David O’Neill rushed for 213 yards in Tri’s 28-19 win over Centerville on Aug. 26. Photo by Ryan Tincher.
LEWISVILLE, Ind. – The first quarter may have seemed to go by quickly, but the rest of Friday night’s football game took a long time to complete as Tri outlasted Centerville 28-19.
The Titans had just scored on what would become the final play of the first period of the Tri-Eastern Conference contest, when lightning appeared to the west and soon a downpour that cause a nearly two hour delay.
“The weather delay kind of woke us up a little bit,” Tri Head Coach Andrew Totheroh said.
The teams found there way inside the school during the break.
“It was a good thing,” said. “We kind of came in in a lull from the victory last Friday at Union City, maybe a little big headed. Centerville did a great job of bringing it to us.”
David O’Neill gave the Titans their 6-0 advantage with a 31-yard run with 0:00.2 left in the opening stanza.
After the delay, the 0.2 seconds would be wiped off and the teams would start the second period.
The Bulldogs were able to tie the contest at 13-13 by halftime.
Tyler Rodandello caught a 22-yard pass from Dylan Benedict to make it 6-6.
On their next drive, the Titans got another touchdown from O’Neill on a 51-yard run. He added the PAT boot and it was 13-6.
As the half came to a close, Benedict found Rodandello again with a 27-yard scoring strike. With the PAT by Sophie Neher, the game was knotted at the intermission.
The Titans took control in the third frame with two scores. Kyler Burchett found the end zone on a 27-yard run and Drew Mondrush tossed an 18-yard pass to Masen Phelps to put Tri on top 28-13.
“It was a long night for both teams,” Centerville Head Coach Kyle Padgett said. “It was a great game and hard-fought.”
But Padgett wants more from his Bulldogs.
“We won’t be successful until we get mentally tougher,” he said. “We’re physical and we hit and we’re not afraid of anyone, but we make too many mental mistakes.”
“They beat us on the big plays,” Padgett continued. “We’re out of position and we’re not making adjustments to formations and offensively, we don’t kow our assignments. We’ve got to get mentally tougher.”
Centerville’s Reese Vandevender added a 1-yard plunge for the final score of the contest in the fourth period.
“It was a very good night,” Totheroh said of his team’s second win in a row. “We both love to run the ball and we’re both blue-collar. It was a very physical game.”
O’Neill was the workhorse for the Titans for the second straight week as he ran for 213 yards on 27 carries. Combined with with his 311-yard effort against Union City, O’Neill has 524 yards and four touchdowns this season.
Mondrush was 3-of-6 passing for 32 yards. Phelps was the top receiver with two catches for 29 yards.
Defensively, Logan Stephens led the Titans with seven solo tackles. Alex Melton added six tackles.
Vandevender led the Bulldogs with 79 yards rushing on 20 carries. Benedict finished the night 9-of-24 for 129 yards. Rodandello had 3 grabs for 52 yards.
Rodandello topped the Centerville defense with 11 tackles with Kody Witham and Cole Cooper adding 10 stops each.
Tri (2-0, 2-0) is at Lincoln next Friday for another conference contest, while the Bulldogs (0-2, 0-1) travel to Shenandoah.