NATCHEZ &045; This was not the start Chamberlain-Hunt’s first-year head coach David Dowell had in mind when he and his team stepped off the bus at Trinity Episcopal about an hour before kickoff.

Instead, it was pretty much a repeat of last year’s game in Port Gibson as the Saints took a 34-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 57-0 win over the Wildcats Friday night at the Trinity Football Field.

&uot;I thought the team came out ready and played well together,&uot; Trinity head coach David King said. &uot;CHA played hard. They were just outmanned.&uot;

Trinity went to a two-quarterback tandem of Ryan Rachal and Chase Brown, and Chamberlain-Hunt had no answer for the Saints in the season-opener for both teams.

&uot;Chase runs the option and Ryan throws the ball real well,&uot; King said. &uot;Our team ran the option well, especially with Chase running things.&uot;

After the Wildcats went three-and-out on their first possession of the game, Brown returned the punt 18 yards to the CHA 30. Two plays later, Gregory Ketchings went up the middle then to the left sideline for a 25-yard touchdown run with 8:55 to go in the first quarter.

The Wildcats got a little reprieve on their next possession thanks to a roughing-the-kicker penalty, but Trinity’s lightning-quick defense was too much for quarterback Tyler Lake.

&uot;We’ve got a lot to build on,&uot; Dowell said. &uot;We’ve got a lot to look at. Our compliments to the other team. They have some good ends.&uot;

On the Saints’ first play of their second drive, Rachal threw to a wide-open Dudley Guice Jr. for a 49-yard touchdown pass with 4:02 to play in the opening quarter and a quick 13-0 lead.

On Trinity’s third possession, two touchdown runs, one by Brown and another by Rachal, were both bought back by holding penalties. But Brown would eventually end the drive with a 16-yard touchdown run for a 19-0 lead early in the second quarter.

The Saints tacked on two more touchdowns, one on a screen pass from Rachal to Guice, who got a great block from Brown and then broke three tackles, for 16 yards, and the other a 12-yard run by Gregory Ketchings for a 34-0 halftime lead.

&uot;Early in the year you can expect those types of mistakes,&uot; King said of the penalties.

Chamberlain-Hunt didn’t move the ball effectively until late in the first half, but they still finished with a total of minus-14 yards in total offense for the game.

&uot;We did make some adjustments, and then they made some adjustments,&uot; Dowell said. &uot;Tonight they were better, and we’ll go from there.&uot;

The second half didn’t get much better for the Wildcats.

Brown had a 44-yard touchdown run and a bad snap went over the Lake’s head on a punt attempt for a safety to give Trinity a 42-0 lead early in the third quarter.

Walt Ketchings added an eight-yard touchdown run, Nason Stephens nailed a 33-yard field goal and Alex Allain blocked a Lake punt, picked it up at the CHA 5 and rumbled in for the touchdown.