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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Winamac (1-4, 0-4 Hoosier North) at Culver (2-3, 0-3), 7 p.m.
Triton running back Anthony Schuh came into last week’s game against Culver averaging 12 yards a carry. Culver held him to eight yards a carry.
Schuh came in averaging 202 yards per game rushing. Culver held him to 131.
Culver also forced three turnovers.
Still, it could not prevent the Cavaliers from suffering a 42-0 loss to the Trojans, a conference and sectional rival. The Triton defense held Culver to 66 total yards.
“They’re good up front, and they’ve got pretty good inside linebackers as well,” Culver coach Mike Zehner said.
Starting center Steven Pugh missed the game with an injury, and sophomore Braiden Molebash got his first start at center. Travis Blankenship made his first start at tackle, and Robert Evans got a start at guard. Zehner called Pugh one of the team’s leaders and best offensive linemen.
Zehner did not specify Pugh’s injury and said he was waiting for a doctor’s clearance to see if Pugh would be available this week.
“Probably not our full strength on the offensive line, but I can’t fault those guys,” Zehner said. “We just couldn’t get the ball rolling, maintain blocks, get some kickouts or whatever it might be. But it definitely made a difference.
“I thought defensively, we really played well. Got some turnovers when we needed to, but we just couldn’t get anything going offensively.”
The loss continues an up-and-down stretch covering well over two years. Since a three-game losing streak to start the 2020 season, Culver has not had more than a two-game winning streak or a two-game losing streak.
Culver’s next two games are home games against Winamac and Caston, who are a combined 1-9.
“You give him time, and he’ll pick you apart, that’s for sure,” Zehner said of Winamac quarterback Cash Roth. “They’ve got some athletes. They’re no slouch. I think we’re very similar as far as teams go. Somebody said well, they lost all their players from last year, but the thing is, these guys played against those players every day in practice. They’re somewhat battle tested just because of the level of competition they played last year.”
Culver is 3-4 against Winamac since they became conference rivals in 2015. Winamac won last year 28-0 at Roudebush Field.
