Triton quarterback Bo Snyder reaches back to throw a pass under pressure during the Trojans’ scrimmage at Manchester last week. (Photos provided/ Jason Hefner)

BOURBON — Triton football coach Ron Brown is trying not to let himself get too excited too early. He’s done that before, but his Trojans weren’t quite there yet.

Still, when the third year coach considers all his team has coming back in 2017, it’s hard not to feel a little fired up. It could be a breakthrough year for the Bourbon program.

“There’s hope there. Let’s hope that there’s more than just hope,” said Brown.

For starters, junior Bo Snyder returns to lead Triton from the quarterback position. He set passing records for the program as a mere sophomore in 2017, and he’s a year wiser. He’s also gotten faster in the offseason, making him a running threat to boot. And it’s not just Snyder either: There’s a deep core of receiving talent returning around him, too.

“We asked a lot of him last year as a sophomore, but the thing that really benefits him this year is the cast that he has around him. He was able to throw the ball to a bunch of people, but they didn’t catch the ball. That’s kind of important,” joked Brown.

“The other great thing about him, last year he was able to throw the ball well for a sophomore, but now he’s faster too so it makes him a dual threat. And he’s not afraid of contact, so that’s always a plus. He’s got a whole bunch of receivers that are all fast, and you have confidence in all of them. Drew Stichter is a beast. Delano Shumpert, Tye Orsund, Max Slusser when he gets put up there. Ethan Berry, Nate Riggins will rotate in. Those are quite a few more than you would expect from a 1A school, and most of those kids have been playing some significant time since they were freshmen.”

The promise of Triton’s passing game was in evidence in last week’s scrimmage at Manchester. The Trojans recorded a total of seven passing touchdowns in that final preseason tune-up. But perhaps more surprising than that was the team’s ability to pound the ball up the middle.

A quick look at the numbers on Triton’s offensive line should help explain why — they aren’t the kinds of numbers you typically see on the same Class A team. Guard Matthew Hefner is listed at 298 pounds, tackle Connor Ousley is 6’4” and 301 pounds, and Brown estimates fellow tackle Billy Smith is 295 himself, to name a few of those numbers.

“(Friday) we were able to score seven total touchdowns. It’s a scrimmage, but still the ball was caught and they were in the end zone,” said Brown. “And we ran a few in, and we were actually able to pound the ball over some people, which I haven’t seen for quite awhile at Triton. Max Slusser looked great running the ball; he was fast and lowered his shoulders. Ethan Berry, same thing. Lee Mullett got in the mix. Normally he just plays defense, but he wants to carry the ball this year. He looked good. A lot of names you can throw out there with kids that you’re confident of, and we’re mostly talking juniors and seniors, so that’s a big difference, too, for Triton.”

Max Slusser runs the ball while Camron Scarberry blocks for him during last week’s scrimmage.

It’s been awhile since the Trojans have been able to record a winning season — an 8-5 campaign in 2008 to be exact. Since then, the wins have been few and far between for Triton, which is part of the reason Brown doesn’t want to get ahead of himself in predicting just how good his team could be this year. There have been definite glimmers of hope along the way — last season’s triple-overtime contest at Knox is one that stands out — but the Trojans haven’t yet been able to translate that promise into consistent week-to-week showings, and Brown’s teams have finished with just two wins each of the past two seasons.

But those were young teams still in the process of building. This season’s squad seems different, and the past two years of hard work may finally pay dividends in the win column.

“Two years ago I had quite a few young men that sat down with me in my exit meetings and handed me a sheet of paper with what they wanted to do by the time they leave here, and they’ve been the driving force to doing this — not things that I demanded; things that they came up with and did,” explained Brown. “You had a 75 percent attendance rate during the school year of these kids doing this. So I think the shift started a few years ago, and now that they’re older and that they have control of the team, their personality is really overtaking it. It’s some pretty good kids to overtake a program.”

Promise is one thing. Game day execution is another, and Brown can’t yet be sure his Trojans will answer the bell come Friday. When South Newton’s power game comes to town at 7:30 tonight, it’ll be a good opening test and a measuring stick for Triton.

“My biggest question mark right now has to be, the teams that we’ve seen in the summer, the stuff that we’ve done — how is it going to correlate to the field? We can do all the seven-on-sevens that we want, but we didn’t block, we didn’t tackle,” said Brown. “My question mark is going to be what’s going to happen when we line up against some really tough, nasty guys? Are we going to step up and play or are we going to shy away? That’s the challenge that we give the kids every day. And I guess we’ll find out Friday what’s going to happen because I can guarantee you it’s going to be a fast, physical South Newton team that’s going to come in.”