photo by submitted photo

Trinity senior football players, from left, Brandon Daggs, Jordan Dossett, R.J. Fleming, Deacon Newman, Chas Moroney and Matthew Rymer, pose with head coach David King after the Saints defeated Riverfield 38-11 last Friday in the MAIS Class A South State championship game. The Saints will play DeSoto School (Ark.) Friday afternoon for the state championship.

Trinity seniors lead Saints back to title game

By Michael Kerekes (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Thursday, November 26, 2009

NATCHEZ — The human body is made up of many different parts, but each one serves to complement the overall structure.

The arm is different than the leg, the nose different than the ear and the lungs different than the brain, but the job of all six is the same: make the body as a whole work properly.

For Trinity Episcopal School, which is gearing up for the MAIS Class A State Championship game, having each individual player work together for the good of the team has been an essential component to the Saints’ championship run this season.

And according to head coach David King, none of his players have better exemplified this concept than his six seniors.

When the Saints (10-3) take Haper Davis Field at Millsaps College Friday, seniors Deacon Newman, Jordan Dossett, Brandon Daggs, Chas Moroney, Matthew Rymer and R.J. Fleming will be suiting up for the Saints for the final time.

“Each one of them has a unique gift,” King said. “All six of them have a unique quality. Chas is probably the best kicker I’ve ever coached. Jordan Dossett can play just about any position. Rymer is one of the best defensive linemen I’ve ever coached.

“Deacon is one of the better offensive linemen I’ve ever coached. Daggs can run the ball, catch it and throw it. And, of course, R.J. is R.J.”

King said that his team being able to get to this point goes back to the hard work and dedication put in by his players, particularly the six seniors, that began during summer workouts.

“When you’re this close to a dream you set back in the first week of June, and (now) have it come down to four quarters, it’s a tribute to them,” King said. “It would be fitting to have them end their careers on that kind of high note.”

Daggs said the work put in by him and his fellow upperclassmen was something that had to be taken day by day.

“We worked out every day (in the summer),” Daggs said. “We just kept working and working, and kept it in our mind that we wanted to win a state championship. To do that, we had to work hard every day, and we knew that every game was going to be important.”

Newman said that offseason workouts were the key ingredient to the 2009 Saints team being able to go so deep into the playoffs.

“The offseason is when champions are made,” Newman said. “That’s when you build your athleticism, strength and speed. That’s why we are where we are now.”

Any season will have its high and low points, and probably the lowest point for Trinity this year was a 27-6 loss against archrival Centreville Academy Oct. 16.

“These seniors are very close, and that’s the first characteristic you have to have (to act as leaders), because there’s going to be tough times in football,” King said.

“I have to be honest, after the Centreville game, this team became a completely different group because of these seniors.”

Daggs said that change came in the form of a challenge to each other to not be dominated again for the rest of the season.

“Centreville was a tough opponent, but we felt like we could have beaten them,” Daggs said. “I felt like we laid down when they got ahead. We didn’t bring our A game — the enthusiasm just wasn’t there. We promised ourselves we wouldn’t do that again.”

Newman also said the loss to Centreville was painful, but that it served to light a fire under the players going forward from that point.

“We wanted that game so badly, but we just didn’t come to play,” Newman said. “We felt like God gave us (our three losses) for a reason, to teach us and to help us towards our goals.

“Me, R.J. and Jordan sat around talking after that game. We didn’t like losing and didn’t want to feel that way ever again.”

Although the six of them will move on, Daggs said he thinks they’ve left a good legacy behind for the underclassmen as they get older.

“I feel like we’ve gotten them ready to lead the team to another state championship next season,” Daggs said. “Even as we move on, we’ll still come back to help them.”

In Newman’s mind, however, Trinity will always be successful as long as its heart remains thumping.

“As long as Coach King is here, Trinity will have a great program,” Newman said.

“There are no words to explain what Coach King has done in my life. He’s been my coach since I was playing Pee Wee football with (his son) Kent when I was four. He taught me how to be a man, and has gotten through to all the players on this team.”