Trojans claim historic title for fallen team mate

A week ago it was the running of James Snyder and Ethan Berry that pushed the Trojans past Winamac. This week senior Delano and junior D’Angelo Shumpert were the heroes on both sides of the ball.
The Trojan “everything” back on offense – Delano – broke the back of the Blue Jays in the fourth quarter. Brother D’Angelo Shumpert gathered in a 67 yard James Snyder pass to put the Trojans up 21-17 and Delano finished them off with a 58 yard run to the house on the next possession.
For good measure Delano made a big hit on North Judson receiver Chuckie Wilcox forcing a fumble that Tye Orsund recovered to insure the win. It was part of his team leading 11 tackles, followed by Orsund’s 10.
“Great players make great plays,” said Triton coach Ron Brown. “You have to believe in them to make plays. If you’re going to count on them to do that you take it when it doesn’t work out. Tonight we just made play after play.”
“I’m very proud of our kids, they fought hard,” said North Judson coach Ted White. “They (Triton) have a lot of talent, good receivers, great quarterback. They caught us in some big plays.
“I don’t think we ever did have a big play and when we did it got called back,” said White. “I think we had four total penalties on the one drive. We’d get a 20 yard run but it would come back 10 from that. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”
White’s team had a gritty performance controlling the tempo in the third quarter with their option attack, taking a 17-14 lead and then mounting an early fourth quarter drive trying to put themselves in control but four holding penalties slowed them and they were forced to punt to start the fourth quarter just in front of the Shumpert family’s heroics.
The Blue Jays scored first and changed offensive looks several times in the game but it was the big play ability of the Trojans that won out.
“We came out with the ‘Munster’ set with our big guys in the backfield and pounded it down on them and drove it down that way,” said White. “Then we tried to spread them out. They have some big guys and our kids still held their own I think. We just didn’t get the breaks we needed.”
There were plenty of accolades to go around on the Triton side with Orsund grabbing two key catches of 54 and 24 yards and grabbed an interception to go with his fumble recovery on defense. D’Angelo had an interception and 37 yard return to spark the Trojans in the first quarter.
“The kids did a great job,” said Brown. “They are the ones that have this program headed in the right direction, they put the hard work in, they believe I couldn’t be more proud of them. We have a lot of talent on this team. They do a great job.”
Triton now has the school record for wins in a season with nine but they were playing for an even bigger purpose. A year ago the Trojans lost team mate Cameron Scarberry in a tragic automobile accident. His presence was still there as team captains carried his jersey number 54 with them to accept the championship trophy.
“For me that was the biggest thing,” said Brown. “I really wanted to get this win for Cameron. I feel like that gives us some closure. I couldn’t be more proud of the kids for focusing on that. That’s a lot to put on them. They stepped up big.”
“Everything I did was for number 54,” said Delano Shumpert. “That’s all I can say. Everything I did was for him. That’s all I played for today. That’s all I came in here to do, and that’s what I got done, me and my team.
“We have this checklist for our fallen teammate,” he said. “He wanted to be 6-3 in the season, and he wanted to win a sectional championship by his senior year. We knew that was our goal. We needed to get it done, and we got it done.”
The 9-3 Trojans will finally get to play at home next week for the regional title against unbeaten Pioneer. Game time is set for 7 p.m.
•TRITON 29, NORTH JUDSON 17
at North Judson
Triton 6 8 0 15 – 29
N. Judson 7 3 7 0 – 17
Scoring Summary:
First Quarter
NJ – TD Chuckie Wilcox 12 Yd Run (Seth Barnett Kick)
T – TD Tye Orsund 24 Yd Pass From James Snyder (Brandon Lenker Kick No Good)
Second Quarter
T – TD James Snyder 1 Yd Run (Delano Shumpert Run For Two-Point Conversion)
NJ – FG Seth Barnett 33 Yd
Third Quarter
NJ – TD Caden Peretti 1 Yd Run (Seth Barnett Kick)
Fourth Quarter
T – TD D’Angelo Shumpert 66 Yd Pass From James Snyder (Brandon Lenker Kick)
T – TD Delano Shumpert 58 Yd Run (Tye Orsund Run For Two-Point Conversion)
Rushing – (Triton 26 carries for 151 yards) D. Shumpert 8-103 TD, J. Snyder 10-29 TD, E. Berry 8-19. (North Judson 39 carries for 265 yards) F. Greer 22-100, C. Peretti 9-89 TD, C. Wilcox 8-62 TD.
Passing – Snyder 11-14 182 yards 2 TD, Peretti 2-7 24 yards 2 INT.
Receiving – Shumpert 3-74 TD, Orsund 2-71 TD. Wilcox 2-24.
Tackles – D. Shumpert 11.