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 Shirley Snyder (right) for Mystic Hills in Culver instructs Kyara Soria on a putt during events at the Marshall County Health Carnival at the LifePlex Saturday. Pilot photos/Maggie Nixon By Rusty Nixon Correspondent PLYMOUTH — While the weather outside may have left a little to be desired, there was plenty going on inside the LifePlex as the Family Health Carnival made its final stop winding up a successful week of helping Marshall County families. |
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Culver ends Trojans’ sectional reign |
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Saturday, 31 October 2009 |
 Culver running back Michael Salary, center, carries Triton defender Shelby Wright on his back as Adam Creighbaum (3) waits to deliver a hit during the fourth quarter of a Class A Sectional 33 football semifinal Friday at Culver. Pilot photo/ James Costello
By James Costello Sports Editor
CULVER — Culver coach Andy Thomas knew to expect a battle between two evenly-matched, neighboring conference and sectional rivals, and he anticipated that the victory would belong to whichever team made the fewest mistakes.
As it turned out, the outcome came down to who made the biggest mistake.
Both Culver Community and Triton made their share of errors in the persistent mist and mud at Culver, but a key fumble by the Trojans at their own 2-yard line cost them a touchdown and the game’s momentum as the Cavaliers claimed a 20-13 comeback win over the visitors in a back-and-forth Sectional 33 semifinal Friday. The decision unseated the Trojans as the reigning sectional champions.
“I’m so proud of our kids,” said Thomas. “This is two weeks in a row where we’ve been down at halftime, and this week you could argue that it was even worse: We had given up the late score, and they had all that momentum. The kids could have easily hung their heads and gotten down, but they showed a lot of character, just showed a lot of guts and gutted it out. We’re fortunate to beat an outstanding football team.
“It was two groups of kids who fought all night and didn’t want their season to end, and we were fortunate to come out on top.”
Culver took the early lead on a 61-yard breakaway run by star running back Michael Salary midway through the first quarter, but Triton struck back with a pair of touchdowns from their own big-time player Adam Creighbaum in the second stanza, the second a 4-yarder with only 10 seconds remaining in the half to give the Trojans a 13-6 edge with Derek Sellers’ PAT.
The Trojans took over on their own 4-yard line following a big goal-line stand by their defense in the third quarter, and Creighbaum fumbled trying to make something happen for his team once more at the 7:18 mark. Cavs linebacker Matt Hurford fell on the fumble for the recovery and a quick score, and after another Triton fumble on the ensuing possession, sophomore quarterback Collin Stevens first completed a 42-yard pass to Sam Hendrickson and then capped off a three-play, 47-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard keeper to give Culver the lead for good.
Stevens completed a two-point conversion pass to James Dulin to give the Cavs a full seven-point advantage, although it turned out to be more than they needed as a fourth-quarter Triton drive stalled at the 5-yard line, and the home team ran down the clock with a methodical 12-play, 43-yard drive that lasted nearly seven minutes.
“That was a big one,” said Triton head coach Rodney Younis of the key turnover. “There’s nothing you can do about that. Adam is reading the option and he pulled it when he should’ve given it, but in a situation like that he’s a playmaker. He’s trying to make a big play instead of just getting us out of the hole, and you can’t fault a kid like that. They did a good job of stripping him, and they fell on the ball. That really gave them the momentum, and I thought that was the big swinging point in the game.”
It was the last outing for Creighbaum, who scored both of his team’s touchdowns and led all rushers with 205 yards in 31 carries and has been a big part of Triton’s repeat sectional championships the past two seasons as well as this season’s semifinal run.
“That Creighbaum is a special kid. He’s a once every 10 years, 20 years type of kid,” said Thomas. “They have got a lot of good kids that play hard but we just held our breath every time that he got the ball.”
Culver found a big performance from Salary, who led his team with 171 yards rushing despite struggling with back problems the past two weeks, as he and Creighbaum clashed in a match-up of two of the Northern State Conference’s finest running backs.
“He’s talented, he has a lot of God-given ability but why I’m most proud of him right now is for giving us a warrior effort,” said Thomas of Salary. “He’s less than 100 percent, but he’s just plugging away and giving it up for his teammates.”
“It was fun to watch. Obviously as a coach on the losing end it’s hard to swallow, but (Salary) is an amazing player, and I wish he would be graduating but he’s only a junior so he’ll be back,” said Younis. “They have a really good team. He’s done a great job with them and they’re young so almost all of them are going to be back. They’re a strong team.”
While Culver advances to its first sectional championship game in 10 years on the road next week, Triton closes out its season at 4-7.
“I’m proud of our guys. Obviously we’d like to win every year but that’s just not how it usually works,” Younis said. “And then it was kind of a rebuilding year for us. It’s just been a combination of things. Obviously we started off the season losing a player, and like I just told the guys when we broke that’s tough. But it’s going to help these guys turn into men.”
• Culver 20,
Triton 13
At Class A, Sectional 33 at Culver
Score by quarters
Triton: 0 13 0 0 — 13
Culver: 6 0 14 0 — 20
Scoring summary
First quarter
C — Michael Salary run 61 (kick fail), 5:30
Second quarter
T — Adam Creighbaum run 3 (pass fail), 5:22
T — Creighbaum run 4 (Derek Sellers kick), 0:10
Third quarter
C — Matt Hurford 2-yd fumble return (pass fail), 7:18
C — Collin Stevens run 1 (Stevens pass to James Dulin), 5:21
Team statistics: TR C
First downs: 15 14
Rushes: 51-294 46-198
Passing yards: 23 145
Comp - att - int:2-8-1 6-14-1
Punts - average:2-34.02-30.0
Fumbles - lost: 4-3 2-1
Penalties - yards: 5-45 6-50
Individual statistics
Culver
Rushing: Salary 27-171, Kevin Hogan 7-18, Sam Hendrickson 3-17
Passing: Stevens 6-14-1 for 145
Receiving: Hendrickson 3-63, Hogan 1-64, Salary 1-13, Dulin 1-5
Triton
Rushing: Creighbaum 31-205, Neil Robinson 13-59, Ethan Rutherford 3-18, Dane Kennedy 4-12
Passing: Kennedy 2-7-1 for 23, Creighbaum 0-1-0-0
Receiving: Darrick Ameigh 2-23
Records: Culver 7-4, Triton 4-7 (Final)
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Last Updated ( Monday, 02 November 2009 )
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