SAN ANTONIO – The Trinity University football team earned a 45-26 Southern Athletic Association victory over Sewanee on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers (3-2, 1-1) produced just their second 40-point game of the season in today's game, which came with a 589-yard day for the offense. Sewanee (1-4, 0-2) was held to just 88 yards rushing, but did nearly match Trinity in the passing game. Trinity's 333 yards rushing is the most for a Tiger team since 2017, eclipsing 300 yards for just the 16th time in the last 32 seasons.

Fifth-year running backs Winston Hutchison (Round Rock, Texas / McNeil) and Legend Grigsby (Houston, Texas / Cypress Creek) led the ground game for Trinity, with both players eclipsing 90 yards on the day. Hutchison led a slight edge with 96 yards rushing, compared to 93 yards for Grigsby. Both averaged better than 10 yards per carry. Grigsby scored his 21st career touchdown and was one of four different rushers to log a score.

Ryan Back (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) had a career-high 278 yards on 16-of-22 passing, tossing a pair of touchdowns in the game. He connected with 10 different receivers in the game, including five receptions each for Will Taylor (Houston, Texas / Strake Jesuit) and BJ Rainey (Cedar Hill, Texas / Cedar Hill). Taylor led the team with 86 yards receiving, highlighted by a 60-yard touchdown catch. Alejandro Tavarez (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) finished with 82 yards on three receptions – including a 50-yard touchdown from Back.

Cade Rabson (The Woodlands, Texas / College Park) led the Tiger defense with 11 total tackles, including a pair of tackles for loss and a shared sack. Wakil Mateen (San Antonio, Texas / Brennan) picked up eight tackles in the game, with Jackson Barry (Dallas, Texas / Dallas Christian) added seven stops of his own.

The Rundown
Trinity got the opening kickoff to start the game and Tiger rookie Jason Love (San Antonio, Texas / Brennan) set the offense up nicely with a 33-yard return. Grigsby broke a 47-yard run on the third play from scrimmage, but the drive stalled inside the 10-yard line and Tyler Huettel (McKinney, Texas / McKinney) came in for a short 24-yard field goal to give Trinity the early 3-0 lead just minutes into the game.

Sewanee's offense was stymied early as the visitors had two three-and-outs to start the day. That included a drive after Trinity came up short on a fake punt from its own 35-yard line on fourth-and-one. The Tiger defense came up huge after the fake punt, ruining the drive with back-to-back sacks from Jonathan Nwobodo (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) and a combination of Rabson and Max Shilstone (Houston, Texas / Lamar).

Trinity took over at the 20 after the touchback on the second Sewanee punt, then drove to midfield five plays later. The Tigers decided to go for it on fourth down for the second straight drive and this time it paid off. Back found Tavarez across the middle for a short gain, but then Tavarez turned on the jets and went in for the 50-yard touchdown to make it a 10-0 lead.

Another three-and-out for Trinity's defense meant that Sewanee had negative yardage in the first quarter, as the Tigers took over with just over a minute remaining. Hutchison broke free for a 25-yard gain to put Trinity into Sewanee territory, then Back hit Tavarez for 16 more yards down the 11. After a holding penalty negated a touchdown run by Johnny Milo (The Woodlands, Texas / Caney Creek), Grigsby shot through the middle of the defense like a cannon for a 21-yard touchdown run. That put Trinity up 17-0 lead just over a minute into the second quarter.

Sewanee's offense was still unable to move the ball against the Trinity defense, finishing another three-and-out that resulted in more negative yardage. The punt checked back and went out of bounds at the Trinity 49-yard line. Xae Huerta (San Antonio, Texas / Jay) took the handoff and headed down the left sideline for the first Trinity play of the drive, then tiptoed his way past defenders on his way to a 51-yard score. That gave the Tigers a commanding 24-0 lead with nearly 12 minutes remaining in the half.

After four three-and-outs to start the game, Sewanee finally put some plays together against the Trinity defense. The visitors made it just inside the 20 before lining up for a 34-yard field goal, but a fumbled snap kept them off the scoreboard as Trinity recovered and took over at the 24-yard line.

Trinity moved the ball just past midfield on the next drive, but a turnover gave the ball back to Sewanee. This time, Sewanee was able to convert thanks to a 40-yard pass play that set up first-and-goal from the eight. Three plays later, the Sewanee Tigers made it a 24-6 game after coming up short on a two-point conversion play. Trinity had one more drive before half, but Huettel's 46-yard field goal missed wide right and the half ended with the Tigers up 24-6.

The second half began much like the first as Sewanee struggled to move the ball and was forced to punt after gaining just 12 yards. Two plays later, Trinity lit up the scoreboard again as Back connected for the 60-yard touchdown to Taylor that made it 31-6. Another three-and-out came next for Sewanee, but the defense also got the ball right back with another turnover at the Trinity 43-yard line. Another long pass play – this time for 38 yards – put Sewanee inside the 10, and three plays later, they hit pay dirt. Rainey, who recovered the fumble on the earlier field goal try, knifed through and blocked the extra point to keep it a 31-12 game.

The two offenses had just begun to heat up with the quick scores, and neither was ready to be done in this game. A long kickoff return for Trinity put them in Sewanee territory to start the drive, and Back quickly led his team in for another score. This time it was a three-yard plunge by Maddox Morkovsky (New Braunfels, Texas / New Braunfels) that made it 38-12. Not to be outdone, Sewanee answered quickly with a 75-yard bomb on its first play from scrimmage to bring it back to a 38-19 game.

Trinity moved the ball quickly down the field on its next drive, picking up 10+ yards on three straight plays. As the game moved into the fourth quarter, Milo was able to get back the touchdown that was taken away with a penalty. He scampered 13 yards into the end zone for what proved to be the final score of the day for Trinity. Sewanee answered with its final scoring drive as well, making it a 45-26 game with 9:08 remaining. Trinity missed on a fourth-down try from inside Sewanee territory, then Sewanee drove down inside the Trinity 20 before coming up short on a fourth-down try of its own. Trinity was able to run out the clock from there and finish off the win.

Up Next
Trinity will be back on the road again next weekend, facing off against Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn. The game is set for a Noon kickoff on Saturday, October 19. The Tigers are back at home on Saturday, October 26, for a game against Berry College (GA) during Trinity's Alumni Weekend. The 2024 Trinity Athletics Hall of Fame Class will be inducted during halftime of the game.