Triton Central celebrates ICC title while focusing on postseason

One online preseason preview of the Indiana Crossroads Conference had Triton Central finishing last in the 8-team conference.

On the surface, not an unreasonable expectation considering the Tigers lost the most prolific quarterback in program history and a productive set of skill position players that won four sectional titles during their careers.

A deeper look into the program Hall of Fame coach Tim Able has built should have inspired confidence that the Tigers would remain a top-10 program in Class 2A.

Triton Central took an awkward path to seven wins. Both losses came to state-ranked opponents. Two wins came on Saturdays. And the Tigers ended the longest current winning streak in the state by defeating Indianapolis Lutheran, 16-13, on Sept. 6.

That win over the Saints in Triton Central’s ICC opener set up the opportunity to chase an ICC title. A loss one week later at Monrovia, 35-21, meant the Tigers could not lose again.

“I think that Monrovia loss really impacted us and we learned,” said senior quarterback Sam Collier (photo). “I think we really needed that loss. It kind of brought us back down to earth.”

To capture the program’s first ICC title since 2014, the Tigers turned the next five Friday nights into “championship Friday.” And with the exception of a hard-fought 19-16 win over Indianapolis Scecina, the Tigers roared to wins over Covenant Christian (40-0), Indianapolis Ritter (36-21 on a Saturday), Beech Grove (56-26) and Speedway (37-6).

With Lutheran’s win over Monrovia, there was a three-way tie for the ICC title — only the second for Able in his 12 seasons at Triton Central.

“Going into this season we got beat barely by Batesville. I felt we let one slip away there,” said Able of his team’s season-opening 21-14 loss to the Bulldogs. “Monrovia took it to us but otherwise, wow, 7-2 is a pretty nice record for how young we were starting out the year.”

The football program has won five straight sectional championships but never finished atop the ICC leaderboard.

“This means a lot,” said Collier. “We haven’t had this title since 2014. It’s been a decade. It means a lot to us, the school and the community.”

Over Abel’s tenure, three ICC schools have won a total of six state championships. Ritter won the Class 2A title in 2013 and 2016. Monrovia was 2A state champion in 2015. Lutheran has won the past three Class A state titles. And Covenant Christian, in its inaugural season as a member of the ICC, won the Class A title in 2020.

“Every 10 years we win one in this conference with the Ritters, the Scecinas, and the last few years with Lutheran and Monrovia,” said Able (photo). “You are talking about a couple of state champions, maybe six or seven in there. It is a really good conference.”

The 2024 title is the last for Triton Central, who is departing the conference along with Beech Grove, Monrovia and Speedway to join the Hoosier Legends Conference along with Indian Creek, Tri-West, Greenwood and Shelbyville.

Triton Central begins its quest for a sixth-consecutive sectional title Friday at winless Union County (0-9) — a program that has not won a sectional game since the 2000 season and has not finished a season with a record above .500 since 2004. The Tigers and Patriots last met in a 2015 sectional game that Triton Central won, 45-6.

If Triton Central wins — the Tigers are a 68-point favorite in the Sagarin Ratings — and Winchester (4-5) defeats Shenandoah (5-4) Friday, Triton Central would host the sectional semifinal game at Mendenhall Field. If Shenandoah wins, Triton Central would travel to Middletown to face the Raiders on Nov. 1 and guarantee a win would put the sectional championship game in Fairland on Nov. 8.

The top half of the Class 2A, Sectional 38 bracket has Lapel (6-3) at Northeastern (9-0) and Eastern Hancock (5-4) at Centerville (8-1).

Centerville’s only loss this season is to Northeastern, 16-12 on Sept. 27. Northeastern’s offense is averaging 45.2 points per game this year. Lapel defeated Eastern Hancock, 35-18 Friday. Eastern Hancock won a sectional title in 2023 and has scored at least 50 points in three games this season.

Junior running back Braden Brown (photo) rushed for more than 300 yards in Friday’s 37-6 win over Speedway. Brown has added an explosive element to Triton Central’s offense — he has a touchdown run of more than 75 yards in each of the last two weeks and four scores of more than 40 yards — which has now balanced out the offensive statistics after nine weeks.

Collier has thrown for 1,618 yards and 17 touchdowns while Brown, junior Bo West and sophomore Kade Stephens have helped the Tigers rack up 1,246 rushing yards and another 17 touchdowns.

While the sectional draw worked in Triton Central’s favor, Brown sees the Tigers focused on collecting more championships this season.

“I think we have a good chance of making it through the sectional if we practice hard and play hard and play like we played Lutheran,” he said. “I think we could make it pretty far into the tournament. I don’t really care about the draw. A team is a team and you never know what they can come up with. It’s just how we perform against the team in front of us that gets us to those championships.”

Triton Central at Union County

Site: Curry-Phenis Stadium.

Kickoff: 7 p.m.

2024 records: Triton Central 7-2; Union County 0-9.

Coaches: Tim Able, 108-39 in 12^th year at TC, 233-137 in 31^st year overall; Kenny Higgins, 0-9 in first year at Union County.

Series record: Triton Central lead the all-time series 8-1.

Last meeting: The Tigers won the most recent postseason meeting in 2015, 45-6.

Sagarin rating: Triton Central 62.31 (104th overall, 8^th in Class 2A); Union County -7.96 (314^th overall, 63^rd in Class 2A). Triton Central is a 68-point favorite.

Sectional 38: Lapel (6-3) at Class 2A, No. 12 Northeastern (9-0); Eastern Hancock (5-4) at Centerville (8-1); Shenandoah (5-4) at Winchester (4-5).

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