Triton Central turnovers prove costly in HLC loss at Tri-West

LIZTON – Three first-half turnovers by Triton Central allowed Class 3A, No. 7 Tri-West to roll to a 45-12 victory Friday at State Bank Stadium.

The win keeps the Bruins in contention for a conference championship but they will need a win at Greenwood next week and help from Triton Central with an upset win over 3A, No. 5 Indian Creek.

After winning in week seven without standout quarterback Jack Sorgi, the Wisconsin recruit returned to the field Friday and threw two touchdowns and caught a third from Braxton Fleece to help Tri-West gain possession of the traveling trophy (photo) the Tigers won in their inaugural Hoosier Legends Conference meeting last season.

Triton Central has little margin for error to be successful. The Tigers, now 3-5 (2-4 HLC), have yet to win consecutive games this season. Head coach Tim Kegley has even stated his team cannot win a game with multiple turnovers.

“The first half we just played really bad offensively,” he said. “We’re going to throw the ball a lot, especially if we can’t run it. I just felt like we weren’t getting any push up front and getting to the second level. We had guys missing blocks. They were only bringing three and four, five occasionally, and we weren’t able to pick them up.

“So when you can’t get your best player open and your other best player time to deliver, it makes for a rough night.”

Layton Quinlan created the first turnover with an interception that halted the game’s opening drive. The junior linebacker did it again in the second quarter and didn’t stop until he reached the end zone.

That extended Tri-West’s lead to 21-0.

After another failed offensive series, the Bruins (6-2, 5-1 HLC) went deep into the playbook for a double handoff that left the ball in Fleece’s hands and Sorgi racing down the sideline. The duo connected for a 52-yard touchdown – Sorgi’s second receiving touchdown this season.

Kegley got the Tigers to halftime and challenged the seniors, who have little time left in their playing careers.

“I took the seniors and told them we had three priorities tonight – to fight, to communicate, and to play every snap,” said Kegley. “I think we communicated OK, but we didn’t fight and we didn’t play every snap.”

Tri-West added a Jax Clayton 34-yard field goal to start the third quarter and the Tigers followed with their best drive of the game.

Wilkins directed a 9-play drive that ended with Ty Bergman (photo) producing an 8-yard touchdown reception.

Two plays later, Hall broke through the line of scrimmage and raced 68 yards to extend the lead to 38-6.

Sorgi found Zach Culpepper for an 11-yard scoring strike with 7:33 left in the fourth quarter and that started the running clock to the end.

Wilkins hit Henry Kemper in the game’s final two minutes with a short catch for a first down that the senior broke down the TC sideline for a 77-yard touchdown.

Triton Central will celebrate Senior Night next Friday in the regular-season finale against Indian Creek (8-0, 6-0 HLC).

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