SAN ANTONIO – The #22/23 Trinity University football team blew past Millsaps College (MS) with a 42-24 Southern Athletics Association victory in the final regular season home game of the year for the Tigers.
Trinity (8-1, 5-1) trailed the Majors (5-4, 3-3) 7-0 after the first quarter, but a 21-point second quarter pushed the Tigers in front, and they never trailed again. Trinity also celebrated its senior class with a Senior Day introduction prior to the game. The lead grew as high as 35-10 after a two-touchdown performance in the third quarter. The Tigers piled up 509 yards of total offense in the game and were nearly perfectly balanced, rushing for 253 yards and passing for 256 more. Millsaps finished with just over 400 yards of offense, but Trinity had two blocked punts to go with a key fumble recovery on the first drive of the second half to help turn the game.
Parker Moeller (Spring Branch, Texas / Smithson Valley) enjoyed one of his best days as a Tiger, blocking two punts, forcing a fumble that was recovered by the Tigers, as well as recording seven tackles (six solo) and a pass breakup.
TJ Scannell (San Antonio, Texas / Reagan) led the way defensively with a career-high 15 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
Diego Davila (Spring Branch, Texas / Smithson Valley) finished with nine stops and
Jackson Priesmeyer (Sugar Land, Texas / Strake Jesuit) posted eight tackles to lead the defensive linemen.
Hondo Franklin (Allen, Texas / Lovejoy) went 18-for-31 through the air for 234 yards and two touchdowns, with
Lamont Nickleberry (Childress, Texas / Childress) pacing the receivers with eight catches for 108 yards, and
Tyson Hancock (Smithville, Texas / Smithville) piling up 91 yards on five receptions.
Alejandro Tavarez (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) had two touchdowns among his three receptions.
Johnny Milo (The Woodlands, Texas / Caney Creek) led the ground game with 95 yards and two touchdowns on just nine carries.
Xadrian Huerta (San Antonio, Texas / Jay) piled up 56 yards on nine carries as well.
The Rundown
Both teams started the game with quick drives that ended with punts, then Millsaps got the first break of the game when they recovered a fumble near midfield. Four plays later, the Majors got on the board to take a 7-0 lead that ended up holding the rest of the quarter. The Tigers drove inside the Millsaps 40 on the next drive but a sack on fourth-and-short resulted in a turnover on downs.
Trinity's next drive lasted just five plays and Millsaps took over with less than a minute left in the quarter. That drive stalled near midfield and that's when Moeller came up with his first punt block of the day, giving Trinity the ball near the red zone. The offense took advantage of the short field, with Milo running for 13 yards on two carries and then Franklin hitting Tavarez for a nine-yard touchdown and the game was tied 7-7 early in the second.
With the score tied, the Tiger defense ramped up the pressure and forced a three-and-out to carry the momentum back to the offense. Trinity covered 80 yards in just six plays to take its first lead of the day. The Tigers eased across midfield on the first five plays, then Milo busted a 45-yard run for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead. Millsaps answered with a 39-yard drive and a 44-yard field goal to make it 14-10, but that didn't slow down Trinity's offense.
Huerta ran for 30 yards on the first three plays of the ensuing drive, pushing past midfield. Nickleberry caught a 21-yard pass after that and the Tigers were in business just inside the 25. After Milo gained 19 more yards on back-to-back runs, Franklin found Tavarez for another short touchdown two plays later, and the Tigers led 21-10 with less than a minute left in the half. Millsaps used just 28 seconds on its last drive of the half and the Tigers took over with 12 seconds to play. Franklin heaved a hail mary at the end of the quarter, and while Hancock came down with the catch among a sea of defenders, he was three yards short of a last-second score.
The second half began with a strong drive by Millsaps, converting two third downs and a fourth-and-one to extend its possession. After a Tiger penalty moved the Majors to the TU 23 yard line, Moeller came up for a tackle and knocked the ball loose.
Azriel Ngatcha (Irving, Texas / MacArthur) dove onto the loose ball and out-fought a Millsaps player for the fumble recovery. The fumble not only stopped a promising scoring drive for Millsaps, but led to a touchdown when the Tiger offense marched 72 yards on just seven plays for a touchdown and a 28-10 lead. Nickleberry caught a pair of passes on the drive, but two penalties by the Majors accounted for 30 of the yards and the second set Trinity up with first-and-goal at the 10.
Jason Love (San Antonio, Texas / Brennan) finished the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run.
After another three-and-out for the Trinity defense, Moeller blocked his second punt of the day and the Tiger offense was once again set up with a short field – just 35 yards from paydirt. Milo chewed up 19 yards on two carries, then Nickleberry caught a pass at the five and dove for the end zone. Instead of a score, though, he was marked a yard short for first-and-goal from the one. Two plays later, Milo punched it in for the short touchdown and a 35-10 lead for the Tigers.
Millsaps took over with nearly two-and-a-half minutes left in the quarter, converting one third down, but failing on a second as Moeller broke up a pass to end the period. After a facemask penalty on the punt return, the Tigers opened their drive near midfield.
Welker Horn (Lubbock, Texas / Lubbock Christian) took over at quarterback, completing two passes on the drive, and breaking for a 20-yard run that finished inside the Millsaps five yard line.
Collin Bishop (Childress, Texas / Childress) set up as the quarterback on the next play, taking the keeper to the right sideline and diving for the pylon and a three-yard touchdown. Trinity now led 42-10 less than five minutes into the fourth quarter.
Millsaps put together back-to-back scoring drives after that, but those drives – along with a Trinity three-and-out in between – chewed up nearly seven minutes off the clock. Those drives also accounted for nearly 140 of the total yards in the game for the Majors. Trinity took over after the second score with a 42-24 lead and 3:14 remaining, and the Tigers were able to run the clock out from there and seal the victory.
Up Next
Trinity will face Maryville College (TN) in the regular season finale next weekend, kicking off at 12:00 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, November 15.
