By VANCE JANAK

Special to The HDN

NORTON - Turnovers and penalties.

A pair of second-half fumbles and a flurry of flags hampered Hutchinson-Trinity Catholic's chances of earning the go-ahead score against Norton on Saturday in the Class 3A quarterfinals.

Norton's stiff defense didn't allow junior quarterback Derek Racette much time to look downfield for the Celtic's play-making receivers. The Bluejays' physical running game took advantage of Trinity's mistakes while Norton made enough plays offensively to score a 17-7 victory at Travis Field.

"It's huge when they're driving and we can cause fumbles," Norton coach Lucas Melvin said. "These kids hit people and they kept making turnovers happen."

Although Trinity had 352 yards of total offense, a pair of second-half fumbles and timely stops by Norton slowed the Celtics.

The Celtics' high-scoring offense couldn't overcome penalties and turnovers. Trinity also had three interceptions compared to two turnovers for Norton.

The Celtics had 90 yards in penalties while the Bluejays had 45.

"In the playoffs you can't have either one of those two," Trinity coach Sean Racette said. "You've got to give credit where credit is due and Norton came out and played a whale of a football game. It was a hard-hitting game and they took advantage of our mistakes and we had too many."

The Celtics season ends at 11-1 after Trinity's deepest run in the playoffs since a state championship season 30 years ago.

"We had a great season," senior running back Tanner Engweiler said, who had five catches for 132 yards. "Everybody on the team gave 100 percent and they tried as hard as they could. We wanted this game more than anything. We thought this game was so much bigger than Conway. We tried as hard as we could."

A Trinity turnover helped set up Norton's first score. Racette, who completed 12 of 27 passes for 251 yards, was intercepted by Connor Pfannenstiel, who returned the ball 16 yards to the Trinity 20. Backup quarterback Spencer Shirk scored six plays later from a yard out to give the Bluejays a 7-0 edge with 6:02 left in the first quarter. After the two teams traded punts, Trinity used its big-play attack to even the score.

Racette found Engweiler for a 77-yard catch-and-run down the Norton sideline to square the game with 1:06 left in the opening frame. It was the only time the big-play Celtic offense burnt the Bluejays. For the majority of the game, Racette had to elude Norton pass rushers.

"We talked all week about trying to contain Racette," Melvin said. "Our defensive line, we aren't big, but we're quick. They did a great job of keeping their lanes and just coming to the ball. I don't think they could have done much better on him."

Norton got the go-ahead score on a 32-yard field goal by junior Caleb Laughlin 47 seconds into the second quarter. Fullback Zane Perez, who rushed for 96 yards on 11 carries, helped set up with a 31-yard run. Trinity opened the second half with a 14-play drive that was helped by a roughing the punter penalty.

A third-and-1 from the Norton 29, fullback Tyler Dyer had a first down run, but had the ball striped at the end of the play and the Bluejays recovered. Norton turned the ball over on downs in Trinity territory.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Racette scrambled for first down yardage, but lost the ball to Norton at the end of the play. The Bluejays marched the ball to the Trinity 20 before giving the ball back to the Celtics on a fumble.

Trinity couldn't take advantage of the takeaway, as Norton forced a pair of incomplete passes and a sack.

Jeremy Sproul capped a 6-play, 40-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to give the Bluejays a 17-7 lead with 5:31 left.

Trinity converted on two fourth downs before Landon Hamel intercepted Racette to end the scoring threat. Norton was forced to punt, but Trinity saw its final possession end on an interception.

"I'm proud of these kids," Coach Racette said. "They did all the work and put in the time. The dedication. I couldn't be more proud of these kids than I am today. You're sad to see it end, but they put up a heck of a fight."