Bo Snyder celebrates a fumble recovey with Conner Ousley (70) and Billy Smith (75) during the first quarter of Triton’s Sectional 41 semifinal win Friday night in Bourbon. (Photos by James Costello)

BOURBON — On the eve of Halloween, Triton’s football team survived a couple of early scares versus Winamac. Then the Trojans ran away with a 48-29 Sectional 41 semifinal win over the Warriors at home in Bourbon.

They now advance to play LaVille — a 19-16 winner over Culver Community in Friday’s other semi — next Friday in Lakeville.

“Crazy things happen, and we didn’t get down. We were able to rally, and I’m proud of the guys for that,” said Triton coach Ron Brown. “That says a lot to our senior leadership. We talked a lot about that Thursday night — what we were going to do when bad things happen, and it looks like we rallied and did what we were supposed to do.”

Max Slusser gains tough yardage after being hit by Winamac’s Gabe Townsend.

Winamac took the lead just 19 seconds into the game when Gabe Townsend scooped up a Bo Snyder fumble and returned it 33 yards to give the Warriors an 8-0 lead with Keith Dell’s two-point conversion run at the 11:41 mark of the opening stanza. The home team responded with a 10-play, 68-yard touchdown drive capped off by Max Slusser’s 5-yard run up the middle at the 6:53 stop of the clock, but the Trojans still trailed 8-6 when Snyder’s two-point conversion pass to Tye Orsund on the run fell incomplete.

Triton needed little more than a minute to find pay dirt again. First, Snyder and the Trojan defensive unit returned the favor for Townsend’s earlier fumble recovery with a fumble recovery of Snyder’s own after a sack of Winamac QB Jeb Smith. Three plays later, Snyder hit Delano Shumpert for a 35-yard catch-and-carry into the end zone — one of three Shumpert touchdown catches at the game — that put his team out front, 13-8, with the first of newly-returned kicker Brandon Lenker’s six point-after kicks with 5:16 still remaining in the first period.

The Warriors used another big play to retake the lead on the ensuing kickoff, this one a 95-yard touchdown ramble by Harley Pugh that gave Winamac a tenuous, 15-13 advantage with Dakota Agee’s only extra-point kick of the night at the 4:59 mark. Triton took the lead for the final time, however, with a seven-play, 52-yard scoring drive capped off by Ethan Berry’s 18-yard run around the right side, and Lenker’s point-after kick put the Trojans ahead, 20-15, with 3:09 left to play in an opening quarter that saw a total of five touchdowns by the conference rivals.

Winamac threatened again, driving the ball down to the Trojans’ 1-yard line, but Berry recovered a fumble on a hand-off to Ethan Rogers in the backfield on the first play of the second stanza, and Triton marched the ball back 94 yards culminating in Snyder’s deep ball to Shumpert for a 63-yard score that gave the home team some breathing room, 27-15, with the Lenker point-after at the 10:10 mark.

“I felt like the guys were focused out here in warm-up, and they were just locked in. It shows that we have a special group of guys. We’ve still got something else to go do after this,” said Brown.

On a chilly night that felt much colder on the field than the thermometers ever registered, there were a total of 11 combined turnovers by the combatants, but the Trojans wound up plus-five in the turnover margin.

The home team came away with four interceptions and four fumble recoveries, including two interceptions by Slusser and a pick and fumble recovery by Lee Mullet, whose standout defensive performance also included a game-high seven tackles. Triton converted two of those extra possessions into scores — Snyder’s 35-yard completion to Shumpert in the first and a 1-yard TD run by Slusser to start the fourth period that pushed the Trojans out to their biggest advantage of the night at 48-21.

“I guess working on stripping the ball this week in practice helped out, huh?” said Brown. “That’s always great. It’s always wonderful when you get more possessions than the other team. Normally those lead to victories. Very pleased with that.”

Delano Shumpert makes Winamac’s Jeb Smith miss Friday night.

A car accident involving Lenker, Shumpert and lineman Billy Smith left Linker sidelined and Shumpert limited in Triton’s sectional-opener last week, and the duo made up for lost time Friday.

Lenker went 6-for-6 in points-after, while Shumpert hauled in six catches for 157 yards and three touchdowns for a very balanced Trojan offense.

“Shumpert is lightning in a bottle, and we let it out. Speed kills, and he’s got the speed. He did a great job tonight,” Brown said. “Lenker, having the PATs back, it’s wonderful to just be able to sit back and get those extra points when you want them. It’s a big help.”

As Shumpert led the Triton receiving corps, Snyder went 11-for-16 through the air with 202 passing yards and four touchdown completions. He ran for another 79 yards as part of a three-back attack by the blue and gold that saw Slusser rack up 115 yards and two TDs in 17 carries and Berry record another 100 yards and a touchdown in 12 rushes.

Bo Snyder looks for an open receiver while Billy Smith blocks for him.

Triton’s 508 total offensive yards outpaced the Warriors by more than 200 yards, and the Trojans’ balance contrasted sharply with a mostly one-dimensional Winamac offense that saw the visitors record 263 of their 304 total yards on the ground, including a full 241 rushing yards by Rogers, who finished with two of his team’s four scores in Bourbon.

The win was Triton’s second over the Warriors this season after a 36-19 victory at Winamac in Week 9. They followed up with a second-straight win over another conference opponent in Caston last week, and they’ll need to beat another HNAC opponent a second time when they travel to LaVille next week in search of the team’s first sectional title since back-to-back titles by the program in 2007-08.

“That team up north is a great team. We’re going to go up there, and we’re just going to execute good, fundamental football,” forecasted Brown. “I’m sure it’s going to be a hard-fought game. We’re going to do what we can do there.”

Brandon Lenker kicks one of six points-after out of the hold of Bo Snyder.