JACKSON, Miss. – The Tiger football team enjoyed the ultimate bounce-back performance with a 55-10 thrashing of Belhaven University on Saturday night.
Trinity (1-1) practically came off the bus scoring touchdowns, sprinting to a 34-0 lead at halftime. The Blazers (0-2) got a short field goal to open the scoring in the second half, but that seemingly enraged the Tigers into a 21-point third quarter that put the game out of reach for good. This was the first meeting between the two schools, and Trinity has now won seven of its last nine games following its first regular-season loss.
The Tigers piled up 403 yards of offense, while holding Belhaven to less than 100 yards rushing and 100 yards passing. Trinity's defense recorded a pair of sacks and forced two interceptions – one of which was returned for a touchdown. The special teams also got in on the scoring today as
Lamont Nickleberry (Childress, Texas / Childress) returned the first punt of the game for a 65-yard touchdown – the second of his career. Nickleberry also caught three passes for 25 yards receiving and totaled more than 100 all-purpose yards in the game.
Winston Hutchison (Round Rock, Texas / McNeil) piled up 80 yards and two touchdowns on just nine rushes to lead the Tigers, while
Legend Grigsby (Houston, Texas / Cypress Creek) and
Jackson Williams (Manor, Texas / New Tech) also notched touchdowns as part of a ground game that finished with 184 yards and an average of 5.8 yards/carry.
Ryan Back (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) completed 10-of-16 passes for 180 yards and a touchdown, highlighted by a 68-yard catch-and-run score to
BJ Rainey (Cedar Hill, Texas / Cedar Hill). Backup quarterback
Hondo Franklin (Allen, Texas / Lovejoy) came on late in the game and connected with
Berend Kahlden (Jonestown, Texas / Lago Vista) for an 11-yard touchdown on the first pass attempt of his career. He finished with 39 yards on 4-of-5 passing.
Cade Rabson (The Woodlands, Texas / College Park) led the Tiger defense with eight total tackles, while
Tyson Cornett (Marquez, Texas / Leon) had the interception return for a score in the third quarter. Defensive lineman
Jackson Priesmeyer (Sugar Land, Texas / Strake Jesuit) also recorded an interception to go with a sack, while fellow lineman
Steele Herndon (The Woodlands, Texas / The Woodlands) also recorded a sack.
The Rundown
A big return on the opening kickoff put Trinity at midfield for the first drive of the game and the Tigers took advantage quickly with a seven-play scoring drive. Trinity never faced a third down on the drive and Grigsby punched it in from five yards out for a 7-0 lead.
Belhaven gained negative yardage on its first drive thanks to a pair of penalties and the stifling Tiger defense. Nickleberry returned the ensuing punt for the 65-yard score and the score was 13-0 with more than eight minutes still remaining in the first quarter.
Another quick drive for the Blazers put the ball back in the hands of the Trinity offense. Back connected with Grigsby out of the backfield for a 34-yard pass play to jump-start the drive. The Tigers stalled momentarily inside the Belhaven 30, but Hutchison converted on fourth-and-short with a four-yard run to keep the drive alive. Three plays later, he went for an eight-yard touchdown and the lead swelled to 20-0 with 3:12 left.
Belhaven wound up with just 33 yards offensively in the first quarter, giving the ball back to the Tigers for another drive in the final moments. Trinity scored just three plays into the second quarter on the 68-yard pass play from Back to Rainey, making a 27-0 game after just over 16 minutes of game time.
After the teams traded three-and-outs, Back put together another scoring drive in the middle of the second quarter. He hit Nickleberry on a long pass that was called back for a penalty, which led to another long pass play – this time to
Will Taylor (Houston, Texas / Strake Jesuit) for a 26-yard gain down to the Belhaven 17 yard line. Williams had his number called for three straight carries, and #6 went in for six points from two yards out.
The best drive of the half for Belhaven came after the Williams score, lasting 10 plays and moving inside the Trinity 40. With the time running out on the half, the Blazers went for it on fourth-and-11, but Herndon came through with a drive-ending sack.
Aided by two Trinity penalties on defense, Belhaven nearly tripled its offensive output on the first drive of the second half, but had to settle for a 25-yard field goal to break up the shutout bid by the Tiger defense.
Trinity's first drive of the third quarter stalled just past midfield and it seemed like the momentum may have turned in favor of the home team. Instead, a fake punt on fourth-and-three wound up as a four-yard rush by
Collin Bishop (Childress, Texas / Childress) and the drive continued. The next play was a 37-yard touchdown run by Hutchison and the score became 41-3 with just over five minutes left in the quarter.
Two plays later, Cornett returned his interception 24 yards for a score and the score really got lopsided at 48-3. The next Belhaven drive only lasted three plays before Priesmeyer grabbed his interception at the Blazers 15 yard line. Franklin ran for a short four-yard gain, then hit Kahlden for an 11-yard score that pushed it to a 55-3 margin before the third quarter ended.
Belhaven had just two drives in the final quarter and the first was a turnover on downs when
Azriel Ngatcha (Irving, Texas / MacArthur) ruined a fourth-and-short play with a tackle for a loss of seven yards. Belhaven drove 49 yards on eight plays to score its only touchdown of the game, which came with 3:38 remaining in the game. The Tigers ran out the clock from there to finish off the win.
Up Next
The Tigers return home to face Washington & Lee University (VA) next weekend, kicking off at noon on Saturday, September 21.
