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Triton scores first points, gets first win

Friday, September, 28 By Dan Guttenplan
Sports editor

BYFIELD | The Triton football team's fanbase can breathe easy this weekend.

The Vikings are on the board.

Triton tallied its first points of the season last night en route to a 28-24 victory over Ipswich at Triton Regional High. In the second quarter, the Vikings stopped their season-long scoreless streak at 135 minutes and went on to score 28 points in the next 16 minutes.

Triton tailback Billy Tindle had 15 carries for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Fellow tailback Brendan O'Neil tallied 13 carries for 41 yards and a touchdown. He also had four extra points, an interception and three punts of more than 40 yards.

"The seniors on this team deserve this win more than anybody else," Triton coach Shawn McElligott. "We had a difficult week for various reasons, and this was a great way to end it. We needed to get our offense going, and we were able to do that tonight."

It was actually Triton's defense that sealed the victory by making one final defensive stand in the last two minutes. Ipswich gained possession trailing 28-24 with 1:47 remaining but was unable to advance further than its own 36-yard-line.

"We got beat up front, so we had to rely on the big play a little too much," Ipswich coach Ted Flaherty said. "Triton's always a tough team to beat, and they proved that again tonight."

The key play of the game might have come with Triton leading 21-18 late in the third quarter. The Vikings had just allowed Ipswich back into the game after going up 21-10 thanks to Tigers tailback Jim Cadogan's 10-yard touchdown run.

On Triton's the next possession, the Tigers defense forced a three-and-out. O'Neil, set to punt from his own 45 on fourth-and-8, had the kick blocked but it rolled forward for 15 yards before Triton's Patrick Walker recovered for a first down.

Triton went on to score a touchdown on an O'Neil 1-yard-run. Ipswich never really threatened the rest of the way. "That's the kind of game it was for us," Flaherty said. "Right when we looked to have the momentum, they got a bounce that went 15 yards in their favor. It was a terrific high school football game; we just wish we had a different result."