BOURBON — The way the Trojans saw it, no one was really picking them to win Friday night’s Hoosier North Athletic Conference contest with visiting Knox. They may as well take some chances and see what happens.

Triton took it to the Redskins early, turning its guests over three times and recovering a squib kick all inside the first quarter on the way to a 14-0 lead, then held on through three more wild quarters in a 14-12 thriller in Bourbon.

“We were I don’t know how many point underdogs so we felt like we might as well go for it and throw the kitchen sink at them and see what happens. That’s what they did,” said Triton coach Ron Brown.

“I can’t be more proud of the mindset that the kids had all week, how they came into this game. I mean 14-12, that’s a hard-fought game between two really good programs. Knox is a great program. Coach (John) Hendryx, a Hall of Fame coach. I’m just really proud of the way the kids responded tonight.”

“It just feels amazing. It is just such a blast to come out here and play,” said Triton senior Ethan Berry. “It was a hard-fought game, but we just pushed a little harder. We fought every inch; we fought every battle. We came out on top. It was just an amazing feeling.”

Triton set the tone early when Tye Orsund recovered a fumbled punt return on Knox’s first possession of the night. The Trojans’ drive stalled out just inside Knox territory, but they turned the Redskins over again when Andrew Parker wrapped up Knox fullback Dawson Patrick at the Knox 22, and Tye Orsund smothered the resulting fumble when the ball squirted loose to the 38. Triton used the short field to grab a 7-0 lead just four plays later on an 8-yard run by Berry and extra-point kick from Brandon Lenker at the 6:05 stop of the frame.

The Trojans kept the pressure on the Redskins with a squib on the ensuing kickoff — the players’ call — and the gamble paid off. James Snyder recovered the kick at the Knox 33, and Triton needed just five plays to punch it in again as Snyder hit Orsund with a high floater just inside the corner of the end zone to give the home team a 14-0 lead after Lenker’s second successful PAT at the 4:14 mark.

“It’s so satisfying when you can see the kids take what you talked about all week, they see an opportunity, they go for it,” said Brown.

“It’s just a tone-setter at the beginning. Come out, hit them hard, get them a couple turnovers, and then they’re shook for the rest of the game,” explained Triton senior Delano Shumpert. “After we get a little bit of momentum, just a little bit, it doesn’t stop.”

Triton tried another squib kick, but the Redskins recovered on the next possession, driving the ball 65 yards in seven plays capped off by Patrick’s 1-yard TD plunge with 54.5 seconds remaining in the opening stanza. Billy Smith blocked the extra-point kick, however, and the Trojans still held onto a 14-6 lead at halftime.

Down but not yet out, the Redskins drove the ball 67 yards on the opening possession of the second half punctuated by Patrick’s second touchdown rumble at the 8:30 stop of the clock, but the Trojans held on a two-point conversion run attempt by quarterback Zac Rose to maintain a 14-12 advantage. The two teams traded field position the rest of the way, and when a Triton drive stalled at the Trojans’ own 34 late in the fourth, it looked like Knox’s offense would have one more chance with 48 seconds remaining. But Berry salvaged a low snap to get off a good punt, and Shumpert recovered a fumble on the kick return to seal the wild win. Snyder and the home team set up in the victory formation, and Triton celebrated as the clock wound down in Bourbon.

“Great players make great plays when you need them, and that’s what happened,” said Brown of Shumpert’s game-sealing play. “I thought let’s get some speed down there, get something special to happen. I didn’t think that was going to happen. I thought we were going to have to run down there, tackle them so that they would have to take a long field, but you know what, the best case scenario happened and the game was over. It was awesome.”

“Just a moment of adrenaline,” explained Shumpert of the fumble recovery. “Coach Brown with the nice substitution there. And we’ve got to thank our punter and our line for making the awesome punt right where it was. It was just nice to help our team get the victory tonight.”

“We just came out here and hit them hard, and we just gave it everything we’ve got. We ripped for that ball, we hit them and just did everything we could to get that ball from them,” Berry said.

Playing in his first game since the Trojans’ Week 1 win over Caston, Berry led Triton’s rushing corps with 49 yards in 16 carries, while Shumpert ran the ball five times for 41 yards as Triton finished with 156 yards on the ground. Snyder ran for 38 yards in 11 carries, and he finished 8 for 23 for 79 passing yards and the Orsund TD connection in the first. The Trojans were out-gained a total of 301 offensive yards to 235 but made the big plays when they needed to, and the Redskins’ four turnovers in Bourbon proved to be their undoing.

Shumpert led the Trojans in receiving, too, with 53 yards on five catches. He was also a defensive standout with five tackles, second only to Orsund’s six.

Patrick ran for 136 yards in just 18 carries to lead all rushers at the game,and Knox finished with 76 passing yards on 5-of-8 passing by Rose and Jared Prater in the Redskins’ second straight loss.

With its first consecutive wins of the year, Triton (5-3, 4-2 HNAC) pulls even with both Knox and LaVille in Hoosier North Athletic Conference play. The Trojans play host to Winamac next week, when Knox hosts Caston in the conference-capper for both teams.