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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
The first two-and-a-half minutes of the Culver football team’s game against Triton in a Class 1A, Sectional 41 semifinal foreshadowed the rough night that would follow.
First, Triton’s Jayden Overmyer would blitz unblocked on Culver quarterback Jonas McCuen and would sack him and force a fumble that Esai Lemler recovered in the end zone for a touchdown.
“We had put something new that I don’t think Triton had seen before, but to do that, we were going to try and get Jack out in space and release him downfield on a pass,” Culver coach Austin Foust said. “The outside linebacker froze on it… and Jonas wasn’t sure what read he got out of there. That allowed for the unaccounted-for guy to come in and come from the blind side and make a good play.”
Then came a three-and-out possession and a touchdown run on Triton’s first play from scrimmage. Quickly, it was 13-0. A run on a fake punt try by Ethan Binion was spotted short of the first down, and Triton capitalized to score again.
By halftime, it was 42-0, and Triton went on to win 56-0.
The loss finished Culver’s 1-10 season. The job is to get
“The top priority, I think, for most schools around the state is our kids that are not in weight classes and are not playing other sports, just get in the weight room and continue getting stronger,” Foust said. “We’ve got a lot of guys back, a lot of guys that hadn’t played on a Friday night. Now we know what Friday night’s like. We know what it’s like underneath the lights and how we just have to get in the weight room and continue to get stronger.”
Foust was asked about how much encouragement he gave his younger players, especially his younger linemen, as well as the process involved in getting better.
“I wouldn’t say it’s so much encouragement but just kind of what it is,” Foust said. “We’re taking it game by game, and we did all season. I think collectively as a coaching staff, just talking about just getting better. Just trying to stay positive with the kids and using practice time and working on the fundamentals and things and knowing that eventually we’re going to reap the benefits.”
Ryan Beem, Brady Kindernay, Jack Rodgers, Braiden Molebash and Kolton Risner are the five seniors who are graduating. Rodgers was the leading rusher and a defensive standout at outside linebacker, and Molebash and Risner leave holes on the line.
Foust also said they will need reinforcements at the skill positions and said that might come from next year’s freshman class.
Foust said former coach and current athletic director Mike Zehner’s work in running the middle school program is a “huge help.”
Culver’s future will not include Knox and LaVille, as both are leaving the Hoosier North for the new Indiana Northern State Conference. Knox won the conference, and LaVille finished second, and both will be playing in sectional finals Friday.
Meanwhile, North Miami and South Central (Union Mills), who combined have had one winning season since 2017, will be replacing them.
Culver has a good history against South Central, eliminating them in four of the last five years in the sectional, including this year.
After losing all nine regular season games, Foust said the win over South Central was rewarding in that the players now know what it takes to win. But there was a message in the losses too.
“Obviously, it was big for our kids in the first round of sectional to get a win, so they could experience that and get that kind of taste, so they know what it’s like and know that it’s possible,” Foust said. “You know, sometimes too, I guess silver-lining stuff, sometimes there is some good things that come out of getting your butt kicked and that’s finding out you don’t like getting your butt kicked.
“I think our kids experienced it. Hopefully, we use that motivation to continue to get stronger, and hopefully, we can be the ones doing that next year and beyond.”
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