Little Rock, Ark. – The Tiger football team finished up its season with a 38-15 victory over Birmingham-Southern (AL) College at the Southern Athletic Association Championship Weekend event, hosted at War Memorial Stadium. (PHOTO CREDIT: Hendrix Athletics / Jenn McKenzie)

Trinity finishes its spring 2021 season with the win, which clinched third place in the SAA standings for the Tigers. Four second-half Tiger touchdowns sealed the win, and wide receiver Chris Stewart (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands) caught six passes for a game-high 148 yards and the first of those scores.

The Rundown

Trinity came up empty on its first drive of the game, but BSC had to settle for a 39-yard field goal to start the scoring. The Panthers put together a 17-play drive that lasted more than seven minutes of game time, but covered just 59 yards.

The Tigers struggled to move the ball early in the game, totaling just 46 yards of offense on its first four drives. The spark came on special teams as Isaac Agumadu (Dallas, Texas / Trinity Christian) recovered a fumble on Eli Gehman's (Cedar Park, Texas / Leander) fourth punt of the afternoon. Trinity's offense marched 42 yards on 10 plays, with Michael Edmonson (Holly Lake Ranch, Texas / Harmony) scoring from one yard out to make it a 7-3 lead for the Tigers.

Trinity's defense promptly forced another turnover just three plays later, as Michael Jewett (Houston, Texas / Strake Jesuit) recovered the ball on the BSC 37 yard line. The Tigers made it to the 11 before settling for a 28-yard field goal from PJ Hensley (St. Louis, Mo. / Ladue Horton Watkins) to make it 10-3 Trinity.

Birmingham Southern took over with 1:45 left in the second quarter, but Jeremy Irving (Dallas, Texas / Bishop Lynch) ended that drive with an interception that gave Trinity its third forced turnover of the game with just 13 seconds to play in the half.

The second half began with a 33-yard kickoff return by Birmingham-Southern, but Trinity's defense was up to the task once again. The Panthers drove inside the Tiger 30 yard line but Jewett broke up a pass on fourth-and-four to put Trinity's offense back on the field.

After Trinity went three-and-out on its first drive of the half, BSC got a 73-yard pass completion for a touchdown, but the extra-point attempt failed and Trinity remained in the lead at 10-9 midway through the third quarter.

Trinity avoided potential disaster after fumbling on its next possession, but Tiger quarterback Tucker Horn (Graham, Texas / Graham) recovered the fumble to keep his offense on the field. The next play was a 38-yard completion to Caleb Crawford (Houston, Texas / Strake Jesuit), then three plays later Horn connected with Stewart for a 25-yard score that made it a 17-9 Tiger lead.

Irving picked up his second interception of the day on the ensuing drive by BSC, and the Tigers turned the short field into another touchdown to take a 24-9 advantage with just over two minutes left in the third quarter. This time it was Wyatt Messex (Granger, Texas / Granger) who found Crawford for a big gain (26 yards), then Messex scored it himself on a five-yard run.

Another special teams play factored in as BSC's next drive ended in a 20-yard punt because it was blocked by Edmonson. After a sack on the first play of Trinity's drive ended the third quarter, Horn started the fourth with a 61-yard pass to Stewart that ended inside the BSC five yard line. Charles Davis (Geismer, La. / Dutchtown) punched it in from three yards out to extend the lead to 31-9 with just under 14 minutes left in the game.

Birmingham-Southern drove 75 yards on 10 plays to get its second touchdown of the game, but the two-point attempt failed and the score was 31-15. Trinity answered that score with a long drive of its own, chewing up nearly five minutes off the clock, and ending with a three-yard score from Messex to Edmonson with 4:52 left to play.

The Tiger defense stopped BSC on fourth down on its next possession, but Trinity committed its first turnover on the next drive to put the defense back on the field. The final Birmingham-Southern drive ended with the Tigers forcing a fifth turnover – this time a fumble recovery by Cannon Starcke (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands).

Numbers to Note

Irving finished the game with four tackles and two interceptions, which were also the first of his career.

In addition to the five turnovers, Trinity had three sacks in the game. Ezra Gore (McKinney, Texas / North) had one of those sacks for an 11-yard loss, and he also led Trinity with eight tackles in the game.

Campbell Miller (Tyler, Texas / Robert E. Lee) picked up his third sack of the season, which gives him eight in his career. Carson Byrd (Waco, Texas / Midway) collected his first career sack in the game, which resulted in a 12-yard loss.

Jewett finished with six tackles and two pass breakups in addition to his fumble recovery, while James Ogunrin (Katy, Texas / Episcopal) had six stops and a pair of quarterback hurries.

Edmonson led the team with 44 yards rushing on 11 carries, scoring a rushing and a receiving touchdown in the game.

Horn finished with 166 yards passing, while Messex completed 9-of-14 pass for 122 yards, and both quarterbacks threw a touchdown.  

Gehman had his best day of the year punting for the Tigers, racking up over 200 yards on five punts, averaging more than 41 yards/kick, and booming a season-long 54-yard punt.