22-point scoring run helps Triton football surprise South Johnston

Triton has taken a lot of hard knocks over the past two football seasons, but on Friday night the Hawks refused to roll over and die.

Twenty-two unanswered points in the third quarter, ending on Nick Jones’ 30-yard interception with 57.5 left, gave the Hawks a 35-28 lead over South Johnston that held through a scoreless fourth quarter in Two Rivers 3A action at Avery Stadium.

The result, just Triton’s second win since the 2013 season, improved the visitors to 2-7 overall and 1-2 in conference play with a decent chance to make the state playoffs and a long-shot opportunity to tie for the conference title.

South fell to 6-3 and 1-2.

“We just kept fighting,” Triton coach Ben Penny said. “It’s about 48 minutes for us. The guys fought hard, Nick was in the right place at the right time and we had smart senior leadership.”

Turning point

Jones’ 30-yard interception return that gave the Hawks their only lead of the night.

They said it

“Triton played a tough non-conference schedule, but they’re a talented team,” South coach Hunter Jenks said. “They made mistakes in games they’ve lost, but they didn’t make many tonight.”

Three who mattered

Nick Jones, Triton: The senior defensive back had the interception return that gave the Hawks their biggest win of his career.

“My coaches told me all week where the play was going when (Landen Lockamy) was at quarterback,” said Jones, who has taken recruiting visits to the Coast Guard Academy. “I just kept focused on it and got my first interception of the season.”

Malcolm Smith, Triton: The senior rushed 19 times for 137 yards and a touchdown.

“We just worked hard during our practice, and our leaders stepped up,” Smith said. “Coach just said don’t give up, keep a good mentality, don’t let our heads down and stick together as a team.”

Kavante Johnson, South Johnston: The junior carried 16 times for 135 yards and three scores.

By the numbers

22: Triton’s unanswered third-quarter points.

30: The yardage on Jones’ fateful pick-six.

135: Rushing yards for the Trojans’ Johnson.

138: Rushing yards for Triton’s Smith.

Looking ahead

South hosts Corinth Holders in a conference showdown on Oct. 30, before closing the regular season against currently winless Smithfield-Selma.

“The focus wasn’t good enough this week,” South quarterback DeParis Patterson said. “And we weren’t efficient enough. Triton’s record doesn’t show how good a team they are, but we just made too many mistakes.”

Triton hosts SSS on Friday before closing the season at county rival Western Harnett.

This story was originally published October 23, 2015 at 11:09 PM with the headline "22-point scoring run helps Triton football surprise South Johnston."