Jackson, Mississippi - Defense was the name of the game on Saturday, as the Trinity football team defeated Millsaps College 10-3 in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference showdown.

Trinity (4-0, 2-0 SCAC) won for the first time over Millsaps since the 2007 season - the year that the Tigers won on the 15-lateral Trinity Miracle Play as time expired.

The Tigers opened the scoring with a touchdown late in the first quarter, and never trailed in the game.  Millsaps got on the board on the first play of the second quarter, but was not able to score again against the tough Trinity defense.

Millsaps was held to just 195 yards of total offense, while Trinity posted just 262 yards total.  The Tigers were coming off of a 62-point performance against Rhodes in which the team piled up more than 500 yards to open SCAC play.

With both defenses playing so well, the key was the turnover battle.  The Tiger defense picked up four interceptions in the game - two on the first two Millsaps drives, and two on the final two drives as well.  The last one came with less than 30 seconds to play, ending a 10-play drive that gave Millsaps its only scoring chance of the second half.

Tyler Barrett picked up two interceptions, returning them for a total of 47 yards.  He also led the Trinity "D" with six tackles.  Joining Barrett with six tackles were Ben Robinson and Thomas Puskarich.  Robinson also had one of the team's four interceptions, while Zach Wright had the other. 

Running back Patrick Granchelli rushed 23 times for 107 yards on the day, giving the Tigers a 100-yard rusher for the second straight game.  Granchelli also ran for over 100 yards last year against Millsaps.

Nykolas McKissic completed 11-19 for 141 yards and a touchdown, connecting with six different receivers in the game.  Jonathan Osei-Kuffour caught three passes for 68 yards - including a 51-yard reception that set up the game's first score.

McKissic hit Hagen Kattner from seven yards out to make it 7-0 Tigers, then orchestrated an 11-play drive in the second quarter that led to a 36-yard field goal from Garrett Biel, putting Trinity ahead 10-3. 

While the Tiger offense didn't put up many yards or points in the game, Trinity did control possession in the second and third quarters.  The Tigers had the ball for 13:48 in the second quarter, and for just over 10 minutes of the third, crushing any chance for Millsaps to get things going offensively.

Trinity will be off next week, then returns to action at home against Sewanee: University of the South on October 8.  It will also be Trinity Alumni Weekend, and the 2011 Trinity Athletics Hall of Fame class will be inducted.  Included in the class is former Tiger football player Truman Franks, who is a 1968 graduate of Trinity.