By Pat Ruff

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

WATERVILLE -- The hunch was that Triton had an advantage up front. The Cobras were more experienced than Waterville-Elysian-Morristown along both lines, and with that presumably more physical.

But there was another hunch heading into Friday's night's football game. It was that when it comes to preconceived notions in this seemingly annual matchup of Triton and W-E-M in the Section Two, Class AA championship, you're best not bringing any.

That, it turns out, was the hunch that came true. Triton didn't win the battle of the line of scrimmage, the Buccaneers did. With it, and thanks to W-E-M's suddenly diverse offense this season, the Buccaneers stormed to the championship.

W-E-M won 27-0, and it really wasn't even that close.

"I really don't think we saw this coming," said Triton coach Don Henderson, whose program's three-year reign as section champions was snapped. "(W-E-M) was stronger and faster than us. But we also made a bunch of mistakes schematically. And that comes back to me, the coach. I didn't have us prepared well enough."

Again, though, it was No. 2 seed W-E-M (10-1) which seemed like it might not be prepared for No. 4 seed Triton (8-3). The Buccaneers have just seven seniors on their roster, with only about half of them starting. Triton, on the other hand, is brimming with seniors, with most of them playing prominent roles.

But this turned into an absolute reversal of last year. That's when W-E-M had the veteran team, but one that in the end had no answer for Triton. The youthful Cobras raced to a 27-10 win a year ago in the section title game.

There would be no racing by Triton this time, though. Offensively, it had no answers for a W-E-M defense that stuffed everything the Cobras tried.

That included a first half where Triton recorded no first downs.

Actually, it was a first half that could have been a lot worse for Triton than it was. Give much of the credit for that to a Cobras defense that narrowly staved off a series of short marches by W-E-M that kept ending just short of the end zone.

On its first four possessions, W-E-M -- continually starting with great field position -- stalled at the Triton 10, 8, 28 (when it lost a fumble) and 20.

But beginning at the 6:28 mark of the second quarter, that stalling officially ended. That's when W-E-M used one of three interceptions by sophomore Grant Pope to set up a three-play touchdown drive that started at the Triton 30. The big play here was a 27-yard pass from junior quarterback Conrad Masberg to wide receiver Jordan Gregor.

It was part of a big night for both of them. Masberg finished an efficient 11-for-22 for 111 yards, including a 7-yard touchdown pass just before the end of the first half. Gregor totaled 74 yards receiving on five catches.

This was a new look by W-E-M. In past years, a run-dominated team under 23-year coach Jon Bakken, the Buccaneers are mixing things up with the talented Masberg at quarterback. Masberg has thrown for over 1,000 yards this season, using a bevy of receivers to help get it done. Friday, four different receivers had catches. The Buccaneers also ran for 201 yards.

"Offensively, they were very (diverse)," Henderson said. "When they wanted to pass, they were able to do it. When they wanted to run, they were able to do that."

And when the Triton offense wanted to do its thing, it was the opposite. The Cobras were stuffed. Triton managed just 35 yards passing and 144 yards rushing.

"(W-E-M) was able to take our option-power game away," said Triton halfback Logan Erdmann, who had just 23 yards rushing. "We're used to having a down-hill running game, but we couldn't do it against them."

The game, Erdmann said, started the same way that it ended.

"We got hit in the mouth right away and we just never hit them back," he said.

W-E-M 27, TRITON 0

SCORING SUMMARY

Triton 0 0 0 0 -- 0

Waterville-E-M 0 14 6 7 -- 27

Second Quarter

WEM -- Conrad Masberg 1run (Tyler Ranslow kick), 6:28.

Drive: 3 plays, 30 yards, :56. Key: Jordan Gregor 27 pass from Masberg.

WEM -- Cody Williams 7 pass from Masberg (Ranslow kick), :15.

Drive: 8 plays, 57 yards, 1:43. Key: Gregor 13 pass from Masberg on third down.

Third Quarter

WEM -- Zach Geyer 10 run (kick failed), 3:57.

Drive: 11 plays, 72 yards, 4:37. Drive: Reid Roemhildt 21 run.

Fourth Quarter

WEM -- Masberg 1 run (Ranslow kick), 11:53.

Drive: 3 plays, 5 yards, 1:19.

TEAM STATISTICS

Triton WEM

First downs 7 19

Total Net Yards 179 302

Rushes-yards 32-144 43-201

Passing 35 101

Comp-Att-Int 4-15-3 11-23-0

Punts 5-37.2 1-30

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-2

Penalties-Yards 2-15 2-15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Triton, Logan Erdmann 9-23, Jason Jennings 4-24, Ayrton Henderson 3-42, Justin Gartner 3-9, Connor Henderson 3-2, Logan Spitzack 6-(minus 8), Nick Twite 1-27, Damien Johnson 2-6, Doug Burk 1-8. W-E-M, Zach Geyer 14-72, Reid Roemhildt 13-86, Conrad Masberg 8-33, Charles Stangler 6-9, Brady Ayers 2-1..

PASSING -- Triton, Logan Spitzack 4 completions, 13 passes, 2 interceptions, 0 touchdowns for 35 yards; Dylan Bungum 0-1-1-0 for 0 yards; Ayrton Henderson 0-1-0-0 for 0 yards. W-E-M, Conrad Masberg 11-22-0-1 for 111 yards; Tyler Dillon 0-1-0-0 for 0 yards.

RECEIVING -- Triton, Erdmann 3-16, Jennings 1-19. W-E-M, Jordan Gregor 5-74, Grant Pope 1-11, Tyler Dillon 1-9, Cody Williams 1-7.

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