MOUNT BERRY, Ga. – The Tiger football team began Southern Athletic Association play with a 27-6 road win over defending conference champion Berry College on Saturday evening.

Trinity (3-0, 1-0 SAA) remains undefeated in the early stages of the season with the win, which is the second victory in four meetings with the Vikings.

The Tiger defense held Berry to just 31 yards rushing – and only 181 yards of total offense – and forced two key turnovers to seal the win. Caleb Harmel (Burton, Texas / Burton) took over the team lead with his second interception of the season, while Jeremy Irving (Dallas, Texas / Bishop Lynch) stopped a fourth-quarter drive with his pick and 34-yard return that set up Trinity's final score.

Tucker Horn (Graham, Texas / Graham) piled up 251 yards passing and threw a pair of touchdowns, while Winston Hutchison (Round Rock, Texas / McNeil) tallied more than 100 yards from scrimmage and scored two rushing touchdowns.

The Rundown

Trinity took the opening kickoff and drove 88 yards in 12 plays, chewing up nearly half of the first quarter, and ending with a touchdown and a 7-0 Tiger lead. Austin Bertness (Richmond, Texas / Travis) caught three passes on the drive, including an 11-yard touchdown from Horn on third down.

The Tiger defense held Berry to just 14 yards on its first two drives and Trinity's offense was back on the move late in the opening quarter. Taking advantage of a short field thanks to solid special teams, the offense went just 46 yards for another scoring drive. This time, Horn found Chris Stewart (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands) from six yards out to make it a 14-0 game just 90 seconds into the second quarter.

Berry got its first first down on the ensuing drive, but Trinity's defense stiffened around midfield and the ball came back to the Tigers. Horn threw his first interception of the year on the next drive, but the home team was still pinned at its own five yard line and couldn't get anywhere on the drive. Trinity went for it on fourth down again on the next drive, but was stopped once again late in the quarter.

The Vikings took over with just 35 seconds left in the first half and were able to drive 57 yards to set up a 32-yard field goal that got them on the board before halftime.

Both teams punted to start the second half, but Berry took its second possession into the red zone. The 10-play drive stalled at the 19, and the Tigers forced another field goal attempt. The Vikings converted from 36 yards out to make it a 14-6 game.

Trinity answered with a long drive of its own, converting on three third-down attempts to keep the momentum going. The last of those was a 33-yard strike from Horn to Cole Monago (Houston, Texas / Klein Cain) that set up Hutchsion for a one-yard plunge and a 21-6 Tiger lead.

The next play from scrimmage for Berry resulted in an interception from Harmel and Trinity was back in control at the Berry 25 yard line. The Tigers once again failed to convert on fourth down, though, and Berry got the ball back with just 33 seconds left in the quarter.

The Vikings failed on fourth down on their next possession, then took over again with just over 12 minutes left in the game. That drive was ended by Irving's interception and long return, giving Trinity the ball at the Berry 30. Five plays later, Hutchison scampered in from five yards out to account for what proved to be the game's final score.

Trinity's final drive ate up seven minutes of game clock in the fourth quarter, preventing any hope of a late rally by the home team.

Numbers to Note

Horn connected on 24-of-35 through the air for his 251 yards passing, hitting eight different receivers during the game. His favorite target was Bertness, who finished with six receptions for 85 yards. Ryan Merrifield (Austin, Texas / Vandergrift) snagged four catches for 27 yards.

Stewart had his best game of the young season with five catches for 40 yards and his first score of the campaign. He also moved up to ninth in school history in career receptions and now needs just one more receiving touchdown to move into the top 10 all-time.

Hutchison carried the ball a career-high 27 times for 86 yards and two scores. He also had three receptions for 30 yards to finish with 116 yards from scrimmage.

James Ogunrin (Katy, Texas / Episcopal) paced the Tiger defense with a career-high 11 tackles that included a sack and 3.0 tackles for loss.

Harmel added six stops and a tackle for loss to his interception and 15-yard return, while Irving also had five tackles.

Campbell Miller (Tyler, Texas / Lee) joined Ogunrin as the only Tiger players with a sack, which pushes his career total to 9.5 sacks.

Coach Speak

"Super proud of our guys tonight, said Head Coach Jerheme Urban. "Their effort and focus were tremendous, and they beat a very good program at their place on Alumni Weekend. We talked about taking one play at a time, really just focusing on us, and I thought the team accepted that challenge and applied it on the field. We had tremendous efforts in all three phases of the game, and we need to build on this as we look to take on a very good Centre team next week."

Up Next

Trinity will host its first SAA game of the season in battle of unbeatens, as Centre (KY) College comes to San Antonio for a Saturday afternoon matchup that kicks off at 1:30 p.m.