FOOTBALL: Trinity takes hit with first-half injury to Register, Central Fellowship brings end to win streak

The Trinity Crusaders took their longest winning streak in over a decade to Macon up against Central Fellowship as they hit the road to Macon Friday night. 

Unfortunately, their all-everything weapon Wade Register went out with an injured ankle in the first half, and the rest of squad couldn’t quite pick up the slack as Trinity fell 27-14.

Register had eight carries for 62 yards and an early touchdown, but did not play after halftime. His absence was felt the most of defense as the Lancers rushed for nearly 300 yards in the game.

CFCA took the opening kickoff and marched right down the field against a usually stout Trinity defense. Jake Sizemore scored from 29 yards out to cap an 11-play, 80-yard drive to make it 6-0.

Trinity picked up a few yards on its first possession but was forced to punt. Register blasted a 51-yard boot to pin the Lancers inside their 20. 

This time, the defense got a stop as they forced a turnover on downs on a fourth-and-short.  Trinity would waste no time taking advantage as Register scored from 29 yards on the first play of the drive to make the score 7-6.

The lead was short-lived.

Following a two-yard loss on the first play of the ensuing drive, quarterback Carter Welch dropped back and found running back Terrell Coley out of the backfield. Coley did the rest as he took it 82 yards for a score to give the Lancers the lead back at 13-7.

Trinity went on a long drive of its own to get deep into Central Fellowship territory the next time it had the ball. Unfortunately, the drive stalled and the Crusaders turned it over on downs deep in Lancer territory. Register also injured his ankle on the drive.

They were able to pick off a Welch pass to prevent any further damage, and the game went to the half at 13-7.

Trinity came out of the locker room and put together a great drive, led mostly by runs from Jakob Sahli.  

The senior quarterback would connect with Tripp Mascaro on a six-yard scoring strike to put the Crusaders back up 14-13, capping a seven-play 66-yard drive.

Central Fellowship again had an answer. On third-and-six, Dayne Blanks took a handoff, broke through the line and raced 76 yards for a score to put the Lancers back up 20-14.

Trinity tried to answer with a time-consuming drive that would take up the remainder of the third quarter. But disaster would strike on the first play of the fourth as Sahli had a pass picked off on the 10th play of the possession to keep Trinity off the board.

Central Fellowship needed seven plays to cover 69 yards and extend its lead further. Blanks scored another rushing TD, this time from 25 yards out, to put the home team up 27-14 with less that seven minutes remaining in the contest.

Trinity would pick up 36 yards on its next drive to get into Lancer territory again, but would turn it over on downs with just over four minutes left. The Crusaders would not get the ball back again as CFCA picked up a few first downs and ran out the clock for the upset victory.

Sahli led the Crusader offense with a career-best 145 yards rushing on 17 carries. He also completed four of 11 passes for 44 yards. Braden Underwood had a pair of catches for 30 yards.

Blanks had 110 on just four attempts, while Coley had 96 on 16 carries and had the long touchdown catch.

Trinity (5-2) will be off this Friday but will look to start another win streak when it travels to Americus on October 10 to face Southland Academy and open district play.