SAN ANTONIO – The #4/6 Trinity football team began its NCAA Playoff run with a 20-6 victory over Hardin-Simmons University on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers improved to 10-1 this season, while the Cowboys end their season with a 9-2 record. It is the second straight season that Trinity eliminated Hardin-Simmons in the first round of the NCAA Playoffs.

Trinity held Hardin-Simmons to just 186 yards of total offense in the game, keyed by the defensive front limiting the visitors to -3 yards rushing in the game. The Tigers recorded four sacks and held HSU to just 3-of-11 on third down conversions. Trinity's offense also controlled the clock throughout with a 10-minute advantage in time-of-possession.

The Tigers scored touchdowns in each of the first two quarters to take a 14-0 lead, but just missed a shot at a three-score lead at the half. Trinity drove down inside the 10 and threw one final pass to the goal line, but the ball was marked down inside the one and time ran out. Neither team scored again until the fourth quarter when Trinity tacked on a pair of field goals, then Hardin-Simmons scored its only points of the game in the final minute.

Fifth-year linebacker Caleb Harmel (Burton, Texas / Burton) led a group of eight different Trinity defensive players with four or more tackles in the game. Harmel had seven total tackles that included six solo efforts. He also had a sack and a pass breakup in the game. Cornerback Johnny Kousa (Prosper, Texas / Wakeland) also had seven tackles and six solo stops. Mac Douglas (Fairhope, Ala. / Bayside Academy) finished with 3.0 tackles for loss to lead the team.

Fifth-year quarterback Tucker Horn (Graham, Texas / Graham) went 23-of-29 through the air for 300 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He had a trio of receivers account for almost all of the yardage, led by two touchdown catches for Ryan Merrifield (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift). Cole Monago (Houston, Texas / Klein Cain) finished with 102 yards on four catches, while Caleb Crawford (Houston, Texas / Strake Jesuit) caught nine passes for 88 total yards.

Tyler Huettel (McKinney, Texas / McKinney) connected on two field goals of 34 and 43 yards in the fourth quarter. Huettel is the first Tiger kicker since 2009 to connect on 10 or more field goals in one season.

The Rundown
Trinity took the opening kick and drove to near midfield, but could get no farther against the HSU defense. Hardin-Simmons had similar problems against the Tiger defense, facing a fourth-and-short from just beyond midfield. Douglas and Harris Good (Ft. Worth, Texas / Paschal) stopped the Cowboys in the backfield and put the ball back in the hands of the offense.

The Tigers capitalized in a big way with a scoring drive to answer the stop. Crawford caught three passes for 38 yards on the drive and Merrifield finished things off with a 15-yard pass from Horn for the first touchdown of the game.

Trinity forced a three-and-out on the next HSU drive, but Trinity's offensive drive stalled near the visitors 40 and the Tigers pinned the Cowboys inside the 20. Hardin-Simmons had an eight-play drive after that, but gained just 17 yards and had to punt the ball back to the Tigers.

The next Trinity drive wound up as the final score of the first half. Horn hit Monago for a 34-yard catch-and-run on a third down play that almost ended in disaster as Monago had the ball stripped at the end of the play. Luck was on Trinity's side though as Winston Hutchison (Round Rock, Texas / McNeil) pounced on the loose ball to keep the drive alive. It was just a few plays later when Horn and Merrifield connected again from 19 yards out for a score that put the Tigers up 14-0.

Another three-and-out put Trinity's offense back on the field with just over four minutes left in the half. The Tigers converted two third downs on their next drive and called timeout with 59 seconds left at the HSU 32 yardline. Trinity called its last timeout with nine seconds left after Crawford caught a pass to put the ball at the six. Horn hit Crawford again on the next play, but he was stopped just short and the Tigers were out of timeouts, and time ran out.

Hardin-Simmons got the ball to start the second half and put together one of its best drives of the day, lasting 12 plays and chewing up nearly five minutes off the clock. After the Cowboys drove inside the red zone, though, Trinity's defense stood tall – eventually getting a stop on fourth-and-long to keep the shutout intact for the time being. That theme continued the rest of the quarter as both defenses dug in and held the offenses in check the rest of the quarter.

A 12-play drive by Trinity covered 7:33 of the game, spilling into the final quarter. The Tigers made it down to the 21 before a sack made it third-and-long and Huettel came in for a 34-yard field goal to make it a 17-0 game. Hardin-Simmons dropped back on the first play of scrimmage to try and answer, but the message came from Max Shilstone (Houston, Texas / Lamar) in the form of a sack-fumble that was recovered by Ameer Mustafa (Houston, Texas / Kinkaid). Even though the offense didn't gain much yardage, Huettel still salvaged the momentum with a 43-yard field goal to pushed it to a 20-0 Trinity lead with half the quarter already gone.

The next drive for Hardin-Simmons covered 72 yards, but came up two yards short as Trinity's defense came up with a goal line stand. The Tigers stuffed the Cowboys on three straight run plays inside the five, with the last being a tackle for loss on fourth down by Mustafa and Harmel. The Tigers were held to just four yards and Hardin-Simmons wound up taking advantage in the end. The Cowboys used the short field for a 40-yard drive and their only score of the game, which came with just 44 seconds left in the game. The onside kick was recovered by the Tigers at midfield and the game was over.

Up Next
Trinity will compete in the Second Round of the NCAA Playoffs next weekend. The Tigers face off against top-ranked North Central College (IL), who has won two of the last three NCAA III Championships.