Box Score Jackson, Mississippi - Trinity's football team finished off its first road trip of the season with a 37-7 Southern Athletic Association victory over Millsaps (MS) College on Saturday afternoon.
The Rundown
The Tiger defense was stifling all day, as a 79-yard pass play midway through the second quarter was the only score allowed by the unit. Trinity forced Millsaps into negative yardage on four different drives in the game, as well as three additional drives that covered less than 15 yards total.
Trinity scored on its first possession and never looked back, jumping out to a 24-0 lead before Millsaps finally got on the board. A 26-yard field goal from PJ Hensley (St. Louis, Mo. / Ladue Horton Watkins) finished off that initial drive to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
Wyatt Messex (Granger, Texas / Granger) highlighted a 95-yard first-quarter scoring drive with a 41-yard run, then finished it off with a one-yard plunge that made it a 10-0 game.
Trinity's next two drives started inside the Millsaps 30, and both ended with Tiger touchdowns in the second quarter. Tucker Horn (Graham, Texas / Graham) hooked up with Anton Noble (Mobile, Ala. / Mobile) from eight yards out on the first, then connected with Ryan Merrifield (Austin, Texas / Vandergrift) for a 29-yard touchdown to make it a 24-0 game.
The Majors finally got on the board with its long touchdown after that, which wound up being the final points of the half for either team.
Horn and Chris Stewart (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands) hooked up for a 73-yard pass on Trinity's first drive of the third quarter, then Michael Edmonson (Holly Lake Ranch, Texas / Harmony) scampered in for a score from four yards out.
Another stellar defensive effort from the Tiger defense set up another short field for the offense. Horn and Merrifield finished a short drive with a 15-yard pass play that came with just under five minutes left in the third quarter. That touchdown wrapped up the scoring for the game.
Trinity's defense held on fourth-and-goal to end the fourth quarter's first drive, then spoiled an 11-play drive with an interception to seal the win.
Notable Numbers
Trinity piled up more than 500 yards of total offense, holding Millsaps to just 213 total yards and a paltry 29 yards rushing. Without the 79-yard touchdown play, the Tigers gave up just 134 yards in the game.
Horn completed 8-for-15 through the air, finishing with 165 yards and three touchdowns. Messex completed 9-of-14 passes for 93 yards, as well as rushing for 48 yards and a touchdown.
Merrifield caught five passes for 73 yards and his first two career touchdowns, while Noble also picked up his first career score. Stewart led the way with 99 yards receiving on six receptions, while Caleb Crawford (Houston, Texas / Strake Jesuit) finished with three catches for 66 yards.
Edmonson led Trinity with 99 yards rushing and a touchdown on 18 carries, while Justin Carmouche (Cypress, Texas / Cy-Ranch) finished with an impressive 62 yards on just 10 carries to set a new career-high.
Michael Jewett (Houston, Texas / Strake Jesuit) led a balanced defense with seven total tackles, which included two sacks for a total loss of nine yards. Ryan Arnold (Austin, Texas / Vandergrift) recorded his first career interception to ruin the final drive of the game for Millsaps.
Coach Speak
"Really proud of the guys on earning a big road win against a historically tough conference opponent," said Head Coach
Jerheme Urban. "This is a game that has a lot of meaning for a lot of our alumni, as evidenced by the amount of text messages I received this morning, and it is fun seeing our young men buy into that tradition as well. We had a long trip yesterday and they showed some great mental toughness to come out and play the way they did today. I felt like we once again fed off of the energy of our defensive box, which continues to play really good run defense, and we saw some guys on offense start showing the explosive potential that we have. We also had some guys who really stepped up today with some injuries and played great football as well. We'll get home tonight and heal up for a really good Hendrix team next weekend. They have a really talented QB and I'm fully expecting them to let him try to throw it all over the yard next Saturday. We're going to need a really good week of film study to go with whatever minimal work that the weather allows us to get on the field."
Up Next
The Tigers will be back at home on Saturday, February 20, against Hendrix (AR) College. That game is scheduled for a noon kickoff.
