SAN ANTONIO – The Trinity football team celebrated Senior Day with a 34-7 Southern Athletic Association victory over Southwestern University (TX) in the final regular season home game of the 2024 season on Saturday afternoon.
The Tigers improved to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in SAA play with the team's fifth consecutive victory that is also its eighth win in the last 10 meetings against the Pirates. Trinity led 21-0 at the half after scoring a pair of second-quarter touchdowns to pull away. Southwestern avoided the shutout with a touchdown in the final minute of play, with the result already decided.
Quarterback
Ryan Back (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) completed 20-of-28 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns.
BJ Rainey (Cedar Hill, Texas / Cedar Hill) caught six passes for 49 yards and a touchdown, while
Will Taylor (Houston, Texas / Strake Jesuit) snagged two receptions for 47 yards and a score of his own.
Legend Grigsby (Houston, Texas / Cypress Creek) and
Winston Hutchison (Round Rock, Texas / McNeil) both punched in rushing touchdowns, accounting for 68 combined yards rushing. Grigsby also caught two passes for 49 yards to tie for the team lead in receiving yardage.
Linebacker
Cade Rabson (The Woodlands, Texas / College Park) continued to impress as he finished with a career-high 17 tackles to lead a defense that allowed just 227 yards of offense and had just 60 yards passing in the game. Rabson was also credited with two blocked punts as he also caused havoc on special teams. Prior to the final Southwestern drive that came after Rabson and most of the starters had been pulled, the Tigers had given up just 147 yards to the Pirates. Trinity also forced five turnovers – two interceptions and three fumbles – in the game.
James Ogunrin (Katy, Texas / Episcopal) finished with nine tackles in the game, while
Delvin Gantt (Burton, Texas / Burton) picked off a pass for the third time in the last four games and he is now tied for the team lead.
Anthony Njoku (Richmond, Texas / Travis) also recorded his third interception of the season to also tie for the top mark on the team.
Ryan Ventura (Southlake, Texas / Keller) had three tackles and recovered all three fumbles forced in today's game for Trinity.
One week after tying the school record with four field goals against Hendrix College (AR),
Tyler Huettel (McKinney, Texas / McKinney) scored a pair of fourth-quarter field goals to finish off the day's scoring for the Tigers. Huettel also hit his fourth 40-yard field goal of the season and had five punts for 191 yards (38.2 per kick) in the game.
The Rundown
The defenses controlled the game in the early part of the opening quarter, and it was the Tiger defense that struck the first big play with a fumble recovery near midfield to set up the offense just 46 yards from the end zone. Two pass plays later and the first score of the game was on the board. Back hit Hutchison for a short gain on the first play, then connected with Taylor for a 39-yard score to make it 7-0. Southwestern's next drive spilled into the second quarter, but last just three plays.
The Pirates did pin Trinity inside its own 10 to start the next drive, but the long field only meant a long drive as the Tigers drove 94 yards on nine plays to make it a 14-0 game. Grigsby started the drive with a nine-yard gain to move the team away from its own goal posts, then Back hit with two 11-yard passes to continue the momentum. A 24-yard pass to
Tyson Hancock (Smithville, Texas / Smithville) pushed Trinity from near midfield to near the red zone. A Tiger fumble nearly blew up the good drive, but Trinity pounced on the loose ball to maintain possession. Grigsby then streaked past the defense for a 24-yard score to finish off the drive.
The teams traded unproductive drives after that, but Huettel used a short punt to pin the Pirates at their own 13. The Tiger defense was in the backfield three plays later, forcing an errant throw that landed in the hands of Njoku for the interception. Just two plays later, Back found Rainey for a 19-yard score to make it 21-0 with just 2:20 left before halftime. A penalty ruined the next Southwestern drive, but the Pirates defense got an interception that led to one more chance at a score before the half. Instead, Gantt returned the favor with a pick and a 24-yard return, and the Tigers were content to run out the clock and head to the locker room with the big lead.
After Southwestern was stopped after five plays to start the second half, the Tigers went 81 yards for another scoring drive to increase the lead. Grigsby caught a pass out of the backfield and took it 49 yards to bust his way into the red zone. Two plays later Hutchison punched it in from four yards out for what would end up the only score of the third quarter. The Pirates fumbled the ball on their first play of a drive late in the third quarter and Huettel salvaged the drive with a 40-yard field goal to make it a 31-0 lead.
Later in the quarter, Rabson got his second punt of the game – this time in the end zone. While the first block ended up in the hands of Southwestern and gave them a first down, this one was more of a deflection and wound up in the hands of Ventura at the Southwestern 24. The Tigers couldn't take full advantage of the short field, though Huettel was there with a 25-yard field goal to run the score to 34-0 halfway through the final quarter.
Southwestern's ensuing drive chewed up 6:40 on the clock and covered 80 yards over 15 plays. They converted two third downs and a fourth down, eventually finding the end zone to steal a shutout from the Tiger defense. Trinity got the ball back with under a minute remaining and simply ran out the clock to finish off the victory.
Up Next
Trinity will finish off the regular season with a road trip to Jackson, Mississippi, to take on Millsaps College in SAA action. The Tigers can secure a share of the SAA Championship with the win as Trinity is currently tied with Centre College (KY) and Berry College (GA) atop the standings.
