In a steamy atmosphere Monday night, the Triton Hawks overpowered the young Hobbton Wildcats 34-22 in a rain-delayed game carried over from last week.
The Wildcats (0-2) got the first possession, starting from their 34-yard line. The Hawks’ defense shut them down, forcing Hobbton to punt.
Triton took over at midfield, but on second down, Hobbton’s Thomas Tart picked off a Carson Strickland pass and returned it 50 yards for the first score of the game. The two-point conversion failed, leaving the Wildcats with a 6-0 lead.
The Hobbton defense shut down the next Triton possession, forcing a turnover at the 7:02 mark. The Wildcats took over at their 29 but were unable to get anything going and punted the ball away.
Hobbton’s defense answered by shutting down the Hawks again, but the Wildcats’ ensuing possession ended with a fumble at their 19-yard line.
Triton capitalized on the turnover with a short two-play scoring drive with 56 seconds left in the first quarter. The extra point gave the Hawks a 7-6 advantage.
Another Hobbton possession ended with a fumble before the Hawks struck again with 3:26 left in the half. Strickland connected with O’Brain Ward for a 65-yard touchdown pass, extending Triton’s advantage to 14-6 following the extra point.
The Wildcats took over at their 29 but were again forced to punt.
With 57 seconds left in the half, Strickland found Jackson Williams for a 77-yard touchdown pass. The extra point sent Triton into halftime with a 21-6 lead.
On the first drive of the second half, the Hawks found the end zone on a 6-yard run to extend their lead to 28-6.
The next Hobbton possession ended with another fumble, and Triton turned the turnover into points on a 73-yard touchdown run by Jermaine Price. The Wildcats blocked the extra-point attempt, leaving the score at 34-6.
Hobbton found some offensive rhythm in the fourth quarter, moving the ball on the ground from its 21-yard line.
With 6:22 left, Jeremiah Lyon scored on a 13-yard run to cut the deficit to 34-12. Devin Dunn powered through the middle for the two-point conversion, making it 34-14.
The Wildcats’ defense then forced a Triton punt, and Hobbton took over at its 1-yard line.
Behind its offensive line and a steady rushing attack, Hobbton moved the ball downfield. With 53 seconds remaining, Lyon scored from 5 yards out before Dunn powered his way into the end zone for another two-point conversion, cutting the Hawks’ lead to 34-22.
Triton ran out the remaining time to secure the 34-22 victory.
“It was hot,” Hobbton head coach Adam Scronce said after the game. “Both teams got worn down real quick with the heat. They had more folks than we had. We played hard, we fought. We kinda got down a little bit there at the end of the first half and couldn’t recover. They jumped out ahead of us.
“Our kids didn’t quit. They kept playing, they kept fighting. We can build on that.”
Operating out of its Wing-T offense, Hobbton relied heavily on the running game, totaling 326 yards on 49 carries. Johnson led the Wildcats with 103 rushing yards.
Turnovers proved costly for Hobbton. Quarterback Braxton McLamb fumbled three times, losing two, while Johnson also lost a fumble.
The loss dropped the Wildcats to 0-2 after they opened the season with a 47-24 loss to Midway.
Defensively, Hobbton recorded its first takeaway of the season with Tart’s interception but has struggled to limit big plays through the air. Triton connected on touchdown passes of 65 and 77 yards Monday after Midway also found success with deep passes in the season opener, including touchdowns to Wesley Tew and Ace Matthews.
Hobbton will look for its first win of the season when the Wildcats host Dixon at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 4. Hobbton will then begin a two-game road stretch against Rosewood and East Columbus.