SAN ANTONIO – The No. 5/6 Trinity football team returns home for the first time in three weeks on Saturday, hosting The University of the South in the 2022 regular season finale at 12:00 p.m.
The Tigers improved to 9-0 this season with a lopsided 53-7 Southern Athletic Association road win over Millsaps College last weekend. That victory assured Trinity at least a share of the 2022 SAA Championship and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs. The Tigers will make back-to-back appearances in the postseason for the first time since 2005 – the final year of a stretch of nine consecutive seasons in which the program competed in the NCAA Playoffs.
NCAA Regional Rankings – Tigers No. 1
This week marks the first time that the regionally-ranked teams were listed in rank order and Trinity holds the top spot on the Region III list. Randolph-Macon College (Va.) is second, followed by University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in third. Huntingdon College (Ala.) is fourth and Hardin-Simmons University is fifth, with Bridgewater College (Va.) coming in sixth. Belhaven College (Miss.) and Birmingham-Southern College are tied for seventh in the ranking. Trinity and Randolph-Macon are the only teams in the group that are still undefeated this season.
NCAA III Rankings – D3football.com and AFCA
Trinity is holding steady in both polls, ranking sixth in the latest D3football.com poll and fifth in this week's American Football Coaches Association poll for NCAA III. North Central College (Ill.), Mount Union College (Ohio), Mary Hardin-Baylor, and Linfield College (Ore.) are the top four teams in both national rankings. Trinity is fifth in the AFCA poll ahead of St. John's University (Minn.), while D3football.com has those two teams reversed in their rankings.
Milestones and Honors
Ryan Merrifield (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) needs just 38 more yards to reach 700 for the season, which would make him the 24th player in school history to reach that total. The 800-yard club is even more exclusive as just 15 players have topped that yardage in a year. He is also just eight receptions from hitting 50 this season, joining a group of 16 others to achieve that milestone. Merrifield has also moved into 20th in school history with more than 1,300 career receiving yards, and he is also just two catches from becoming the 19th player to top 100 in a career.
Tucker Horn (Graham, Texas / Graham) is less than 200 yards passing from moving into the top 10 in school history for a single season...again. He currently stands ninth on Trinity's all-time list with last year's total of 2,478 yards passing. The Tigers have not had a player reach 3,000 yards passing in one year since Blake Barmore did it in 2007. Horn's completion percentage coming into today's game (68.2%) would be a new school record, while his current quarterback efficiency rating is seventh all-time.
Horn has also eclipsed 5,000 passing yards in his career to join three other Tigers in school history to reach that total. His next touchdown pass will be the 60th of his career, tying Dan DesPlaines (2001-04) for third all-time at Trinity.
One more rushing touchdown would vault Legend Grigsby (Houston, Texas / Cypress Creek) into a tie for ninth all-time. Only eight players have scored 10 rushing touchdowns in one year, including 2022 Trinity Athletics Hall of Fame inductee Jeremy Boyce. The last player to score double digit rushing touchdowns was quarterback Mason Blaschke in 2012.
Blake Lin (Tyler, Texas / All Saints) is tied for ninth in single-season extra-points made, needing just four more to stand alone in fifth place on the all-time list. His current field goal percentage and PAT percentage would both rank in the top 10 in school history for a single season.
Caleb Harmel (Burton, Texas / Burton) needs just nine more tackles to become the 24th player in school history with 200 or more in a career.
Preview – No. 5/6 Trinity and Sewanee
Trinity sits atop the SAA standings heading into this weekend, while Sewanee is currently seeking its first conference win of the year. The two programs have a long history that dates back to the 1970s and includes a significant amount of time together in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Trinity holds a 26-4 record in the series, having won 24 consecutive meetings between the two teams. The last Trinity loss to Sewanee came in 1992. Trinity won last year's game 66-7 in Sewanee, Tennessee.
Offense: Trinity does most of its damage on offense through the air with the 23rd-ranked passing offense in NCAA III this season. The Tigers are also 16th in the nation in completion percentage and 24th in team passing efficiency. Horn ranks in the top 35 nationally in eight different categories this year, including completion percentage (No. 21) and passing yards (No. 25). Horn has thrown for nearly 2,300 yards and 20 touchdowns this season. His top target this year has been Merrifield, who has six touchdowns among his 42 receptions. Caleb Crawford (Houston, Texas / Strake Jesuit) has 31 catches and five receiving touchdowns as well, and the receiving duo have accounted for nearly 1,100 yards receiving this season. The running game is led by running backs Justin Carmouche (Cypress, Texas / Cy-Ranch) and Grigsby. Carmouche leads the team with 396 yards rushing along with four touchdowns, while Grigsby has scored a team-best nine touchdowns – eight of which have come on the ground.
Sewanee's offense relies more on the running game as the visiting Tigers are averaging just 116.4 yards per game through the air. Michael McGhee is the top rusher for Sewanee, piling up 774 yards on 137 carries (5.6 yards per carry) and seven touchdowns. Jeremiah Young has thrown for 683 yards and five touchdowns this season and his top targets are Dagem Samuel and Cyrus Wilson. Samuel has 25 receptions for 269 yards and two scores, while Wilson has four touchdowns on just 17 catches and a team-leading 280 yards.
Defense: Trinity is 11th in the nation in total defense and 12th in NCAA III in scoring defense this season. Trinity is fourth nationally in rushing defense and has held eight of its nine opponents under 100 yards rushing this season. Harmel leads the stingy defense with 55 tackles this year, including 5.0 tackles for loss and a pair of interceptions. Trey King (Round Rock, Texas / Round Rock) has a team-leading three interceptions and a total of 70 yards in returns. Mac Douglas (Fairhope, Ala. / Bayside Academy) has 7.0 tackles for loss among his 44 total stops, while Charles Gilbert (Gilbert, Ariz. / Basha) has 6.0 tackles for loss this year.
Sewanee is allowing nearly 34 points and nearly 370 yards per game on defense this season. Quinn Johnson leads the team in nearly every defensive category with 72 tackles, 13.5 tackles for loss, 3.0 sacks, and four fumble recoveries.
Special Teams: Trinity's special teams have been outstanding this season, led by electrifying return man BJ Stewart (Shreveport, La. / Woodlawn). Stewart is ranked in the top 20 nationally in five different special teams categories – including fourth in kickoff returns with an average of 31.5 yards per return. Lin has connected on 7-of-10 field goals on the year and is 32nd nationally in field goal percentage. He has also converted 41-of-43 extra-points and leads Trinity with 62 points scored. Punter Eli Gehman (Cedar Park, Texas / Leander) is averaging better than 40 yards per punt this season.
Sewanee's Jack Satterfield handles both punting and kicking duties this season, booting 11 punts of 50 or more yards and averaging 38.5 yards per punt. Kason Holder is the main return man for Sewanee, averaging 18 yards per kickoff return and more than seven yards per punt return this season.
Up Next – NCAA Playoffs (Nov. 19)
The NCAA Selection Show for the 2022 playoffs will be broadcast live on NCAA.com at 4:00 p.m. (CT) on Sunday, November 13. The Tigers can rest easy knowing that their name will be called, but the matchup and destination will be revealed during the show.
