FAIRLAND
Indian Creek coach Casey Gillin was asking if a do-over for the second quarter was possible.
Class 2A No. 6 Triton Central scored 35 unanswered points in that quarter Friday night en route to a 49-14 romp over the visiting Braves in nonconference action. The second half was played with a running clock as the Tigers were up 42-7 at halftime.
Braves senior quarterback Arj Lothe was intercepted four times in the first half; one was returned 36 yards for a TD by Levi Dewey after it popped out of the hands of the Braves receiver.
“We had some guys open; Arj put the ball where it needed to be at times,” said Gillin, whose team’s record dropped to 3-2. “He made some high throws and there were times when we dropped the ball. Our line blocked well. We wanted to score before the half ended and the ball didn’t bounce in our favor. It wasn’t meant to be tonight.”
Triton Central (4-1) scored first on a 6-yard touchdown run by Brayden Wilkins. After Indian Creek scored on Lothe’s 34-yard touchdown pass to Lance Butler to tie it at 7-all late in the first quarter, the Tigers took control.
Jace Stuckey scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak to give the home team a 14-7 lead with 10:45 left in the second quarter. Triton Central pushed the lead to 21-7 on a 5-yard TD run by Ray Crawford, who finished with 96 rushing yards on 14 attempts.
Stuckey threw TD passes of 35 yards to Mason Compton and 33 to senior receiver Brad Schultz to bookend the interception return for TD. The final one gave the Tigers that 35-point halftime lead.
“Stuckey is a good football player,” Gillin said. “(Schultz) is a man. He’s special. He can run, and when you are shifty at the pace he runs, it’s pretty impressive. Their running back (Crawford) is really good. They have a three-headed monster, I think you could say, like the Colts used to have. They are going to be tough to stop.”
The Tigers pushed the lead to 49-7 on a 7-yard run by Sam Kemper midway through the third quarter. The Braves scored their second touchdown on a 3-yard run by Malachi Mink late in the third quarter.
Indian Creek plays at Edgewood next week.
“With a new program and what these guys have been through, I think this is still a step in the right direction only because they got to feel for this situation and they didn’t stop,” said Gillin, in his first year as coach at his alma mater. “I was proud of them for that. We’ve got to learn how to deal with these situations when we get down and find a way to find back. I’m proud of them, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
