SAN ANTONIO - No. 23 Trinity University Football continued its undefeated bid Saturday afternoon as it collected its second shutout of the season against Millsaps College, 46-0, for its third straight victory in Southern Athletic Association play.

Sophomore running back Winston Hutchison (Round Rock, Texas / McNeil) powered the Tigers' (5-0, 3-0 SAA) offense on the ground with 142 yards on 19 carries while also accounting for the second-most receiving yards in the game (60) on four catches. Hutchison collected the two longest plays of the day, both for touchdowns, with a 70-yard dash through the Majors' defense on the game's second play from scrimmage, followed by a 42-yard reception out of the backfield.

The Trinity defense had another standout performance as it held Millsaps to just 72 yards of offense for the entire 60 minutes en route to the team's second shutout of the 2021 campaign. Junior defensive lineman Harris Good (Ft. Worth, Texas / Paschal) led all tacklers with six from the interior of the line, two of which for loss including a sack. Defensive backs senior Jeremy Irving (Dallas, Texas / Bishop Lynch) and junior Ezra Gore (McKinney, Texas / North) each forced an interception, the latter crucial to preserving the goose egg.

Junior quarterback Tucker Horn (Graham, Texas / Graham) produced another solid outing Saturday as he went 20-of-32 through the air for 231 yards and three touchdowns. Wide receivers senior Austin Bertness (Richmond, Texas / Travis) and Ryan Merrifield (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) were the other two scoring receivers for Horn after Hutchison's 42-yard breakaway.

No. 23 Trinity Football heads back out on the road in SAA play next Saturday as the Tigers visit University of the South to battle the Sewanee Tigers. Kickoff in the SAA battle of Tigers is set for Noon CT.

The Rundown

Dressed in maroon from head-to-toe for Saturday's affair, the 23rd-ranked Tigers elected to receive the day's opening kickoff. Just two plays later, Hutchison was sprung on a power run to the left by junior guard Wyatt Bush (Hempstead, Texas / Hempstead) who pulled across behind the combination block of junior guard Brandon Michels (Argyle, Texas / Argyle) and sophomore center Alex Thiel (Georgetown, Texas / Georgetown), allowing Trinity's starting tailback to fly down the left hash untouched for his 70-yard score for an early 7-0 lead.

Just moments later, Irving collected his second interception of the season, the fifth for the Tiger defense and brought his return into Millsaps territory, which would become a theme for the Trinity offense for the afternoon. After swapping empty possessions with the Majors, Horn completed a 21-yarder over the middle to Merrifield to convert a 4th-and-9 in opposing territory. This drive ultimately ended in a missed field goal attempt, though after a Legend Grigsby (Houston, Texas / Cypress Creek) rushing TD was negated due to a holding call just prior.

Sophomore linebacker James Ogunrin (Katy, Texas / Episcopal) made his presence felt in the three-and-out that followed for the Majors' offense as he logged two of his tackles on first and second down then came on a blitz from the left side to open the door for a sack by sophomore defensive lineman Carson Byrd (Waco, Texas / Midway) who defeated his one-on-one block in the middle. Following another Millsaps punt, Horn found his first touchdown of the game for a 14-0 margin on a 3rd-and-3 swing pass to Hutchison for his 42-yard score as he squeezed past a would-be tackler on the Trinity sideline at the Majors' 35-yardline.

Good came through with one of his tackles for loss to end the next Millsaps possession as he blasted his way through the middle of the line to stuff a speed option rush attempt toward the Trinity bench. The next Tiger possession saw the second and third catches of the game for Bertness en route to his score. Both grabs were heavily-contested jump balls, the first of which drew a defensive pass interference penalty. Bertness was also the target for a two-point conversion attempt though the pass fell incomplete to make the advantage 20-0.

Another three-and-out for the Trinity defense, set in motion by junior linebacker Isaac Agumadu's (Dallas, Texas / Trinity Christian) tackle for loss on first down, opened the door for one last quality scoring chance before halftime as Hutchison worked to convert a pair of 4th-and-1 situations, though the Tigers came up empty once again on a failed field goal attempt deep in Millsaps territory.

