Trojans: 'This is revenge'

Two unusual plays in the third quarter helped the Triopia-Meredosia Trojans win the most important game in the Western Illinois Valley Conference Friday night in Jacksonville.

No. 8-ranked Triopia (5-0, 3-0) scored two touchdowns during a 90-second stretch in the third quarter, and the Trojans went on to beat the No. 6 Routt Rockets 26-7.

“It feels good. It feels great,” said Triopia’s Jacob Fricke, who had three quarterback sacks Friday. “The last two years we lost to them. This is revenge.”

Triopia took an 8-7 lead into halftime and got the ball first in the second half. The Trojans drove the ball deep into Routt territory, but senior quarterback Kellan Phelps fumbled into the end zone just before crossing the goal line on a quarterback keeper. Senior lineman Jacob Millard was there to scoop it up, though, giving Triopia a 14-7 lead.

The Trojans then found their way back into the end zone just moments later to increase their lead.

On the ensuing kickoff, Millard sent a short, high-arcing kick to the center of the field, where no Routt players were positioned. The ball hit the ground and bounced back toward the Trojan tacklers and right into the hands of a charging Tim Wise.

Four plays later, Triopia was in the end zone again on a 2-yard Phelps run.

“It was huge for us,” Triopia coach Rich Thompson said of the third-quarter sequence. “I mean, my goodness, when you get those kind of breaks, a lot of good things can happen.”

The second touchdown all but ended Routt’s comeback bid. The Trojans added a late touchdown to conclude the scoring.

“We just made a mental mistake, and those kinds of things will get you beat,” Routt coach Barry Creviston said of the botched kickoff return.

Routt (4-1, 2-1) scored first Friday, when junior quarterback Ben Heinemann found senior Nick Ludvigsen on a 40-yard pass. Tim Denney kicked the extra point to give the Rockets a 7-0 lead.

The Trojans answered, however, early in the second quarter, when a 71-yard drive ended in a 6-yard touchdown run by Dave Arendt. Arendt’s run came on a fourth-and-three play.

“I don’t remember what play it was,” Arendt said. “All I remember was I better get five yards or else coach wasn’t going to be too happy.”

Neither team scored again in the first half, but Routt came close as time was winding down.

Four consecutive Heinemann passes gave Routt four consecutive first downs, but on a first-and-10 from the Trojans’ 24-yard line, Heinemann threw a pass over the middle that was intercepted by Triopia linebacker Mark Williams.

Triopia then took a knee to send the game to halftime.

“I’d say (the interception) was pretty important, because they had a lot of momentum there at the end of the half,” Williams said. “We kind of reversed it when I picked it off.”

The second half was all Triopia.

Routt’s offense got only three series in the second half and netted just two first downs. Triopia, meanwhile, gained yards in small bunches, eating the clock and tiring the Routt defense.

“That’s just one of the advantages of our offense,” said Arendt, who led all players with 162 yards on 37 carries and two touchdowns. “We just like to run them down, run the clock, and that’s one of the good things of being a running team.”

Triopia’s ball carriers had a hard time hanging on to the ball, however, and fumbled eight times in the game. But the Trojans recovered all but two of the loose balls. “It was a lot of effort fumbles, but we’ve got to knock that off,” Thompson said.

The Rockets struggled to stop Triopia’s rushing attack and had a similarly tough time running the ball themselves. Routt finished the game with minus-35 yards rushing.

“I think that was the best our defense has played,” Thompson said. “We gave up the score, and we gave up a few passing yards, but I was really impressed with how we tackled tonight.”

Routt’s offense spent very little time on the field in the second half, and the Rockets were without Heinemann for two of the team’s three series in the second.

Heinemann left the game with an apparent injury to his non-throwing shoulder, suffered while playing defense. The junior quarterback was initially replaced by sophomore Tyler Schmidt, but returned on the Rockets’ next series. Heinemann was intercepted by Williams for the second time, however, and Schmidt was back on the field for Routt’s last possession.

Creviston said he thought Heinemann dislocated the shoulder, but thought the junior might be ready to play next week.

The coach said it was a tough position to put Schmidt in.

“I had to lie to him a little bit and say, ‘Hey, it’s not that big of a game. Just get in there and have some fun,’” the coach said, smiling.

Routt hosts ISD (0-4, 0-2) next Friday night, while Triopia will host Brown County (4-1, 2-1) in Concord.

If Triopia beats Brown County, the Trojans will likely win their first WIVC title since 2005.

“I’m just real proud for the whole program right now,” Thompson said. “Hopefully we can refocus — we’re going to be excited tonight — but (today) and Sunday we’ve got to refocus and get ready for Brown County, because they are a good football team.”