SAN ANTONIO – The 13th-ranked Trinity University football team opened up the 2024 season with a 35-20 loss against Texas Lutheran University on Saturday night.
The Tigers (0-1) lost a season opener for the first time since the 2019 season, snapping a streak of four straight wins to start off the year. The loss to the Bulldogs also snaps a three-game win streak in the series between the two teams, dating back to the first meeting of the 2016 season.
Trinity committed three turnovers on offense and allowed a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown. The Tigers outgained TLU 287-283 in total offense, but the visitors won the turnover battle and finished the day with four sacks.
Ryan Back (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) threw a pair of touchdowns to
Legend Grigsby (Houston, Texas / Cypress Creek) and
Lamont Nickleberry (Childress, Texas / Childress), but completed just 17-of-29 through the air, and finished with 179 yards. Nickleberry caught three passes for 47 yards and the score, while
BJ Rainey (Cedar Hill, Texas / Cedar Hill) finished with four receptions for 47 yards.
Winston Hutchison (Round Rock, Texas / McNeil) led Trinity with 67 yards rushing on just 11 attempts, averaging more than six yards per carry. Grigsby also added 44 yards rushing on 10 carries. Nickleberry led the game with 118 all-purpose yards, adding 41 yards on kick returns and 23 yards on punt returns.
Tyler Huettel (McKinney, Texas / McKinney) hit a pair of third-quarter field goals as Trinity trimmed a 14-point halftime deficit to just eight, but Texas Lutheran scored twice in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.
Defensively, linebackers
TJ Scannell (San Antonio, Texas / Reagan) and
James Ogunrin (Katy, Texas / Episcopal) both finished with double-digit tackles, leading a unit that held TLU to less than 300 yards of offense and forced a pair of turnovers of its own. Scannell led the way with 11 tackles, while Ogunrin was just behind his teammate with 10.
Tyson Cornett (Marquez, Texas / Leon) had an interception and a fumble recovery, while
Cade Rabson (The Woodlands, Texas / College Park) and
Jonathan Nwobodo (Missouri City, Texas / Ridge Point) each had a sack.
The Rundown
Texas Lutheran got out to a 14-0 lead early in the game, starting with a blocked punt that was returned for a punt midway through the first quarter. That drive started with a sack against Back, pushing the Tigers to 2nd-and-20. Trinity got 10 of the yards back, but were forced to punt, and Texas Lutheran broke through for the block and the 12-yard return.
After stopping the next Tiger drive, Texas Lutheran drove all the way down inside the 10 and looked poised to score again. Cornett stepped in front of a third-down pass in the end zone, forcing the Trinity defense's first turnover of the game. Four plays later, though, Trinity gave the ball right back, and TLU responded with a scoring drive to make it 14-0 less than five minutes into the second quarter.
The Tigers answered that second score with one of their best drives of the game, covering 58 yards on nine plays to score on a 15-yard pass from Back to Grigsby, and cutting the score in half. The visitors answered back immediately, though, taking advantage of a Trinity penalty and then connecting on a long pass to move into the red zone.
Three straight drives led to three straight touchdowns as Texas Lutheran came right back for another score, taking a 21-7 advantage with less than four minutes left in the half. Trinity's next drive featured a pair of negative plays that led to 4th-and-22. Texas Lutheran got close to midfield with eyes on another score before halftime, but Rabson forced a fumble that was recovered by Cornett with just one second left.
Trinity's defense got a quick three-and-out to start the third quarter, then drove down inside the 20 before settling for a 32-yard field goal from Huettel that made it a 21-10 game. Another three-and-out gave the ball right back to the Tigers, but another promising drive ended in a short field goal instead of a touchdown. This time Huettel connected from 25 yards out to get it to a one-score game at 21-13.
Texas Lutheran scored on its first drive of the fourth quarter to extend the lead, scoring from 28 yards out to pull ahead 28-13. After both teams traded punts, the Tigers got the ball back with 6:41 to play; however, a fumble on the first play put the Bulldogs offense back on the field once again.
Trinity's defense held again, forcing a 46-yard field goal attempt that missed wide left. Now the Tigers had another shot to get back in the game with just over five minutes to play. A 19-yard loss on a bad snap and another sack got the drive off in the wrong way, then a TLU interception on the very next play made a comeback bid almost impossible at that point.
Another field goal attempt by the Bulldogs was blocked, but two Trinity penalties on the play kept the drive going, and the visitors turned a possible field goal into a game-sealing touchdown and a 35-13 lead. Back connected with Nickleberry three times for 50 yards on Trinity's final drive – including a 12-yard touchdown – but it came with just 1:09 remaining. The ensuing onside kick was recovered by Texas Lutheran and they were able to run out the clock for the win.
Up Next
Trinity will be back in action next week, heading to Jackson, Mississippi for a game against Belhaven University, on Saturday, September 14, at 6:00 p.m.
