GEORGETOWN, Texas – The sixth-ranked Trinity football team returned to action after a bye week, resuming Southern Athletic Association play with a 57-7 road win over Southwestern University on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers won their sixth consecutive game to improve to 6-1 overall and remain undefeated at 5-0 in SAA play. The Pirates fell to 1-8 this season, which includes a 1-6 record in conference. Trinity is now 7-2 in the series against Southwestern, though today's matchup is the first time these teams played since 2016, and the victory snaps a two-game slide for the Tigers.

With 710 yards of total offense today, the Tigers broke the school's all-time record for offensive yards. It is only the second time in Trinity football history that a Tiger team had 700 or more yards of offense – the only other coming in a game against the University of Redlands (CA) in 2004.

The overall record was broken thanks to four Trinity quarterbacks combining to break the team record for passing yards in a game with 560 yards through the air today. Tucker Horn (Graham, Texas / Graham) did most of the damage, covering 342 yards on 23-of-30 passing and four touchdowns in just over two quarters of action. Ryan Back (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) completed 6-of-8 for 138 yards and a pair of scores, while Collin Bishop (Childress, Texas / Childress) had 66 yards and a touchdown on 4-for-5 passing, and Will Vaske (St. Charles, Ill. / North) finished off the game with 14 yards on 2-for-3 passing.

Trinity's 57-point outburst is its second-largest scoring total of the season, though the 50-point margin of victory is the best of the 2023 season for the Tigers. Trinity has now had 45 or more points in three of its last four games.

Cole Monago (Houston, Texas / Klein Cain) was the top receiver in the game with 123 yards and a pair of touchdowns in just four receptions. Ryan Merrifield (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) had eight receptions for 86 yards and two touchdowns of his own. Ethan Boyer (Greenville, N.C. / J.H. Rose), Caleb Crawford (Houston, Texas / Strake Jesuit), and Berend Kahlden (Jonestown, Texas / Lago Vista) also had touchdown receptions in the game for the Tigers.

Trinity finished with 150 yards rushing in the game, but it was spread out among several different players – as usual for the Tigers. The unusual thing this time was that linebacker Caleb Harmel (Burton, Texas / Burton) led the team in rushing with 52 yards on his lone carry. Harmel scored on a fake punt on a fourth-and-two for Trinity at its own 48 yardline during the second quarter, putting Trinity up 26-0 at the time.

Mac Douglas (Fairhope, Ala. / Bayside Academy) led the way for the Tiger defense with eight tackles, followed closely by James Ogunrin (Katy, Texas / Episcopal) with seven stops. Trinity limited Southwestern to just 165 yards of total offense, which included a negligible 49 yards rushing on 35 attempts.

The Rundown
To no one's surprise given the final score, Trinity's offense was on fire early, scoring on the first drive of the game to take an early 7-0 lead. Horn connected with Merrifield four times out of the eight plays of the drive, covering 42 of the 67 yards that took just over four minutes. The final play was Merrifield's seven-yard catch for a score.

Southwestern's first drive was derailed by a sack from Harris Good (Ft. Worth, Texas / Paschal) that dropped the Pirates back to third-and-14 from their own 40 yardline. The Tigers and Pirates exchanged field goal misses after that, taking the game to the last minute of the opening quarter.

Trinity's next drive spilled into the second quarter and finished with another touchdown. This time Horn found Monago from 10 yards out for the score and a 13-0 Tiger lead. After a quick three-and-out for the Tiger defense, Horn and the Trinity offense scored again after just three plays to take a 19-0 lead. Horn hooked up with Crawford for a 40-yard touchdown and maybe the only things not going great for the visiting team was a missed PAT and a missed two-point try.

The Tiger defense forced another three-and-out, but the offense also stalled near midfield on its next opportunity. That's when Harmel got his number called and he turned the fake punt into a 52-yard touchdown run. Southwestern finally got on the board after that drive, covering 75 yards in eight plays to break up the shutout and make it a 26-7 game late in the first half.

Trinity quickly made its way inside the Southwestern five, but had to settle for a short field goal as Tyler Huettel (McKinney, Texas / McKinney) made it a 29-7 lead heading into the halftime break.
After halftime, Trinity's defense continued to hold the Pirates in check by forcing a couple of quick drives that covered just three yards combined. The Tiger offense went for it on fourth down from the Southwestern 21 on their first drive of the third quarter, but took advantage the next time out with another scoring drive.

Horn's final drive covered 47 yards in just five plays, giving Trinity a 36-7 lead with just under seven minutes left in the third quarter. Merrifield caught his second touchdown of the day from 22 yards out to finish off the drive.

Back's opening drive lasted just three plays and extended Trinity's lead once again. Back hit Will Taylor (Houston, Texas / Strake Jesuit) for a 24-yard pass, then followed that by hitting Boyer for a 39-yard score on the very next play to make it a 43-7 game in Trinity's favor.

The next drive for the Pirates was its longest of the quarter, lasting six plays, but gaining just 12 yards against the stingy Tiger defense. Back hit Monago for a 41-yard touchdown strike on the fifth play of the next drive, which also wound up being Back's final pass of the game to make it 50-7 early in the fourth quarter.

Trinity had two of its four sacks in the game on the next drive, and a short punt set up Bishop near midfield for his first drive. He hit Kahlden for a 20-yard gain on the second play, then capped the drive with a 47-yard bomb to Kahlden for the final scoring play of the day.

Southwestern's final drive once again covered limited yards thanks to Trinity's relentless defense, and the Tigers took over with just over four minutes left. Vaske's only drive of the day ran out the clock on the game, pushing down to the Southwestern 25 to add the final 47 yards to the offense's record-breaking total.

Up Next
Trinity will return home for the first time in three weeks to host Millsaps College (MS) in more SAA action. The game will also be a part of Trinity University's Alumni Weekend and will kick off at Noon on Saturday, October 28.