Coming off of a bye week, No. 6 Tiger Football sets sail to Georgetown to take on the Southwestern Pirates on Saturday.
 
In their most recent game, the Tigers bested Centre College by a score of 31-3. The Tigers won every side of the ball. Fifth-year quarterback Tucker Horn (Graham, Texas / Graham) led the offense with 237 passing yards and two touchdowns. The Tigers started slow in the first quarter. But put up 24 points in the next two quarters to blow the game wide open. The Tiger defense would put up three shutout quarters. First-year Lamont Nickleberry (Childress, Texas / Childress) zoomed through the Centre punt team to score a special teams touchdown. With the stellar defense and special teams, Nickleberry and fifth-year linebacker Caleb Harmel (Burton, Texas / Burton) were selected as SAA Players of the Week. 
 
D3football.com Rankings
 
The Tigers now sit in the number 6 spot on the D3football.com national rankings. The top two spots still remain the same, with North Central (Ill.) sitting in the top spot. Region rival Hardin-Simmons sits in the 20h spot and UMHB occupies the 23rd spot. Conference foe Berry jumps up in the rankings at the 24th spot. 
 
SAA Player of the Week - Caleb Harmel, Defensive
 
Fifth-year linebacker Caleb Harmel has been selected as the SAA Defensive Player of the Week, this is Harmel's second selection this season. 
 
Harmel filled the box score with 14 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, a 10-yard sack, and a forced fumble. Harmel also had two quarterback hurries. Harmel was all over the field, working from sideline to sideline all game. 
 
SAA Player of the Week - Lamont Nickleberry, Special Teams
 
For the first time in his career, first-year Lamont Nickleberry has been selected as the SAA Special Teams Player of the Week.
 
Nickleberry, returned a punt 66 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter to give Trinity a two-score lead. The first year had a pair of punt returns on the day, totaling 72 yards.
 
Preview - No. 6 Trinity vs Southwestern
 
The Tigers will head to Georgetown to take on the Pirates of Southwestern University on Saturday, October 21st for a 1:00 PM kickoff. The Tigers are 15-12-2 all-time against the Pirates since their first match-up in 1909. This will be the first matchup between the Pirates and Tigers since 2016, in which the Pirates beat the Tigers 20-7.
 
Offense: It was another 30-plus point performance for the Tiger offense. The Tigers have scored 30 or more points in every game this season. Quarterback Tucker Horn led the offense by slinging the ball past the Centre defense. Horn had an Aikman-Irvin connection with wide receiver Ryan Merrifield (Austin, Texas / Vandergrift), who caught more than half of Horn's total yards. Merrifield would torch the Centre defensive backs and finished the day with five receptions for 126 yards and a touchdown. Running back Winston Hutchison (Round Rock, Texas / McNeil) would total 47 yards on the ground and bull through the defense to add a touchdown to his season total. Wide receiver Carter Self (North Richland Hills, Texas / Birdville) showed his hands when he caught a difficult back shoulder pass to find paydirt. Self would finish with three receptions for 60 yards. The Pirate offense has had shootouts almost every game. The Pirates will look to a duo of quarterbacks that include first-year Jaylen Spriggs and senior Damian Gomez to lead the offense. Spriggs has struggled sometimes, though, having five interceptions to go along with five touchdowns. Spriggs and Gomez will try to get the ball to their favorite target, first-year Graydon Thompson, who leads the Pirates in receiving yards. 
 
Defense: The Tiger defense was immaculate, only allowing 58 yards rushing and 169 yards through the air. The Tigers added two more turnovers to their total. The Tigers held Centre to just 5 for 15 on 3rd down conversions on the day. The Tiger front seven were menacing to the Centre offensive line. Harmel would lead the way with 14 total tackles. Fellow linebacker James Ogunrin (Katy, Texas / Episcopal) would be right behind him with 13 total tackles. The defensive line for the Tigers were the heroes of the game, totaling 16 quarterback hurries, two sacks, and six tackles for loss. Leading the way for them would be Jacob Munoz (Cedar Park, Texas / Cedar Park), who had five total tackles and four quarterback hurries. The Pirate linebackers are the heart of their defense, with both linebackers leading the Pirates in tackles. Senior linebacker Blake Corekin has 48 tackles while fellow senior Aleksander Gomez has 47 tackles. The Pirates have only totaled 8 sacks and 4 forced fumbles on the season. The Pirate defense does have a knack for interceptions though, with first-year defensive back Cam Willis-Roberson having three interceptions on the year. 
 
Special Teams: The Special teams were great again for the Tiger. Punter Eli Gehman (Cedar Park, Texas / Leander) would boom away three punts for 126 yards, including a 51-yard punt and a punt that would pin the Colonels inside the 20-yard line. Kicker Tyler Huettel (McKinney, Texas / McKinney) would go 4-4 on extra points and add a field goal. Returner Lamont Nickleberry would take a pair of punts for 72 yards and score the first touchdown of his career. Pirate kicker Charlie Fournier is kicking 67 percent this season and averages 34 yards per punt, so this will allow the Tiger return team to make an impact again. The Pirates will use a trio of returners to try to get by the Tiger kickoff and punt team, as they combine for over 300 return yards this season. 
 
Looking Ahead - Majors At Multi-Purpose Stadium
 
After competing against Southwestern, the Tigers will return home to play against the Millsaps Majors on Saturday, October 28th.