MOUNT BERRY, Ga. – The fifth-ranked Trinity football team mounted a furious comeback to take a 46-37 Southern Athletic Association victory on the road against Berry College on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers (4-1, 3-0) won their fourth consecutive game after being down by 13 points in the middle of the second quarter. It is also Trinity's third straight win in the series against Berry, which falls to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in SAA play with the loss.

Trinity scored on its opening drive, but that was the high point of the first half for the visitors as Berry struck for four long touchdowns in the first two quarters to take a 29-13 lead over the nationally-ranked Tigers. After the opening score, Trinity got stopped twice in the red zone and had to settle for two short field goals. Meanwhile, Berry scored two 53-yard touchdowns, a 35-yard touchdown, and an 88-yard touchdown run that was coupled with a two-point conversion to send the Tigers to their biggest deficit in a regular season game since a 2017 game against Hendrix College (AR).

Trailing by 16 with just under eight minutes left in the second quarter, Trinity drove 80 yards in just six plays for a critical score that made it a 29-20 game at halftime.

Berry got the ball after the break and Trinity's defense forced a punt after just five plays to put the offense back on the field. The Tigers responded with another touchdown drive that culminated with quarterback Tucker Horn (Graham, Texas / Graham) finding Ryan Merrifield (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) for a 12-yard play that cut the lead to just 29-27 after the extra point.

Another Berry punt in the third quarter led to another connection from Horn and Merrifield – this time from distance as the two hooked up for an 81-yard touchdown that gave Trinity the 34-29 lead and a streak of 21 unanswered points.

The ensuing Berry drive featured another big play with its fifth touchdown of the day of 35 yards or more – this time a 58-yard pass play that quickly put the Vikings back in front. After the offense stalled just beyond midfield, the Tigers called upon placekicker Tyler Huettel (McKinney, Texas / McKinney) for a 52-yard field goal attempt to try and tie the game. Huettel's kick split the uprights, tying the Trinity record for the longest field goal in school history, and knotting things up 37-37 with just under 10 minutes to play in the game.

The Tiger defense continued to stand tall, forcing a three-and-out that also resulted in a short punt to set Trinity up on its own 43 yardline. Horn completed a 16-yard pass on the first play to move into Berry territory, and then Legend Grigsby (Houston, Texas / Cypress Creek) took it from there. He broke tackles on his way to a 16-yard run, then split three defenders with a nifty spin move after a short completion, finishing in a 25-yard score that gave Trinity a 44-37 lead with 6:41 remaining.

Berry drove to about midfield before facing a fourth-and-six with just under five minutes left, but Trinity's defense got the stop to put the ball back in the hands of Horn and the offense. Grigsby continued to chew up clock with 11 yards rushing on the ensuing drive, as well as drawing a facemask penalty. The drive stalled just inside the Berry 40, though, and the Tigers opted for a punt to play for field position instead of an even-longer field goal attempt for Huettel.

Eli Gehman (Cedar Park, Texas / Leander) sailed his punt to the right sideline and it bounced inside the 10 before bounding out at the four – getting exactly what the Tigers were hoping for, and in the perfect moment. That field position was even more important considering the next play was a holding penalty in the end zone, which – after a lengthy discussion by the officials – resulted in a safety that effectively sealed the win. The onside kick attempt after the safety went out of bounds and Trinity ran all but 34 seconds off the clock to clinch the nine-point win.

Numbers to Note

Horn matched his career-high with 363 yards passing in the game. He went 25-of-33 for 363 yards and four touchdowns. Today's 81-yard pass was just one shy of the career-high 82-yard touchdown pass he also threw to Merrifield just last week.

Speaking of Merrifield, he posted his third consecutive 100-yard receiving game with five catches for 120 yards and two scores. Caleb Crawford (Houston, Texas / Strake Jesuit) was also very active in the passing game, recording six catches for 70 yards.

Grigsby scored twice in the game – once on the ground and once on a pass from Horn. He finished with 41 yards rushing on 13 carries, as well as three catches for 33 additional yards.

Lamont Nickleberry (Childress, Texas / Childress) played a huge role in special teams for the Tigers on Saturday, piling up 182 yards on six kickoff returns. That total is the second-most ever for a Trinity player, and is the most since Caleb Urban had 193 yards in kick returns against Huntingdon in 2010.

Caleb Harmel (Burton, Texas / Burton) led Trinity's defense with nine total tackles that included a pair of tackles behind the line of scrimmage. After allowing 29 points through the first quarter-and-a-half, the Tiger unit gave up just eight points and only 183 yards in the second half to aid the rally. Ameer Mustafa (Houston, Texas / Kinkaid) also had a pair of tackles for loss – including Trinity's only sack of the game.

Up Next

Trinity returns home for more SAA action next weekend, hosting Centre College (KY) at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, October 7.