No. 5 Tiger Football gets set for a pivotal Southern Athletic Association (SAA) game against the Berry College Vikings in Mount Berry, Georgia on Saturday at 1 PM (ET).
With their big win over Rhodes, the Tigers (3-1) brought their SAA winning streak to 17 games, dating back to 2021. The Tigers crushed the Lynx in a blowout 63-14 score. The Tigers' aerial assault was the difference maker during the game, passing for five total touchdowns and busting out 20-plus yard plays left and right. While he had been quiet so far this season, fifth-year receiver
Ryan Merrifield (Austin, Texas / Vandergrift) had a breakout game and was named SAA Player of the Week and named to D3football.com Team of the Week.
D3football.com Rankings
With the Tigers' lopsided victory over Rhodes College, the Tigers were bumped up to the No. 5 spot on the national rankings. The top two spots still remain the same, with North Central (Ill.) occupying the top spot. Regional rival Hardin-Simmons dropped to 18 after being ranked 5 in last week's poll.
SAA Player of the Week & D3football.com Team of the Week - Ryan Merrifield
Merrifield had been quiet for the season, not having a single touchdown through the Tigers three games. Against Rhodes, however, that would all change.
Merrifield tied a Trinity single-game record with four receiving touchdowns with four. He collected six total receptions for a career-high 151 yards in just the first half, as many of Trinity's starters were pulled at halftime of a game that was 35-0 at the half. Ryan would also have a career-long 82-yard reception to go with three touchdowns in the second quarter.
Preview - No. 5 Trinity vs Berry
Although Berry is an unranked opponent, they are just outside the Top 25, according to D3football.com. This will be the sixth matchup between the two conference opponents. The Tigers hold a 3-2 record against Berry since their first matchup in 2017. Last year's matchup was a close one, as the Tigers won 21-14. The Tiger defense was immaculate that game, only allowing 190 yards of total offense, and had three takeaways. Berry brings in a 3-0 record after taking games against Huntingdon, LaGrange, and Centre.
Offense: For the fourth week in a row, the Tigers scored over 30 points in a single game. This week, it was the passing game that did it for the Tigers. It would be quarterback
Tucker Horn (Graham, Texas / Graham) who would lead the way for the Tigers with 220 passing yards and 4 touchdown passes in the first half alone. The Tigers would also see sophomore
Collin Bishop (Childress, Texas / Childress) throw his first career touchdown pass. Along with Merrifield,
BJ Rainey (Cedar Hill, Texas / Cedar Hill) would collect 64 receiving yards and
Jordan Jones (Ft. Worth, Texas / All Saints Episcopal) would haul in his first career touchdown catch. On the ground, we would see the new face of
Jackson Williams (Manor, Texas / New Tech)lead the way with 69 yards on the ground and a touchdown. Running backs
Johnny Milo (The Woodlands, Texas / Caney Creek) and
Legend Grigsby (Houston, Texas / Cypress Creek) would also add touchdowns to their ledgers. For Berry College, they are having most of their success on the ground this season with a duo of running backs that have amassed 654 total yards on the season. The Vikings will have senior quarterback Blake Hembree lead the offense as he will look to get the ball to leading wide receiver Nate Lyons.
Defense: The Tiger defense only allowed 14 points and 263 yards of total offense against Rhodes. The Tiger snagged another interception as
Caleb Harmel (Burton, Texas / Burton) nabbed his team-leading third interception in the 2023 season. The Tigers only allowed 74 yards on the ground for an average of 2.4 yards per carry. The Tigers are poised and ready to stop the Berry rushing attack, as the Tigers are a nationally-ranked defense that only allows 80 yards on the ground per game. For the Tigers, it would be Harmel and
Carson Byrd (Waco, Texas / Midway) who would lead the way with five total tackles. Fifth-year
Mac Douglas (Fairhope, Alabama / Bayside Academy) had another great game, totaling three tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. The Tigers' offensive line will need to get to the second level to get to Berry linebacker Brock Skinner, who leads the team in tackles, tackles for loss, and sacks.
Special Teams: For the Tiger returns, it would be
Lamont Nickleberry (Childress, Texas / Childress) doing the bulk of the returning, gaining 73 yards on his four returns. The Tigers would be perfect on extra points yet again as kicker
Tyler Huettel (McKinney, Texas / McKinney) would go 5-5. Also,
Dante McLauchlan (San Antonio, Texas / Central Catholic) and
River Rocha (Kaiserslautern, Germany Ramstein American) would hit two extra points each. In the punting aspect, punter
Eli Gehman (Cedar Park, Texas / Leander) would send his one punt 47 yards and pin the Lynx inside the 20-yard line. The Tiger returns will get even more chances to impact the game as the Viking kickers have only tallied two touchbacks on 32 total kicks. Also, the Viking punters are only averaging 31.60 yards per punt this season. The Tiger kickoff and punt team will need to be ready to go as Deiondre Wilson and Nate Lyons both rank second in the country in punt and kick return yards.
Looking Ahead - Centre of Attention
After their game against Berry College, the Tigers will return to Tiger Stadium to take on Centre College at 11:00 AM on Saturday, October 7th.