Despite kicking off after the intermission, the Tigers managed to score in less than 90 seconds as junior linebacker Caleb Harmel (Burton, Texas / Burton) sprinted through the Millsaps punt team for a block that sent the ball through the Majors' endzone for a safety to put Trinity ahead 22-0 and send the offense back out on the field. Senior receiver and return specialist Chris Stewart (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands) set up the offense well once again with his ensuing return to the Millsaps 47-yardline. Hutchison continued to tote the ball as he collected another 4th-down conversion, followed by a pair of runs for 10-plus yards to set up Horn for his third touchdown pass of the afternoon as he found Merrifield in the middle of the endzone on a slant route between two Majors for a 29-0 margin.

As the Trinity defense put the game in cruise control, rookie tailback Ja'Than Royal (Lake Charles, La. / Lake Charles Prep) made his first appearance of the game for 17 yards with authority through the heart of the Millsaps defense which was followed by a well-placed over-the-shoulder toss from Horn to Bertness into the boundary along the Millsaps sideline for a 30-yard chunk play. For the 36-0 advantage, Stewart took a pitch from Hutchison on a reverse for a six-yard score as Horn led the way back across the formation.

The Majors were given one good opportunity to break up the shuout just before the end of the third quarter following a Trinity fumble on what was the first possession to start in the Tigers' own territory since the start of the game. It was just two plays later that Gore stepped in front of a Brody Davis pass for his first career intercepetion and the sixth for the Trinity defense in 2021. The previous play, a ten-yard sack by senior linebacker Michael Jewett (Houston, Texas / Strake Jesuit), put the Majors in an obvious passing situation for Gore's second-down pick.

Now with senior quarterback Will Chaney (San Antonio, Texas / Alamo Heights) behind center in the fourth quarter, the Tigers notched their final touchdown on a 26-yard connection with junior receiver Ethan Boyer (Greenville, N.C. / J.H. Rose) to log the 43-0 lead. The right foot of first-year kicker Blake Lin (Tyler, Texas / All Saints) collected the final points for Trinity as first-year quarterback Ryan Back (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) and junior running back Tate Jernigan (Houston, Texas / St. Pius X) maneuvered the offense into position for Lin's 25-yard field goal.

Notable Numbers

The Tigers held Millsaps to just 72 yards of offense and only 46 yards through the air, both far-and-away the lowest totals of the season and lowest since Trinity held Sewanee to just 42 yards of offense in a 40-0 home rout on October 17, 2009.

Bertness notched touchdown number seven this season which ties his career-high mark from the 2019 campaign, representing the 18th receiving touchdown of his Trinity career. He also eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards for his career (1,003), currently 69 yards away from setting a new career-best in a season with 340 yards through the air in 2021.

Trinity's 563 yards of offense is the second-highest total of the 2021 campaign, the highest output in its three SAA contests and third time over the 500-yard mark.

Horn continues to carry a 70-plus completion percentage to go along with a torrid 19-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and 1,358 yards through the air.

Hutchison logged his fourth rushing touchdown of the season in Saturday's contest as he elevated to 428 rushing yards on a 5.6 yards per carry clip. Combined with his 200 yards receiving, Hutchison holds a wide margin over the rest of the Tigers with a 125.6 all-purpose yards per game average.

Byrd's first-half sack tied him with senior defensive lineman Campbell Miller (Tyler, Texas / Robert E. Lee) for the team high with 2.5 sacks this season. The duo represent two of eight different Trinity defenders to log at least one sack.

Irving's interception in the opening minutes tied him with Harmel for the team-high this season as they each have two picks through five games.

Coach Speak

"Really proud of the guys for coming out and executing the way we did, especially in the second half," Head Coach Jerheme Urban began. "I thought our defense continued to play incredibly sound, very physical, and made plays on a consistent basis."

"Offensively, we weren't quite as well as we have been in the first half, but I thought the guys rallied at halftime and really played well in the second half," Urban continued. "Still some things to clean up on special teams but we were able to get Chris [Stewart] going a little bit on punt return, and Caleb Harmel had the big blocked punt."

"I thought overall we played well," Urban concluded, "and I was really proud of all of our young depth who came in the third and fourth quarters and executed at the standard we expect them to execute at."

Up Next

No. 23 Trinity Football heads to Sewanee, Tenn. to battle University of the South for the fourth edition of SAA play this season.

The Tigers finish out the 2021 campaign hosting Hendrix College (Oct. 30) and Rhodes College (Nov. 13) with a road trip to No. 24 Birmingham-Southern College (Nov. 6) in between.