FLORA &045; Trinity Episcopal running back Stevan Ridley had a huge night, but the entire evening belonged to the visiting Saints.

Playing on the road against a tough Tri-County team and as the Rebels’ homecoming opponent, the Saints pulled a stunning 39-29 win thanks in part to 351 yards rushing and six touchdowns from Ridley.

&uot;The bottom line is Trinity stunned Tri-County, the No. 1 (Class A) team in the state,&uot; Trinity head coach David King said. &uot;We just flat stunned them. It was a total team effort. Ridley is a great back, and everybody knows, but our offensive line came to play.

&uot;This group won’t be denied. Everybody keeps saying poor, pitiful Trinity. We just keep making believers out of people.&uot;

The Saints had the halftime lead and made some adjustments in the second half to keep the Rebels and standout quarterback John Mark Johnson in check. The Saints had a 21-14 halftime lead that would have been 21-7 had Johnson not hit Benji Campbell on a 56-yard pass just 15 seconds before halftime.

The Saints even fumbled the ball on their first drive of the second half, but the defense held tight and forced the Rebels to punt. Then the Saints put together a steady drive that finished with Ridley’s 3-yard run for a touchdown for a 27-14 lead with 2:19 left in the third.

The Rebels cut it to 27-21 when Johnson hit Campbell on a 35-yard pass early in the fourth, but the Saints came with two more scores to blow it open &045; Ridley from 43 yards out and later from 13 yards out &045; to take a 39-21 lead.

&uot;We had a good defensive game plan,&uot; King said. &uot;I thought the defensive front really brought some pressure. The key was stopping their run and putting them in a pressure situation. But if we got to the middle of the third quarter, we weren’t going to be denied. I’m so proud of this group. These are some of the toughest guys I’ve ever seen.&uot;

The Saints took a 21-7 lead by the end of the first quarter. Ridley &045; who accounted for all 39 points thanks to his point-after kicks &045; broke a 15-yard run with 8:45 left. He later added touchdown runs of 71 and 32 yards.