BOURBON – Triton football coach Ron Brown makes no bones about it.

This game Friday night is not just “another” game for his Trojans.

Triton, which has prospered through triumph on the field and persevered through tragedy off of it this fall, will play for something much bigger than just a sectional trophy.

The highly-motivated and inspired Trojans, who will face LaVille for a Class 1-A sectional championship, will be trying to reach a huge goal in honor of a fallen teammate. Junior Cam Scarberry, a two-way starter for the Trojans, lost his life in a tragic car accident on Sept. 17 near Atwood.

“This is not just business as usual for us this week,” said third-year coach Brown. “This is one of the last goals that we have been focused in on. Our guys are definitely very motivated and locked in to play Friday night.”

Brown says that himself and his players are motivated every day by the memory of No. 54. Winning the sectional was on Scarberry’s goal sheet prior to this season.

“It’s a motivating factor every day for us,” emphasized Brown. “You can hear it every day before practice and every day after practice.”

“It’s probably unfair that we have 12 players on the field all the time and they only have 11,” said Brown following a 48-29 home win over Winamac last Friday night. “I think that’s had a lot to do with some of the things we’ve been able to do.”

Triton owns two sectional titles in program history with those combining in 2007 and 2008. LaVille, which has lost in the sectional title game each of the past three years, has three sectional crowns from 1982, 2002 and 2003.

The Trojans, who at 8-3 are having one of the program’s best seasons in decades, will try to beat the Lancers (7-4)  for the second straight time this season. Triton beat LaVille 22-14 back on Aug. 25 in a game moved to Triton due to construction at LaVille. Bo Snyder fired three touchdown passes to Delano Shumpert that night to lead the Trojans. Kolby Watts scored on a 90-yard kickoff return and a 30-yard run for the Lancers in a game which saw all of the points scored in the first half.

“It’s a positive that we have beaten them, but LaVille has improved since then,” noted Brown, whose team has won its last three games. “But, I think that we have to. For us, we need some others to step up and get involved as I expect them to key on Delano this time around. We also have to shore up our special teams play.

“I feel good because we are extremely balanced, which makes us hard to prepare for. We have Slusser and Berry running over people and playmakers like Shumpert, Stichter and Orsund all over the field for us.”

The numbers definitely bear that out.

Triton has passed for 1,881 yards and rushed for 1,830 yards in 11 games. The Trojans are led by junior quarterback Bo Snyder. He is 105-206 passing for 1,876 yards with 22 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Snyder has also rushed for 304 yards and four scores. Senior Max Slusser has 138 carries for 844 yards on the ground with 12 touchdowns and Ethan Berry has 67 totes for 402 yards and eight scores. Junior Delano Shumpert has 43 receptions for 837 yards and 14 touchdowns, while Tyler Orsund had 22 catches for 536 yards and two scores and Drew Stichter 17 catches for 232 yards and five touchdowns.

The Trojan defense is led by top tackler Lee Mullet, who had 78 stops. The foursome of Snyder, Orsund, Slusser and Stichter are the next highest tacklers. Slusser leads the way with seven interceptions.

There is no doubt that the Trojans are focused on winning for a much, much more important reason to them than just the program’s first sectional title in nine years.

“Forget the hardware. We are winning this for Cam,” tweeted star receiver Shumpert on Wednesday.

LaVille coach Will Howstrawser, who has a 39-18 record in his fifth season in charge of the Lancers, is not surprised at all by the break through season by Triton.

“It does not surprise me at all where Triton is at,” said Howstrawser. “I told people at the start of the season that they were a team to watch this year in our conference. You could see things turning down there under coach Brown and his staff. We have a tremendous amount of respect for what they have done this season.

“My hat’s off to them for who they have executed and performed all season. They are so diverse offensively. Snyder can run or throw it. And it looks like their play on both the offensive and defensive lines have improved tremendously since we played them in week two. It just looks like they have gotten better as a football team each week.

“It seems like we played them an eternity ago. In that first game, we were on our heels from the start and they took the game to us. I think that games are won or lost in the trenches. We have to be able to get our defense off the field Friday night against them. We can’t go three and out. We have to sustain drives. And field position will be a big key too.”

Triton is averaging 32.4 points per game and allowing 22.6 per outing. The Trojans have scored 30 or more points six times this fall. The Lancers are averaging 14.4 points and giving up 12.5. LaVille, which beat Culver 19-16 last week, has won its last four games.

The Lancers won a thriller last week to earn a spot in their fourth straight sectional final. LaVille scored the final 19 points of the game in the final 9:36 to beat Culver at home for the second time in the past three weeks. A 31-yard field goal by Dakota Figg with just 17 seconds left in the game gave the Lancers the 19-16 victory over the Cavaliers.

LaVille has thrived since inserting senior Braxton Sauer at quarterback to replace freshman Layton Czarnecki. Sauer, who had a touchdown run and a 66-yard touchdown pass last week to rally his team past Culver, was playing running back earlier in the season due to an injury. Sophomore Watts leads the LaVille ground game with 462 yards and freshman Andrew Dill has 443. Jacob Good has 12 receptions, including three four touchdowns.

Howstrawser also has great empathy for what has happened to Triton off the field.

“It’s a tribute to their players, coaches and community for how they have responded to honor Cam,” said Howstrawser. “I know that when he died it affected our kids too. We reached out to Triton to support them, as did a lot of programs around the area. It’s bigger than football. This is just a game. It’s about being there for each other.”

Brown, who also coached Scarberry as a Triton wrestler, knows that everyone on his side will be ready for this one regardless of any bumps or bruises that they have from a long season.

“No one is going to miss this game,” he concluded.

The Triton at LaVille game kicks-off at 7 p.m. Friday in Lakeville.

The Trojans can set a program record with their ninth win Friday night. Triton has won eight games three times in program history, going 8-1 in both 1970 and 1972 and finishing 8-5 in 2008.

The Triton-LaVille winner will play either No. 1 and 2016 state runner-up Pioneer (11-0) or Lafayette Central Catholic (4-7) in the regional on Nov. 10. Triton would host Pioneer or play at LCC. LaVille would be on the road at either one of them for a regional matchup.

Triton lost at Pioneer 62-8 back on Sept. 21 in their first game after Scarberry passed away.