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GREENSBORO - With 13 players designated as running backs on its roster, Erwin Triton had plenty of fresh legs to attack the Southeast Guilford defense. And the Hawks eventually wore down the Falcons in a 20-10 win in the first round of the 3-AA playoffs Friday night.

Trailing 10-7 late in the third quarter, Triton marched 79 yards, scoring on a 22-yard run by Erran Nichols to go ahead 14-10 with 7:41 left. The Falcons tried to answer, but quarterback Luke Stewart was intercepted deep in Triton territory by Shy Bell, leading to another Hawks' score.

"They had some real good running backs," Southeast Guilford coach Fritz Hessenthaler said. "They were able to distort our defensive fixes."

After beating the Hawks in the first round last season, the Falcons might have overlooked Triton this time around.

"We came into the game thinking it would be easy. We were overconfident," Southeast senior safety Justin Venable said. "We just didn't do our jobs."

A desperation pass got Southeast near the end zone with 40 seconds to play, but a fumble by Tivon Clark, the third turnover of the night for the Falcons, was recovered by Triton.

"We don't do anything easy," Triton coach Joe McCullen said. "We told them at halftime not to worry because we were moving the ball. This ballgame was exactly what we thought it would be and we told them the first team to 20 would win and that is the way it worked out."

The crucial play of the game came earlier in the second half for the Falcons. After holding Triton to a three-and-out to start the third quarter, the Falcons had a short field to work with starting at the Triton 43-yard line. The Falcons moved the ball 19 yards and went for it on a fourth-and-one at the 24. Clark was caught in the backfield and barely made it to the line of scrimmage.

"That was a blown assignment," Hessenthaler said. "We just decided not to block the outside linebacker on fourth down."

It was a season of what ifs for both teams. Southeast suffered narrow losses to Rockingham County and Eastern Randolph. Triton lost several close games, but made the plays when it counted against the Falcons.

"I'm just so proud of these kids and the coaches after so many devastating losses," McCullen said. "We told the 14 seniors this is the last 48 minutes of your career."

Hessenthaler knew it was a season of lost opportunities. "We have fought and battled all season and the kids really worked hard," Hessenthaler said. "We just fell short in a few areas."

  Erwin Triton SE Guilford First downs 16 12 Rushes-yards 51-261 33-162 Passing yards 33 60 Comp-Att-Int 3-8-0 3-8-1 Punts-average 4-30.2 2-50.3 Fumbles-lost 1-0 3-2 Penalties-yards 5-39 3-35

Erwin Triton 7 0 0 13 - 20 Southeast Guilford 0 10 0 0 - 10

T - Bradley McLean 2 run (Nick Glover kick)

SEG - Terrance Topps 37 FG

SEG - Luke Stewart 3 run (Topps kick)

Tr - Erran Nichols 22 run (Glover kick)

Tr - Nichols 13 run (Glover kick)