INDIANAPOLIS – Class 2A, No. 6 Triton Central played a nearly flawless first half Friday night to throttle Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter, 58-15.

Quarterback Jace Stuckey completed 10 of his 11 pass attempts for 306 yards and three touchdowns. The junior also ran for a touchdown in a dominant two-quarter performance.

Senior Brad Schultz caught seven passes for 223 yards and all three of Stuckey’s TD passes.

And junior Ray Crawford rushed for 99 yards on nine carries and had two touchdowns.

That trio did not take an offensive snap in the second half.

“We didn’t like the start real well with our first special teams play and we didn’t do too well on our second-down play but once we scored that first touchdown everything went our way,” said Triton Central head coach Tim Able.

After a 9-yard run by Crawford on the game’s first offensive play, Stuckey was sacked for a 5-yard loss. Stuckey rectified that negative yardage with an 82-yard touchdown strike to Schultz, who was 10 yards past any Ritter defender when he caught the ball in stride.

That set the tone for Triton Central’s first-team offense which scored on all seven of its possessions in the first half Friday at St. Vincent Field on the campus of Marian University.

“We will want to start a little bit better next week, make those first few plays a little sharper,” said Able. “There are always things you can getter better at and learn from – don’t repeat the same mistakes. We have a huge week ahead because Scecina is a really good ball club.”

The Tigers (5-1, 3-1 Indiana Crossroads Conference) did an excellent job of not overlooking a struggling football program while a greater challenge awaits on the horizon.

The defense forced Ritter to punt on four of its first-half possessions, got a fumble recovery and held tough on fourth down when the Raiders (1-4, 0-4 ICC) moved into the red zone.

Crawford produced a 53-yard run on the first down of TC’s second possession then finished the second scoring drive with an 8-yard run.

The third touchdown, a Stuckey 1-yard plunge, came after three straight completions to Schultz, Mason Compton and Schultz again.

Brayden Wilkins tackled Ritter punter Osvaldo Carlos in the end zone after a bad snap for a safety.

Following the Ritter free kick, three Crawford and Wilkins runs netted 22 yards and Schultz took a quick pass from Stuckey and avoided a handful of defenders to reach the end zone for a second time.

Following a Ritter fumble, Stuckey connected with Compton deep down the field for a 50-yard gain. Sam Kemper punched the ball in the end zone for a 37-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Ritter’s best drive against Triton Central’s first-team defense followed. The Raiders put together an 11-play drive that stalled at the TC 19 when quarterback Ben Johnson overthrew his receiver.

Three plays later, Stuckey found Schultz along the Ritter sideline. He cut back across the field and nearly reached the end zone. Schultz was tackled at the 1-yard line and Crawford collected his second score of the game to make it 44-0.

Following another three-and-out for the Ritter offense and a long punt return by Schultz to the Ritter 19, Stuckey rewarded Schultz with a 19-yard scoring reception to cap off the first half.

Low on numbers, Ritter did not have a junior varsity team to face Triton Central. That worked out for the TC coach who was able to get the JV two quarters of work on a Friday night.

Jay Roberts broke free for a 53-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter to get the Raiders on the scoreboard.

Chris Perkon finished off a six-play scoring drive early in the fourth quarter with a powerful 9-yard touchdown run that extended the lead to 58-7.

“I am proud of our JV getting it in there and scoring,” said Able.

Roberts collected his second touchdown of the game on a 4-yard pass from Johnson with just over a minute left in the game.

Triton Central now turns its attention toward a key ICC matchup with Class 2A, No. 2 Scecina (5-1, 3-1 ICC), who lost 28-19 Friday to Class A, No. 1 Indianapolis Lutheran (6-0, 5-0 ICC).

Triton Central and Scecina each have one loss this season – both to Lutheran.

“It’s a whole different game,” said Able. “There will be a lot less room for error. Let’s see if we are ready for the big time because that’s a huge game because we are also in the same sectional.”

Triton Central 58, Cardinal Ritter 15

SCORE BY QUARTERS

TC --  30  21  0  7  --  58

CR --   0    0   7  8  --  15

First Quarter:

TC -- Schultz, 82 pass Stuckey (Dewey kick), 10:53

TC – Crawford, 8 run (Dewey kick), 7:06

TC – Stuckey, 1 run (Dewey kick), 4:11

TC – Wilkins safety, 3:02

TC – Schultz, 38 pass Stuckey (Dewey kick), :48

Second Quarter:

TC – Kemper, 1 run (Dewey kick), 7:18

TC – Crawford, 1 run (Winslow kick), 1:48

TC – Schultz, 19 pass Stuckey (Winslow kick), 1:01

Third Quarter:

CR – Roberts, 53 run (Carlos kick), 1:37

Fourth Quarter:

TC – Perkon, 9 run (Winslow kick), 8:46

CR – Roberts, 4 pass Johnson (Johnson run), 1:37

Individual:

Rushing: Crawford 9-99, Perkon 4-52, Copeland 2-13, Wilkins 1-11, Kemper 1-1, Brown 1-(-4), Stuckey 3-(-4) (TC); Roberts 14-99, Lloyd 3-18, Johnson 3-10, Flemming 3-5, Jackson 1-(-12) (CR).

Passing: Stuckey 10-11-306, Collier 2-3-11 (TC); Johnson 15-24-126 (CR).

Receiving: Schultz 7-223, Compton 2-69, Crawford 2-14, Robertson 1-12, Copeland 1-(-1) (TC); Roberts 5-50, Jackson 7-40, Knutson 2-25, Gregory 1-11 (CR).