SAN ANTONIO – The sixth-ranked Trinity football team won its fifth consecutive game with a 31-3 victory over Centre College (KY) in Southern Athletic Association action on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers improved to 5-1 overall this season and 4-0 in SAA play, remaining atop the league standings. The Colonels fell to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in conference on the year. Trinity has won four straight games in the series with Centre, i/mproving to 19-11overall. Today's 28-point margin of victory is the best for either team since the Tigers won 34-6 in the 2007 season.

After a slow start that saw Trinity leading just 7-0 after the first quarter of play, the Tigers poured it on in the second and third quarters, scoring the remainder of its 24 points in those two periods. Trinity finished with 326 yards of offense on the day and held Centre to just 227 total yards that included a paltry 32 yards rushing in the game.

Quarterback Tucker Horn (Graham, Texas / Graham) went 16-of-26 passing for 237 yards and a pair of scores. Ryan Merrifield (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) had another standout game, topping 100 yards receiving for the fourth consecutive week. Merrifield finished with 126 yards on five receptions and scored a touchdown for the third straight week as well. Today's game also puts him over 2,000 receiving yards in his career, becoming the 11th player in Trinity football history to reach the milestone. Carter Self (North Richland Hills, Texas / Birdville) finished with three catches for 60 yards and a touchdown as well.

Linebackers Caleb Harmel (Burton, Texas / Burton) and James Ogunrin (Katy, Texas / Episcopal) led Trinity's stingy defensive effort with 28 combined tackles in the game. Ogunrin finished with a career-high 13 total tackles, while Harmel edged his teammate for the Tiger lead with 14 tackles in the game – just one away from a career-high himself. Harmel also had 2.5 tackles for loss in the game, which included his first sack of the season that ended up as a 10-yard loss.

Jacob Munoz (Cedar Park, Texas / Cedar Park) and Carson Byrd (Waco, Texas / Midway) finished with four QB hurries each, accounting for half of the team's pass pressures in the game. Munoz also led Trinity with 3.5 tackles for loss and had a fumble recovery.

Winston Hutchison (Round Rock, Texas / McNeil) led Trinity's rushing attack with 47 yards on just eight carries, scoring for the second time this season. Lamont Nickleberry (Childress, Texas / Childress) scored his first career touchdown as well, taking a punt return back for a 66-yard score early in the second quarter.

The Rundown

Trinity won the opening toss, but deferred to let the defense have the field first in today's game. The Tigers responded by forcing a three-and-out that was ended with a bad snap that pinned Centre inside its own five yardline. The ensuing punt gave Trinity a short field, but a third-down sack by Centre forced the Tigers to go for a 35-yard field goal. That field goal was blocked and the game remained scoreless for the time being.

After Centre drove just beyond midfield, the visitors stalled again, but this time the punt pinned Trinity back inside the 10. The Tiger offense came to life, beginning with a 40-yard pass play from Horn to Merrifield on the second play of the drive. That energized both the Tiger team and the crowd, and Horn connected with Self a few plays later for a 21-yard touchdown to put Trinity in front 7-0 with just seconds left in the quarter.

Another bad snap early in Centre's next series kept the Colonels from responding and they were forced to punt once again. Nickleberry fielded the punt just inside his own 35 and charged down the field for the 66-yard return that gave the Tigers a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Trinity's defense continued to keep Centre off balance and another quick drive put the ball back in the hands of Horn and the offense. Horn found Caleb Crawford (Houston, Texas / Strake Jesuit) on a third-and-six to keep the drive going, then hit Merrifield on back-to-back pass plays that covered 44 yards. The second was a 32-yard strike that Merrifield caught just inside the one yardline but was unable to stay on his feet. Hutchison scored on third-and-goal to convert the red zone chance and give Trinity a 21-0 lead with just over six minutes left in the half.

Centre utilized a fake punt on fourth-and-11 at its own 39 yardline on the next drive, then turned that successful fake into a 36-yard field goal that ended up being the only points allowed by Trinity in the game. The Tigers took that 21-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Trinity got the ball to start the second half and took full advantage by scoring its fourth touchdown of the day. Horn hit Merrifield from 23 yards out to finish off the drive, which included a 13-yard run by Hutchison and a 28-yard reception for Self.

Harmel owned the next drive for Centre, sacking the Colonels for a 10-yard loss on second down, then forcing a fumble that was recovered by Munoz on third-and-long. The Tigers took over at the Centre 17, but wound up settling for a 33-yard field goal from Tyler Huettel (McKinney, Texas / McKinney) to put Trinity up 31-3 midway through the third quarter.

Centre drove to the Tiger five yardline on its next drive, but the Trinity defense held on fourth-and-goal, forcing four straight incomplete passes to keep the Colonels from cutting into the deficit. The Tiger offense wasn't able to put much together, though punter Eli Gehman (Cedar Park, Texas / Leander) pinned Centre inside the 10 with a 51-yard punt.

The Colonels put together one of its best drives of the day after that, covering 89 yards in 12 plays, but it was the final play that mattered most. On fourth-and-goal from the Trinity five, the outstanding duo of Harmel and Ogunrin crashed through the line to make a tackle in the backfield to give the Tiger defense two straight stops on fourth-and-goal from the five.

Trinity took over with 5:32 left in the game and chewed up all but 49 seconds of the remaining time. Centre got the ball back with less than a minute and the Tiger defense put a fitting stamp on the game by forcing another turnover on the second play from scrimmage to close out the victory.

Up Next

Trinity will be off next week, then makes the short trip north to face off against Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.