21 with four minutes left in the 2nd quarter, Triton Head Coach, Jesse Montalto, was proud of how his Tritons responded. "Our kids played hard today. They continued to fight when we were down by 14 and found a way to score 28 unanswered points."
The Triton offensive line, coined the "Sled Dawgs", and freshman, Cyncir Bowers led the way with 202 yards on 20 carries and touchdown runs of 50, 35, and five yards. "Bowers was electric on the ground with big run after big run – all setup by the offensive line." said Montalto. The Tritons would run for 246 yards as a team on 33 attempts. Following the long opening drive touchdown run, Garden City would go on to rush for 361 yards.
Triton quarterbacks, Tyler Smith and Ty Purdy, combined for 156 yards passing and three touchdowns on the day. Bryce Anderson had six receptions for 89 yards. The Tritons would finish the day with 402 total yards. Defensively, the Tritons limited Garden City to 76 yards through the air and were led by Taylor Schaefer with 15 tackles and Howard Brown with nine.
After falling to 2-5, Coach Montalto has watched the Tritons remained focused as they've now won three consecutive games. "Today's win says a lot about the growth of our team over the last couple of weeks. We have learned how to win close games by making big plays when the game is on the line. And none were bigger than the 4th and 1 stop by our defense on the second to last drive today."
The 49-45 victory moves the Tritons to 5-5 on the season as they prepare to travel to El Dorado, KS to face Butler (6-3) on Saturday (11/10) in their regular season finale. Kickoff is set for 1:30 PM.
Coach's Key Moment –
Winning the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the second half.
Coach's Key Statistic –
The Tritons rushing for 246 total yards on 33 carries.
Statistical Leaders -
Passing - Tyler Smith (103 yards, 1 TD), Ty Purdy (53 yards, 2 TD)
Rushing - Cyncir Bowers (202 yards, 3 TD), Anthony Hall (48 yards, 1 TD), Tyler Smith (4 yards)
Receiving - Bryce Anderson (89 yards, 1 TD), Jaquez Hall (39 yards, 2 TD), Anthony Hall (18 yards)
Tackles - Taylor Schaefer (15), Howard Brown (9), Jawarren Corbin (7), Ishmael Kante (5), Joseph Shannon (5)