FOOTBALL: Trinity swamps Gatewood, gets back confidence in big home win

Trinity only got to play about half of the first quarter in its opening game last week against defending state champion Brentwood. That may have been a good thing, as the Crusader offense had two costly turnovers, while the defense gave up a bunch of yards over just four plays in a 21-0 loss.

This past Friday night’s home debut looked much different on both sides of the ball as Trinity overcame the wet conditions to roll past Gatewood 24-6 at Cleve Warnock Field. 

The Crusaders had 221 yards of offense, mostly in the first half, but the defense was the story of night. The unit forced three turnovers and held Gatewood to less than 100 total yards. 

Head coach Bruce Lane was very pleased with his team’s effort and improvement in the win.

“We felt like our kids played with a lot of passion and intensity,” he said. “Defensively, other than one big play, we played solid and did a great job against the option. Offensively our O-line showed great improvement from our preseason work, Jakob (Sahli) did great job running the offense and Wade (Register) continued to play solid, rushing for 100-plus yards. Special teams play was strong as well. We’re excited about the job our coaches did last week getting our kids ready to play.” 

The Crusaders took the opening kickoff and got things started right away, picking up three first downs. Unfortunately, the drive stalled, and Trinity lined up for a field goal attempt.  

Normally that is a good thing, but the wet field threw the operation off just a bit, and the kick was no good.

Gatewood couldn’t get anything going on its first couple of drives, and punted twice.

Trinity was also forced to punt on its next two drives as well. The second one of those punts by the UGA-commit Register pinned the Gators inside the 5-yard line.

Gatewood was able to pick up a couple of first downs, but faced a fourth and one in its own territory. The Crusader defense came up with a huge stop to force the a turnover on downs early in the second quarter.

Trinity needed just five plays to cover 40 yards and take the lead, as the quarterback Sahli was able to get across the goal line from five yards out to make the score 7-0.

Following another Gatewood punt, the Crusaders would go to work one again. This time it would be a 10-play drive that covered 54 yards and took up nearly the rest of the half.

On a third and short play inside the red zone, Sahli connected with tight end Tripp Mascaro on a pass that would have resulted in a first and goal. Mascaro decided that was not good enough, as he discarded a would-be tackler with a stiff arm and walked into the end zone to make it 14-0 at the half.

The start of the third quarter was delayed by the weather, but the game was able to resume.

Neither team could manage much offense early due to the sloppy field conditions.  

Gatewood was able to finally get on the board early in the fourth quarter, as Blake Brannen connected with Lake Ferman on a 43-yard catch-and-run to make the score 14-6 after a missed extra point, but the Gators were right back in the game.

Trinity picked up a couple of first downs on its next drive, but was forced to punt again. Register came up with another good one to pin the Gators deep. 

The defense came up big with a forced fumble in the red zone to set the offense up with prime field position. They weren’t able to find the end zone, but Register made a 25-yard field goal to make the score 17-6 with just over five minutes left in the contest.

The defense put the game away for good on the next possession.  

Mason Lane stepped in front of a Brannen pass and raced 39 yards to paydirt to put Trinity up 24-6 with just over three minutes remaining in the game.

Register led the offense with 117 yards on 20 carries. Sahli had 59 on 15 rushing, and went 3-for-9 passing with 39 yards. Mascaro caught two passes for 30 yards. 

Trinity (1-1) will be back in action next Friday with a trip to Waynesboro to face Edmund Burke.