photo by Steve VanGunda

Trinity’s Givonni Dent hands the ball off to running back Brandon Daggs during Friday night’s game against River Oaks. Trinity won the game, 21-16.

Trinity stays strong against River Oaks

By Jeff Edwards (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Saturday, October 18, 2008

NATCHEZ — Trinity coach David King knew it had been too easy for his team up to this point in the season.

He knew they were going to get punched in the mouth by a good River Oaks team. He just needed to see if his team would punch back.

Mission accomplished.

Trinity (9-0, 3-0) overcame two lost fumbles, a bad punt snap and a one-point fourth quarter deficit to take a 21-16 victory over the Mustangs (5-3, 2-1) in a critical District 3-AA game.

“River Oaks is an outstanding football team and they came here looking for a district championship,” King said. “They outplayed us in a lot of phases of the game, but we were able to do enough to win the football game.”

Trailing 16-15 with under eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, Trinity looked like it had thrown away its best chance at the go-ahead touchdown when quarterback Givonni Dent fumbled at the River Oaks 28-yard line.

However, as it had done all night when the Trinity offense sputtered, the Saints defense came up with a big play.

River Oaks fullback Gabe Bower fumbled and Trinity’s Wells Middleton picked it up and sprinted 35-yards into the end zone, polishing off the run with a flip into the end zone with 7:16 remaining in the game.

That play typified the night for the Trinity defense, which held River Oaks to just 52 rushing yards.

“Our defense was outstanding,” King said. “We’ve known all along that our defense was very good. We knew someone was going to stop (our offense) eventually, and it would be up to the defense.”

Trinity’s defense had to overcome several mistakes by the Saints offense and special teams, the first of which led to River Oaks’ first touchdown.

Trinity attempted to punt early in the second quarter, but the punt sailed over Middleton’s head and was recovered by River Oaks on the 16-yard line. Will White ran it in the end zone on the next play to give the Mustangs an 8-0 lead following Vincent Moore’s two-point conversion run.

Trinity’s punt team made up for that mistake on River Oaks’ next punt, as Larry Calcote blocked it and it was recovered at the 2-yard line.

However, the offense couldn’t capitalize, as R.J. Fleming fumbled on the goal line and River Oaks recovered.

But the Saint defense once again came through, stopping River Oaks on three plays and forcing a punt, which was returned by Brandon Daggs to the 24-yard line.

Trinity scored two plays later when Dent found Jackson Bryant in the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown pass that tied the game 8-8 after Dent threw to Kent King for the two-point conversion with 1:36 left in the half.

Another three and out by River Oaks gave Trinity the ball back in great field position in the final minute, and Fleming took advantage of it, rushing 10 yards for a score with 18 seconds left until halftime.

But while the Trinity defense played well the whole game, they did take one play off, and it cost them big time.

River Oaks quarterback Cody Trichell found White over the middle on a screen pass, and the receiver turned it into a 53-yard touchdown on the final play of the half.

Trichell ran for the two-point conversion to give the Mustangs a 16-15 lead at halftime.

That play seemed to refocus the Saints defense, as they came out after halftime breathing fire.

They only allowed River Oaks four first downs in the second half, and the deepest penetration the Mustangs got was the Trinity 36-yard line.

With the defense playing so well, the coaches called a very vanilla offense game plan, which basically featured Fleming running almost every play.

The junior ran 33 times for 152 yards, with 19 of those carries coming in the second half.

“We were a little more easygoing with the playcalling tonight, because we knew it was going to be one of those type of games,” King said. “We didn’t want a crucial turnover. We had one down there on the goal line that cost us a touchdown, so we clamped down on the playcalling and did just enough to win the game.”

River Oaks’ final threat came after the Trinity touchdown, when a good kick return put the ball on the Trinity side of the field.

The Mustangs garnered one first down, but the Saints defense rose up and held River Oaks on downs with just over four minutes left.

Trinity was then able to run most of the clock out on offense before punting the ball back to River Oaks with 36 seconds left.

The Mustangs had no end-of-the-half magic this time, however, and were only able to advance the ball to the Trinity 42-yard line when time expired.

It was the kind of gritty victory that King wanted to see out of his team.

“This is what we needed and I’m proud of the kids for showing some toughness and character there at the end,” King said. “We’re banged up, but that’s going to happen when you play a tough team that wants it just as bad as you.”

Trinity has a major leg up on the district championship, but must still beat Riverfield on the road next week to clinch the title.

“We’ve got a tough game next week against Riverfield,” King said.

“It doesn’t get any easier. We’ve got to come back, get strong and get up real quickly for a tough Riverfield team.”