Knox’s Austin Risner hauls in a touchdown catch during the Redskins’ 34-33 win in triple overtime Friday night at Triton. (Photos by Mike Deak)

BOURBON – Triton was so close, they could smell it. Time after time, the Trojans had Knox beat. And, somehow, Knox escaped Bourbon with a 34-33, triple-overtime win Friday night.

Triton had the Class 2-A No. 11 Redskins on the ropes in the second half. Trailing 7-6, Trojan running back Delano Shumpert sprinted to the corner on a fourth-and-two, getting to the pylon before Knox could close him off. Triton got the two-point conversion to take a 14-7 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, Zac Pitney hit a beautiful squib kick that Shumpert fell on, Triton in business once again. The first play out quarterback Bo Snyder found Pitney for a 41-yard touchdown catch.

Up 21-7, it looked like the Trojans would get their first win of the year in stunning fashion.

Triton running back Max Slusser

Knox would respond, going to a hurry-up offense for the first time that caught Triton off guard. Dawson Patrick had a long run to the Triton six, which the Redskins’ Jared Prater later punched in from a yard out.

One of the biggest plays of the game would happen moments later. Triton melted nearly six minutes of clock, and thought it had worked inside the Knox 20, but a fade to Pitney in the corner was knocked away, to which everyone in blue and gold begged for what looked like a pass interference call that never came.

After Tye Orsund picked off a Knox pass on fourth down, Triton was again in business deep in Knox territory. Needing just three points to ice the game, Knox came up with a huge sack of Snyder on third down, taking Triton out of field goal range.

Following an eight-yard punt, the Redkins marched down the field and scored the tying touchdown with 34 seconds left on fourth and goal, a four-yard catch by Trey Fletcher.

In the first overtime, Knox and Triton exchanged fumbles, but Drew Stichter then hauled in a 10-yard touchdown pass to put the Trojans on the board. The two-point conversion failed. Knox answered in one play, a 10-yarder to Risner. Triton needed, and got, a block on the extra point attempt to keep the game alive.

In the next round, Orsund caught a nine-yarder, but a bad snap had Pitney shank his extra point attempt low and left. On the next play, Patrick rumbled in from 10 yards, and the kick was good.

Triton quarterback Bo Snyder

Depending on what was of importance from the outcome, the angles were mixed following what turned into a whale of a game.

“I definitely think we have things to build on,” stated Triton head coach Ron Brown. “I think next week we’ll add a few more surprises that we haven’t used yet, put us in position to score more points. When we get that moving, I think it could shock some more people.”

Snyder had his best passing day as a Trojan, going 15-25 for 247 yards, 160 of those yards to Pitney. Shumpert added 43 yards to go with his rushing touchdown. Snyder and Slusser combined for 105 yards on the ground.

“The kid is playing with a lot of heart and did a great job tonight,” Brown said of Snyder, who also scored on a six-yard run in the first half. “One of his biggest problems early on was his inability to run, and he did a great job showing that ability today. That really opened up the offense. Being one dimensional the first few weeks, what we saw tonight looks like the offense we envisioned coming into the season.”

Patrick led Knox with 81 yards and two scores, his touchdown in the first half getting Knox on the board. Prater had 145 yards of total offense.

“Nobody expected us to be able to play with these guys,” Brown stated. “I shouldn’t, but I get on the internet and read what others say about us. Dogging us, saying we can’t win. All we have going for us is numbers. My boys see those things, they read it, too, and we’re just here to come out each week and prove people wrong. We’re going to play the game, work hard, and not get beat up just because that’s what people expect us to be.”

Triton (0-8) will visit West Central (1-7) next Friday in the regular season finale. Knox (6-2) finishes up by hosting Caston (2-6).