Triton football wins thriller over Fuquay-Varina, improves to 3-0

Sept. 4, 2026

Senior kicker Jared Lopez kicks the game-winning field goal in Triton’s 24-21 victory over Fuquay-Varina. Photo by Paul Burgett, courtesy of The Daily Record.

By: Ben Ellis

FUQUAY-VARINA, N.C.

For the first time since 2013, Triton football has started the season 3-0, and it couldn’t have happened in more dramatic fashion.

A 36-yard field goal by senior kicker Jared Lopez as time expired gave Triton a 24-21 win over Fuquay-Varina in a game that had about everything you could ask for.

The Hawks (3-0) held a 21-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter, but the Bengals (1-2) mounted a late comeback, orchestrating two touchdown drives to tie the game with 16 seconds left.

Enter the speedy junior running back Malik Ledbetter, who ran back the ensuing kickoff all the way inside the Fuquay-Varina 20-yard line with four seconds on the clock, setting up Lopez’ game-winning attempt.

While it took late-game heroics to secure the win, the Hawks were in control for most of the game. The Bengals ran back the opening kickoff for a touchdown, but that was followed by two consecutive long, well-orchestrated touchdown drives by the Triton offense, capped with touchdowns by senior athlete Landon Pope and senior running back O’Brian Ward.

The Hawks defense held the Bengals off the board for the rest of the half despite two drives going well into Triton territory, taking a 14-7 lead into halftime.

After last season’s 35-0 defeat at the hands of Fuquay-Varina, it may have seemed for a moment like a similar result was coming after the opening kickoff. But the Hawks proved once again that they are a different team this season, much like they did in their season-opening thumping of Willow Spring.

“One of our mottos this year is ‘don’t give up,’” said head coach Ben Penny. “We’ve done that a couple times in the past. We’ve had some things going into games, one thing goes wrong, and we just fall apart and feel sorry for ourselves. We didn’t do that tonight.”

The Triton defense forced a turnover on Fuquay-Varina’s second offensive drive of the third quarter, setting up a short field for the offense as senior running back Jamarcus Shaw scored from a few yards out to put the Hawks up 21-7 heading into the fourth.

The Bengals scored a touchdown with 5:56 left in the game, but a questionable two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the score 21-13. Triton made it across midfield on the next drive, but a failed fourth-down conversion attempt gave Fuquay-Varina the ball back with 3:11 left on the Bengals’ 45-yard line.

A 20-yard pass play combined with a roughing the passer penalty against the Hawks got Fuquay-Varina inside the 10-yard line, and on fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line, the Bengals scored on a throw to the back of the endzone that went just over the Triton defense, making it 21-19. Now needing a successful two-point conversion, the Bengals got it on a sweep around the left side, tying it at 21 with 16 seconds to go.

But just as the Hawks got burned on the game’s opening kickoff, they nearly returned the favor at the very end, with Ledbetter running back the Bengals kickoff all the way inside the opposite 20-yard line.

From there, Penny trusted his kicker with the game on the line, a decision that paid off as Lopez drilled the 36-yarder with some yards to spare as time expired, sending the Hawks sideline and fans into a frenzy.

Triton won its first two games by a comfortable margin, but the Hawks were put to the test by Fuquay-Varina in a tight game that went down to the wire, and they rose to the occasion.

“They’ve got fight, they’ve got heart, they’ve got more heart than we’ve had in the past,” Penny said on his team. “They’re buying in, they’re believing, and they’re proud to be a Triton Hawk. We needed to be tested, and it was good to see how we responded.”

For the first time in Penny’s tenure as head coach, the Hawks are 3-0, a credit to the coach himself and the players that have stuck with the team through the tough times of the last two seasons.

“Team unity, buying in, and really coming together with what we have right now,” Penny said when asked what has been the key to Triton’s 3-0 start. “We’ve eliminated some distractions. It’s a tight group right here, and that’s what it takes.”

Triton is off next week before hosting Lee County on Sept. 18.