"This is what we've worked for": Triway shows grit in win over West Holmes

WOOSTER TWP. — Triway had the tough task of taking on visiting West Holmes to kick off the 2024 football season Friday, and "tough" described the play of the Titans, who pulled off a 17-7 triumph over the Knights.

On the strength of two big plays — a 43-yard Luke Starr-to-Olley Krupp touchdown pass late in the first quarter and a 53-yard scoring scamper by Wyatt Posten — Triway took control of the game in the first half and never relinquished it.

"We knew the key to the game was trying to limit (West Holmes quarterback Morgan Smith)," Titan coach Cody Kelly said. "I think we did that for the most part."

The Titans limited Smith to 16-of-37 passing for 153 yards and a touchdown, while Starr struck for 18-of-30 for 229 yards and a score.

"This feels amazing. This is what we've worked for," Starr said. "We've got a lot of hard workers in that locker room up there. I'm proud of our defense and proud of our line. We've got some receivers and running backs who are some dudes."

The Titans led 14-0 at the break and made it 17-0 midway through the third quarter on a 19-yard field goal by DJ Corbett.

West Holmes simply could not generate any offense against the stingy Triway defense. The Knights mustered 99 yards on 27 carries. Maddax Graham led the way with 50 yards on six carries. Smith netted 31 yards on 14 carries.

Triway managed only 70 yards on 25 attempts. Wyatt Posten carried the ball 11 times for 74 yards and a score. Starr carried the ball 12 times for a net of 8 yards.

Starr connected with six different receivers, Brody Snyder leading the way with four catches for 63 yards. Alex Shearer added three grabs for 59 yards and Krupp caught three for 46 yards and a score.

"This is awesome, being the underdogs, practicing all the way through, just for this moment," Snyder said. "Doing what we did in the offseason and making it reflect on the field, it was just awesome. Everybody did what we needed to do to win. Luke was throwing dimes, and the line did an amazing job."

The Titans coach was proud of his troops for their huge Week 1 win.

"One thing we preach is, hard is effort all the time," Kelly said. "It's something I tell them every single day, and this team has really taken it to heart. They played super hard on every snap. They had a lot of heart, and I'm just super proud of them."

The Keaton Leppla era at West Holmes got off on the wrong foot, and the first-year mentor of the Knights assumed full responsibility for the loss.

"We probably played the worst half of football that this program has played," Leppla said of the first half. "But in the second half, they came out and competed hard. At the end of the day, we just weren't able to execute. They executed better than us."

Smith did connect with Chance Jackson on an 8-yard scoring strike with 9:25 to play in the game, but that was all the Knights could muster.

""Those guys played relentless, and they executed way better than us," Leppla said. "They ran their stuff well. Defensively, it was a couple missed tackles and a couple big plays. Other than that, I though our guys played pretty good.

"Offensively, we got a reality check today," Leppla continued. "We determined we can't just come out on the field and beat somebody. We've got to come out, play our butts off, execute better with more relentless effort and better communication, and that starts with me."

The coach added that he let the team down because he didn't prepare them hard enough to make them realize every game is going to be a dogfight.

"We're going to have to scrape and claw to win games," he said. "We can't just come out here and go through the motions and expect to win. That's on me as head coach."

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: "This is what we've worked for": Triway shows grit in win over West Holmes