LAKEVILLE - The game plan. High school football coaches put a game plan together each week for the respective opponent - trying to find tendencies both offensively and defensively. The USA #14 LaVille head football coach Jeff Kaiser and his staff put together a game plan for their opening week opposition - the USA #13 Triton Trojans. It was a grudge match after the Trojans handcuffed the Lancers, 23-6, in 2024. Kaiser and his Lancers owned up to not playing their best a year ago in Bourbon. On Friday night, the Lancers were able to get off to a strong start, then relied on its defense to come away with a 28-0 victory in the 58th meeting of the series. When we chatted with Kaiser, there were a few items of importance that were keys to a Lancer victory. "Our key to win will be to block and tackle well," said Kaiser mid-week. "We need to play mistake free football, finish drives with points and create turnovers.  Get stops when we need to and move the chains to sustain drives." The Lancers forced four turnovers - three interceptions and a fumble recovery - and had three touchdown passes and a rushing TD from the offense to secure the win. Kaiser's crew was able to work the scales of a successful running game and passing game. Senior Brayden Schwitz completed 10 passes for three scores, zero interceptions and 162 yards for the LHS aerial attack. Those three TD passes were also to three different receivers - Cole Stafford, Konnor Amor and Noah Menis.  Menis also secured a 2-point conversion pass. On the ground, Stafford was the workhorse in the first three quarters of the game.  Stafford rushed for 65 yards on 13 totes before being brought to the sidelines.  The play in question was a crucial 19-yard pitch and catch from Schwitz to Stafford down the right seam on a third-and-six. Stafford made the catch, but was on the receiving end of a very physical tackle. Stafford ran for five yards on the very next play before the coaches pulled the 6'0" senior out to be checked. "I felt our staff did a great job in game planning and getting our guys ready for battle," said Kaiser, who watched the Lancers open the season with a shutout.  "We seemed like we played with an edge and understood our game plan.  The guys believed in themselves and the staff and together we were able to outplay our opponent." Schwitz was 1-for-3 passing in the early going before finding Stafford on a 19-yard touchdown pass with 5:38 left in the first quarter. The point-after was blocked. The Blue Crew defense forced a Triton punt before another scoring series. A solid passing route by Noah Menis and a perfect strike from Schwitz took LHS from LaVille territory into the Trojan side of the field. Three plays later, Schwitz let fly a 42-yard strike to Konnor Amor was hit paydirt for a 12-0 lead.  The LaVille quarterback then drilled a dart to Menis for the 2-pt conversion. "Being able to mix it up Offensively is a huge plus for us," said Kaiser.  "Anytime you can become less predictable and keep the defense guessing you can find success.  I felt we had a nice balance and did not rely on just one phase of our offense." Coach Kaiser's Blue Crew defense showed bend style, especially late in the first quarter. In what looked like a serious scoring opportunity for Triton, the Trojans drove near the red zone, before Stafford stepped in front of Gage Riffle pass attempt to end the threat.  Dylan Miller also snagged an errant pass by Riffle on the second series for Triton to thwart a potential scoring drive. One final attempt to narrow LaVille's two score lead came late in the third quarter.  Triton drove into Lance territory and on a first-and-10, Riffle tried to go into the LHS secondary and the athletic Foster used his size and quickness to jump and snag an interception - the third of the game for the Lancer Blue Crew. "Those interceptions were huge and came at crucial moments in the game," said the LaVille skipper.  "Right before half we were on our heels a bit and did not want to give up a score going into halftime so that one by Miller was huge. Then the other two - Foster/Stafford - were drive killers for them.  We know that creating turnovers can win games so we are looking to get them however we can!" When Stafford exited the game, Lawrence Wood came in to keep things going. From his first touch to his first varsity touchdown to close out a 12-play, 63-yard drive, Wood was impressive. "Stafford ran the ball very well and was able to do so in a manner we needed him to," noted Kaiser. "He goes both ways and doesn't get much opportunity for a breather, so for him to run and perform like he did on both sides of the ball is very promising. "Lawrence Wood is kind of our change of pace type back, that has worked extremely well in the off season and it showed Friday night.  He ran with confidence when his number was called and resulted in that first career touchdown.  Blocking upfront from our offensive line through the night allowed us to rush for around 150 yds as a team." Wood finished with 76 yards on 16 carries, while Stafford closed with 65 yards on 13. The third LHS touchdown came midway through the third stanza as Schwitz found Menis for a 16-yard scoring play. A total of four receivers were targeted by Schwitz in the passing game.  LaVille's offense continued to mix things up, connecting on 10 completions for 162 yards and three scores. "Yes, multiple guys with solid receptions allows us to stick to our game plan," Kaiser responded when asked about the offense.  "We want to get the ball spread around to again keep the defense guessing on things.  Riley Filley's catch on the 4th down play was huge which resulted in us maintaining possession and scoring on that drive, Amor stretching that defense for his long TD reception came at crucial time for us, Menis showed he will be one that teams need to account for and with his size will create some mismatches each week in which we will need the solid play from him,  and then Stafford's receptions assures him being a multiple threat out of the backfield." All-State candidate Foster and the offensive line, along with the Blue Crew defense, played a crucial part in the team's success.  "The play of Foster is what is expected out of him being a leader for us,"  noted Kaiser.  "He has a motor that goes for 48 minutes, has a nose for finding the football and plays physically.  His film study and knowing what the opponent is presenting allows him to play at his full capacity as well as direct his teammates throughout the games." We also checked in with Kaiser on the performance by Schwitz. "Schwitz settled in and played a very effective game on both sides of the ball," said Kaiser of his senior QB/OLB.  "His off season work showed and directed the offense for the first time in which he showed no signs of that being his first start at QB.  Throwing 3 TD passes and potentially having at least one more go through the WR hands, heck I think any coach would take 3-4 TD passes a game!!  "Then on defense, we moved him to a different position that he is still learning and getting comfortable with, he made some really nice plays and had a key sack in the game.  We expect big things from him being one of our leaders on the field." Friday's win came down to the game plan and a little execution. "Any time you can start your season 1-0 it builds confidence in what we are doing," Kaiser said, closing our conversation.  "When you're confident in doing things you prepare and understand things at a different level.  We are excited to get back to work and fine tune some details to put us in the best position again as a team to get a win against North Judson this coming Friday night." LaVille, ranked #11 in the USA & IFCA Class 1A poll this week, will travel to #9 USA & #5 IFCA North Judson-San Pierre August 29. Kick off is scheduled for 7:30pm ET. The Blue Jays lost at Knox in an early-season Starke County battle and will enter the LaVille game with a 0-1 record for the first time in eight seasons. LAVILLE 28, TRITON 0 At Lancer Field Lakeville, IN. Score By Quarters Triton     0 0 0 0 - 0 LaVille 14 0 7 7 - 28 Scoring Summary LV - Cole Stafford 20 pass from Brayden Schwitz (kick blocked) LV - Konnor Amor 42 pass from Schwitz (Noah Menis pass from Schwitz) LV - Menis 16 pass from Schwitz (Caleb Skiles kick) LV - Lawrence Wood 1 run (Skiles kick) STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN                           Triton        LaVille First downs           6             15 Yards rushing      73            125 Yards passing     41           162 Passing           5-17-3     10-20-0 Punts-Avg         7-37        3-38 Fumbles lost        1            2 Penalties           9-56       1-11