SEGUIN, Texas – The Trinity University football team opened the 2025 season with a 26-14 win over Texas Lutheran University on Thursday night at Bulldog Stadium.
The Tigers (1-0) avenged last year's season-opening loss at home to Texas Lutheran (0-1) and improved to 20-14 in the all-time series between the two schools. Today marks Trinity's fourth win in the last five meetings, with the only blemish being last year's first game.
Tonight was a game of two halves as both teams did all their scoring in the first two quarters, then both defenses pitched shutouts after halftime. Trinity scored on its opening possession of the game to take the early lead, then Texas Lutheran tied the game with a score of its own early in the second quarter. The Tigers then scored 19 points in the second quarter, taking a 26-14 lead on a 47-yard field goal with less than 10 seconds left. That proved to be the final points of the game and Trinity held the Bulldogs offense to just 83 yards in the third and fourth quarters.
Trinity piled up 355 yards of offense in the game, holding Texas Lutheran to just 252 yards overall and just 77 yards rushing. The Tigers dominated time of possession in the second half, holding the ball for nearly 22 minutes to limit any chance at a comeback bid for the home team.
Xae Huerta (San Antonio, Texas / Jay) carried the ball 17 times for 120 yards and a pair of scores. He is Trinity's first 100-yard rusher since
Winston Hutchison ran for 150+ yards against Millsaps College (MS) in 2021.
Lamont Nickleberry (Childress, Texas / Childress) finished with seven receptions for 90 yards, while
Alejandro Tavarez (San Antonio, Texas / Johnson) snagged four catches for 60 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore quarterback
Hondo Franklin (Allen, Texas / Lovejoy) looked solid in his first career start, passing for 169 yards and a score, and completing 15-of-25 passes.
Judson Crockett (Austin, Texas / Westlake) led the Tiger defense with six tackles along with an interception and a pass breakup. His interception came with just over three minutes left in the game, ruining what turned out to be the final drive of the night for the Bulldogs offense.
Ferris Refai (Sugar Land, Texas / Clements) added five tackles and recovered a fumble for the first turnover of the night for the Trinity defensive unit.
Wakil Mateen (San Antonio, Texas / Brennan) and
Luke Campbell (Adkins, Texas / La Vernia) both recorded sacks in the game.
The Rundown
Trinity won the coin toss and took the opening drive 75 yards on six plays, capped by a 23-yard touchdown run by Huerta. Franklin completed both of his passes on the drive and a 13-yard throw to Nickleberry also had a TLU facemask penalty to push the ball down near the red zone. That's where Huerta exploded through the line and broke free for a score on his first carry of the game.
Texas Lutheran drove 69 yards on 16 plays on the ensuing drive, but Trinity's defense held up as the Bulldogs missed a 33-yard field goal attempt. Texas Lutheran converted two third downs and a fourth down attempt to keep the drive going but ultimately wound up with nothing.
Trinity took over with just over five minutes left in the quarter, but the drive stalled at the Bulldogs 40 yard line. Franklin's pass on fourth-and-two fell to the turf and Texas Lutheran took over. This time, the Bulldogs turned their drive into points, covering 60 yards in nine plays to tie the game.
The Tigers never trailed in the game, and the next sequence played a big part in that. After the home team tied things up,
Luke Sams (Jacksboro, Texas / Jacksboro) returned the ensuing kickoff 53 yards to set up a short field for the Tigers, and Huerta scampered 37 yards for another score to put Trinity back on top 14-7.
The defense got back-to-back three-and-out series after that and the second one resulted in more points for the Tigers. Backed up inside its own 20, an errant snap on a punt attempt sailed over the head of the TLU punter and out of the end zone for a safety and a 16-7 lead for Trinity. The safety also gave the Tiger offense the ball once again, and Trinity struck quickly to ride the wave of momentum to a 23-7 lead. Franklin opened the drive with a 15-yard scramble to move into TLU territory. Then he hit Nickleberry for a 27-yard pass play to move into the red zone and closed the drive with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Tavarez.
After the Bulldogs scored on a long touchdown pass to cut the lead to 23-14 with less than four minutes remaining in the half, Franklin directed one final scoring drive in the half. He connected with Nickleberry on a 20-yard pass on third-and-10 to keep the drive going and moved the offense into field goal range. New kicker
Hayden Rhoades (Grapevine, Texas / Grapevine) converted a career-long 47-yard field goal to make it a 26-14 game with eight seconds left in the first half.
Following halftime, neither team was able to put points on the board though Texas Lutheran had a short field goal try early in the third quarter to try and trim the lead. Instead,
Jackson Priesmeyer (Sugar Land, Texas / Strake Jesuit) blocked the 29-yard attempt and the lead remained 12 points.
After Franklin threw his first interception late in the third quarter, Campbell recorded a series-ending sack to open the fourth quarter to end another drive. The ensuing drive for the Tigers used up more than half of the final quarter and while it didn't result in points, it did shorten the game and keep Texas Lutheran's offense off the field. The Bulldogs took over for their final drive with just under six minutes left, but Crockett capped the Trinity defensive effort with his interception that sealed the victory.
Up Next
Trinity will make its home debut next weekend, hosting Belhaven University (MS) at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 13.
