Cash Wise Foods Team of the Week: Triton Football
Triton's football team went on the road and upset top-ten ranked Chatfield 16-14 on Friday, September 13 on a fourth-quarter field goal. The victory earns the Cobras the Cash Wise Foods Team of the Week honor. Cash Wise Foods of Owatonna and Waseca will present a 50-dollar gift card to a charity in the community of each week's winner.
Coach Mike Ellingson said on Saturday's KRFO Coaches Show, "Makes the bus ride go a little smoother on the way back regardless when you pull off a big win like that. Kids were pretty happy, you know a lot of effort when into that and I'm very proud of our team."
Ellingson said the ground game was working well, " We rumbled some big runs off early, ended up having seven runs over 12 yards on the night, had 281 yards rushing." But getting into the end zone was elusive, "We were in the red zone a couple of times but just couldn't finish."
Parker Boe and Austin Melder eventually each found pay dirt for a 13-6 halftime lead. Braxton Munnikhuysen had 142 yards and 19 carries. Ellingson said, "Just an excellent effort by him."
The Cobras defense held the Gopher ground attack in check, giving up just 66 yards on 16 carries. Chatfield made some big plays through the air and took a 14-13 lead early in the second half.
The game-winning play came with about 8 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, "It was an 18-yard field goal, just a short little kick for us. Kind of nerve-wracking because they had blocked the last extra point. They got a lot of pressure up the middle...The kids were ready to go with the kick. Our soccer player Adrian Martinez got out there and drilled it. It would have been good from 40. It was fun."
Triton's defense had several red zone stops on the night, "One heck of a football game."
The Cobras find themselves among the "others receiving votes" category of the latest high school football rankings. Triton (2-1) plays at Dover-Eyota Friday, September 20.