J.J. Cowan dives into the end zone for a Triton touchdown.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Visiting Jordan, a 4-A program from Durham, rallied past 3-A Triton in the second half to win, 49-31, to open varsity football season Thursday night.
“It was kind of strange,” said Triton coach Ben Penny. “I thought we were more focused at halftime as we’ve ever been as a football team. It was back to making mental mistakes when we get tired. We’re in the same situation we were in and we don’t want to be in this situation anymore.
“We’ve got to figure out what we’re doing wrong as coaches and what we’re doing wrong as players. Whether it’s hydration, nutrition, not being able to push ourselves to finish the football game. We’re sick and tired of blowing leads. That’s a point of emphasis for us.”
Junior Camauri McDougald ran for 136 yards on 16 carries and had two receptions for 42 yards for the Hawks (0-1). Senior Jalen Evans completed 4-of-10 passes for 87 yards and ran for 77 yards and a touchdown on seven carries for Triton.
J.J. Cowan ran for 47 yards and two touchdowns on 10 carries. James Shaw had two receptions for 45 yards. A.J. Dewar ran for 40 yards and a touchdown on eight carries. Eligah Holmes ran for 26 yards on nine carries. Wyatt Avery ran once for six yards. Kicker Christian Siliezar was perfect on the night, making his lone field goal attempt and all four extra point attempts.
“We did not execute tonight,” Penny said. “We came out and Jalen in the first half was unbelievable. We called more pass plays than I think we ever have at Triton in the first half. We were executing. And then in the second half, we came out and got tired and we weren’t executing. We’ve got to clean that up.”
Sophomore Amareon Blue ran for 159 yards and five touchdowns on 21 carries to lead the Falcons (1-0).
Triton scored on its opening drive when Siliezar kicked a 26-yard field goal and extended the lead in the second quarter when Cowan scored on a 4-yard run.
Jordan got on the board on a two-yard Blue run, but the extra point missed.
Triton responded with Evans running for a 21-yard touchdown and Cowan running for a seven-yard score to take a 24-6 halftime lead.
After a pair of Jordan scores cut Triton’s lead to 24-20, Dewar scored on a 3-yard run to push the lead to 31-20.
But Jordan finished the game by scoring 29 unanswered points.
Triton got a scare early in the third quarter when Cowan was injured and left the game in an ambulance. But he returned from the hospital late in the fourth quarter and rejoined his teammates on the sideline.
“It was tremendous,” Penny said. “It was a scary situation at first. He had some pains in places you don’t need to have pain in. Thankfully, it was a stinger. By the time he got there, he was fine. The medical staff did a great job. You’ve got to take precaution, I understand that. Thankfully, he’s back. He seems to be healthy. That’s a big blessing, no matter what the score is.”
Triton is at home against nonconference rival South Johnston next Friday.
“They have a tremendous defense,” Penny said. “I saw them in a scrimmage. They’re going to be hungry and I hope we are, too. You kind of get to judge how your season’s going to go on. You try to get better. Week one to week two defines a lot.
“If we can get better from week one to week two and tighten up some of these mental mistakes we make when we get tired, we’ll be OK. But we’ve got to hit the gas pedal. We can’t wait around and start 1-6 again and hope to sneak into the playoffs at the end. We’ve got to fix these problems now.”
Christian Siliezar kicks a field goal to start the scoring for the Hawks.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
James Shaw (33) makes a reception for Triton.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
Camauri McDougald slips a tackle in Triton’s season opener.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
A.J. Dewar gets to the Jordan quarterback as he throws.
(Dunn Area Sports Photo/John Lucas)
