By James Costello Sports Editor
CULVER — Friday’s Sectional 33 rematch be-tween Culver and Triton is, in many ways, a match-up of runs.
Not simply as a contest between two potentially explosive Northern State Conference rushing teams — although the sectional semifinal promises to be that as well as two of the NSC’s most potent running backs collide in Culver’s Michael Salary and Triton’s Adam Creighbaum —  but a match-up of runs between two emerging football programs.
Never having won a sectional championship before, the Trojans have captured not one but two the past two seasons, and with last week’s convincing 27-14 win over IFCA No. 6-ranked Winamac, they’ve shown they’re definite contenders to three-peat. On the flip side, Culver is in the midst of its own, albeit more nascent, turnaround, having set a new school landmark with a 5-1 start to 2009, and no one on the Cavaliers wants to see the banner season end yet.
The game should be a good yard stick for both teams as Culver tries to measure the extent of its transformation this season against repeat sectional-champion Triton, which wants to avoid any letdowns while trying to see how far its tournament success can carry.

“(Last week) was a huge win for us because Winamac was a very good team, and I know a lot of people probably just assume that Winamac overlooked us and that was a big reason for us to win, but you’ve still got to play the game,” said Triton head coach Rodney Younis. “I was proud of our boys. They just went out and they just played the game.
“Right now we do have some momentum. The kids definitely do have confidence. I’m not sure what it is — I don’t know if it’s the past success that we’ve had in the tournament, but you could just feel it last week in practice. Our kids just have that confidence, and they just believe that now from here on out we can win, and that’s the way that we’ve been practicing. That’s been a pleasant sight.”
Though considered an upset, no one at Culver was surprised to see Triton emerge from last week’s sectional opener.
“They have had great tournament success the past two years, and as far as surprises no one on our side was surprised that they won,” said Culver skipper Andy Thomas. “It’ll be a tough bout in the tournament with Creighbaum and with their experience, and there is a level of ‘We’ve been there, we know we can do this,’ with their kids because of the success that they’ve had. On our side of it it’s just about trying to gain confidence and trying to find our way and realize that we are becoming a good program, and we’re doing all the right things in the offseason in the weight room and going to camps. We talk to our kids a lot about being confident in knowing they’ve done everything they can to be prepared, and they’ve done that.”
The last time the two teams met in conference play in Week 3 at Culver, the Cavs came out on top in a lopsided 20-6 decision. But at Week 11, both coaches consider that game a distant memory.
“They’re the same but they’re different. They’re going to do the same thing. They’re different in that they’ve gotten better and are a markedly-improved team. I’d like to think we are also,” said Thomas. “But that’s been something that we’ve seen on film every year since I’ve been at Culver: You can see Triton improve throughout the year because we get films of them, and as they play other teams their coaches do a good job. They’ve shuffled their lineup around where they’re getting more kids on the field and less guys play both ways, and I think it’s paid off for them.”
“Both of us are not the same team that we were,” Younis said. “That was Week 3, and it’s definitely been a long season in between. It’s definitely going to be a highly-anticipated rematch be-cause like I said we’re not the same team that we were back then and Culver isn’t either. They’ve faced the same type of opponents that we faced so it’ll be interesting.”
 Some of the challenges remain the same for both squads, however. Defen-sively, Culver will need to contain Creighbaum as eff-ectively as they were able to the last time they hosted Triton, while the Trojans are going to need to see some strong team defense against Salary if they expect to advance.
“Michael Salary, he’s  been one of the best backs in our conference and we’re definitely going to have our hands full,” said Younis. “The last time we played, I believe he ended up with all three of their touchdowns himself. They also have some other kids that concern us, but he has definitely been a focal point for us that we must stop him or at least slow him down. Obviously when there is a kid with that type of talent it’s hard to slow him down but as long as we can control him and make sure he doesn’t bust off into long runs on us, I think that will help us out.”
“The key for us still is to stop Creighbaum or try to contain him a little bit,” Thomas said. “He’s going to get his yards because he’s so explosive and so strong but we need to try to keep him out of the end zone. It’s a big challenge for us, but our kids are going to be ready to play. I think they’re going to be sky-high and ready to go so it’ll just be a matter of the team that makes the fewest mistakes is going to win.”
Whatever the outcome, Friday night’s contest at Culver should generate some fireworks.
“I think there’s been a good rivalry with us and Triton in football for years,” said Thomas. “They’re going to bring a great crowd, and we’re going to have a good crowd ourselves. We’re neighboring schools and conference opponents and it should be a great atmosphere and a great night for football.”
Meanwhile in Class 2A Sectional 26 play, the Lions hope to keep the ball rolling against Garrett back at Bremen after a road trip to Eastside last Friday.
Garrett has the better record at 6-4 compared to Bremen’s 2-8 mark, but the Lions have only recently gotten everyone back in the lineup and healthy after a turbulent rebuilding year, and the Lions 44-0 win over the Blazers last week is evidence of their vast improvement.
In 3A play, Culver Military Academy puts its strong 8-2 record on the line against visiting 4-6 New Prairie in a Sectional 17 semifinal at the Academies at 7 p.m. The winner will advance to face the winner of Friday’s Andrean (7-3 )-Knox (5-5 ) semifinal at Knox on Nov. 6.