SEWANEE, Ga. – The No. 5/6 Trinity football team continued its winning streak with a 44-6 Southern Athletic Association victory over the University of the South on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers improved to 8-1 overall and 7-0 in SAA play with the win and remain atop the league standings. Sewanee falls to 3-5 overall and 2-4 in conference with the loss. Trinity has won 26 consecutive meetings against Sewanee and holds an overall record of 28-4 in the series.

With the win, Trinity clinches at least a share of the 2023 SAA Championship and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs. The Tigers would still need to win its final game next weekend in order to be the outright champions for the third straight season.

Tucker Horn (Graham, Texas / Graham) tossed three touchdowns in three quarters of action in the game, including two of those to Ryan Merrifield (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift). Cole Monago (Houston, Texas / Klein Cain) topped 100 yards receiving for the second time in his career – both of which have come in the last three games. He finished with 103 yards and a touchdown on four catches today.

The Tiger defense held Sewanee to just 71 yards rushing and 238 yards overall in the game. Trinity also yielded just two long field goals in the scoring column and has held its last four opponents to single-digits. Trinity also had four sacks and two interceptions in the game – the second turnover was also a 39-yard interception return for a touchdown by Roan Erwin (San Antonio, Texas / Alamo Heights). Ryan Arnold (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) led the team with six tackles, while the linebacking trio of Caleb Harmel (Burton, Texas / Burton), James Ogunrin (Katy, Texas / Episcopal), and TJ Scannell (San Antonio, Texas / Reagan) had five stops each.

The Rundown
Trinity took the ball after winning the coin toss but was held to a three-and-out on its first drive. Punter Eli Gehman (Cedar Creek, Texas / Leander) had no trouble being called into early action, though, booming a 53-yard punt that pinned Sewanee inside its own 20 yardline.

That field position proved to be critical in the opening minutes of the game as Sewanee's first offensive play was an interception by Tiger safety Quin McDermott (Fairview, Texas / Lovejoy) picked off the pass attempt at the 17 yardline to quickly put the offense back on the field. Winston Hutchison (Round Rock, Texas / McNeil) ran the ball 13 yards on the first play and then scored on a four-yard run after that to make it a 7-0 lead less than two minutes into the game.

Another Sewanee miscue led to another Trinity touchdown less than two minutes later. The defense held Sewanee to a three-and-out and the ensuing punt attempt began with a bad snap to set up Trinity's prolific offense four yards away from another score. Justin Carmouche (Cypress, Texas / Cy-Ranch) cashed in on the good fortune in just one play and Trinity led 13-0 after a missed PAT.

The Tiger defense continued to hold the home team in check on the next drive, pushing Sewanee back to its own 10 yardline on a three-and-out that ended with back-to-back tackles for loss. Trinity started with another short field – albeit its worst field position of the game to that point – at the Sewanee 36. The result was a third-straight scoring drive as Tyler Huettel (McKinney, Texas / McKinney) knocked in a 36-yard field goal to make it a 16-0 game midway through the first quarter.

Sewanee chewed up more than six minutes on its next drive, covering 49 yards in 12 plays to set up for a long field goal to get on the board at 16-3. Trinity answered with another surgical drive that took less than three minutes and resulted in a 23-3 lead with just under 13 minutes left in the half. Horn and Monago connected for 49 yards on two pass plays – including the 31-yard touchdown.

After the teams traded punts on the next two possessions, Sewanee used up nearly seven minutes on 13 plays on its next drive. The home team covered just 39 yards, though, and had to settle for another long field goal – that proved to be the final points of the day for Sewanee. Trinity took over with more than four minutes remaining in the quarter, but was set to punt just shy of midfield. Instead, the Tigers faked the punt and Harmel ran 20 yards for the first down to extend the drive. Horn hit Monago for a 21-yard gain on the next play and Trinity was back in the red zone. Merrifield caught hits first touchdown of the day two plays after that and Trinity would take that 30-6 lead into the halftime break.

Sewanee began the second half with a 23-yard play, but Trinity's defense shut things down after that and forced a punt. Sewanee was able to pin Trinity at its own three yardline, though, hoping to turn the tide with field position. Trinity converted third-and-13 and third-and-nine on its next drive – including a 33-yard pass play to Monago – but the offense stalled just into the red zone. Huettel had a rare miss on a field goal attempt from 34 yards and the score remained 30-6 early in the third quarter.

A huge sack by Arnold put Sewanee behind the chains on the next drive and the Trinity offense was back on the field after just over two minutes. On what proved to be his final drive of the afternoon, Horn engineered what also proved to be Trinity's final offensive touchdown of the day. Legend Grigsby (Houston, Texas / Cypress Creek) got things started with a hard-charging 21-yard run, then Horn and Merrifield covered 23 more yards on back-to-back receptions. Merrifield also caught the final pass of the drive from 26 yards out to make it 37-6 with 2:55 left in the third quarter.

Sewanee connected on a big 35-yard pass play on its next drive, making its first trip into the red zone against the Trinity defense. The next play was a penalty in the end zone and it was now first-and-goal from the two. Trinity's defensive line stood its ground, though, and Sewanee gained just one yard on the next four plays. Ameer Mustafa (Houston, Texas / Kinkaid) made two tackles on runs up the middle, Max Shilstone (Houston, Texas / Lamar) broke up a pass on third down as he rushed the quarterback, and Johnny Nwobodo (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) teamed up with Mustafa on the fourth-down tackle to finish the drive.

Trinity went three-and-out on its next drive, but Gehman unleashed a 64-yard punt to flip the field and put Sewanee at its own 30 to start the next drive. The first play of the drive finished off the third quarter and the game moved into the final 15 minutes. The first play of the fourth quarter was the exclamation point for Trinity as Erwin picked off the next pass and took it 39 yards to make it a 44-6 game.

Neither team put together much on offense after that, although Jackson Williams (Manor, Texas / New Tech) was electric in the final drive of the game, covering 55 yards on three carries to wind up as the team leader in rushing for the day.

Numbers to Note
Horn crossed 8,000 career passing yards with his day that included 230 yards passing. He also recorded his 90th career touchdown pass. Horn is third in school history in both categories.

Hutchison became the 25th player in school history to eclipse 1,300 rushing yards in a career and scored his 13th career touchdown – moving into a tie for 17th in rushing scores.

Merrifield had six receptions for 82 yards and the two scores today, moving up to seventh in school history in career receiving yards and is just shy of 2,300 for his career. He also moved up to fifth in school history with his 28 career touchdown receptions.

In addition to his second career 100-yard receiving game, Monago also became the 33rd Trinity player ever to record 1,000 or more receiving yards.

Up Next
Trinity will be back at home for next weekend's regular season finale. The Tigers will celebrate Senior Day by hosting Hendrix College (AR) at Noon on Saturday, November 11.