Brownwood, Texas - The Tiger football team opened up its 2011 season with a 24-7 win at Howard Payne University on Saturday evening.

Trinity (1-0) got off to a slow start on the scoreboard, but a 17-point second half pushed the Tigers to the season-opening victory.

Patrick Granchelli opened the scoring with a two-yard run early in the second quarter, but Howard Payne tied the game with a short rushing TD of its own 7-7 before halftime.

The Tiger defense was especially stingy in the game, giving up just 135 total yards of offense, and forcing three turnovers.  In the second half, Trinity yielded just 36 yards to the HPU offense, and even scored a TD of its own early in the fourth quarter.

Von'Darrick Jones snagged an interception less than a minute into the final quarter, then raced a total of 78 yards for the touchdown, putting Trinity up 21-7.  Jonathan Osei-Kuffour, who made the transition from DB to WR this season, scored the only points of the third quarter on a 13-yard pass from Nykolas McKissic.  Garrett Biel finished off the scoring with a 20-yard field goal with just under nine minutes to play.

Osei-Kuffour finished with three catches for 60 yards, while Cory Scherr had three for 59 yards for the Tigers.  McKissic completed 9-14 for 141 total yards, throwing one TD pass.

Desmond King led all rushers with 91 yards on just 14 carries - averaging 6.5 yards/rush.  Granchelli had 16 rushes for 30 yards.

Nick Darling led all defensive players with 15 total tackles in the game, which included six solo stops.  Darling also had 2.0 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles for the Tigers.  Tyler Barrett also grabbed an interception in the game, returning it 27 yards, and added five tackles.  Jones recovered a fumble to account for the team's third forced turnover, adding to his interception return for a score.

Trinity will make its home debut next weekend against Texas Lutheran University.  The game is scheduled for a 6:00 p.m. kickoff on Saturday night at the Trinity Football Stadium.