RAYMOND &045; Before the 2004 football season started, most people thought the Trinity Episcopal Saints would be lucky to win one game, not only because of moving up to Class AA, but also because of its difficult schedule &045; both in and out of District 4-AA.

Well, the Saints proved all the doubters wrong as they finished with another winning season, going 6-5 after upsetting District 3-AA champion Central Hinds 21-7 Friday night.

&uot;The bottom line is Trinity stunned Central Hinds,&uot; Trinity head coach David King said. &uot;It was just a total team effort on both sides of the ball. The defense holds a team like that to seven points, what a game.&uot;

Even though Central Hinds (8-3) had more total yards than Trinity, 261 to 217, the Saints won the turnover battle and had just two penalties for 10 yards.

Even though Stevan Ridley was held to under 100 yards rushing for the second time in three games, he got the Saints off to a good start after a scoreless first quarter with a 2-yard touchdown run with 8:10 to go in the second quarter. Zach Rogel’s two-point conversion run gave them a 8-0 halftime lead.

&uot;We ran our box a little more that we have because they’re so big,&uot; King said.

Trinity increased its lead to 14-0 with 3:10 to go in the third quarter on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Rogel to Cap White.

The Cougars seemed to take the momentum away from the Saints when John Mark Bridges scored on a 5-yard run with 4:45 to go in the fourth quarter that cut the lead to 14-7.

Then things got real exciting, and for that matter, with Halloween just two days away, almost downright scary for the Saints on the ensuing kickoff.

Ridley took the kickoff return from Kris Ford at the Saints’ 20-yard line, but then he fumbled it. Thankfully for the Saints, Ford picked the ball up and returned the kickoff 80 yard for a touchdown with 4:17 to go for what ended up being the final score.

&uot;We just came out real focused,&uot; King said. &uot;This was our playoff game. I’ve got two great assistant coaches (Matt Mason and Bubba Griffey). We have a good fan support. We had a winning season.&uot;

Brookhaven 22, ACCS 15

BROOKHAVEN &045; While the Adams Christian Rebels were primarily focused on stopping the Cougars’ vaunted passing game led by quarterback Price Sessums and his brother and receiver Stewart Sessums Friday night, the Cougars found another way to score on offense &045; running the ball.

All three of Brookhaven Academy’s touchdowns were on the ground, something that hasn’t happened in quite some time. Price Sessums scored on a 1-yard run nearly midway through the first quarter for a 7-0 lead. But the Cougars (9-2) weren’t able to get their offense going much in the first quarter against the Rebels’ defense and only led 7-0 at halftime.

ACCS, however, could not stop the running of Dusty Bratton in the third quarter as he had touchdown runs of 20 and 4 yards as the Rebels (6-5) trailed 22-0 at the end of the third quarter. It would have been just 20-0, but after Bratton’s second touchdown run, Sessums bobbled the snap on the extra-point attempt, but alertly picked the ball up and ran in for the two-point conversion.

The Rebels rallied in the fourth quarter as Timmy Foster connected with David Trisler on a 55-yard touchdown pass and Foster ran in on a 1-yard run. Foster made the extra point after the first touchdown and threw a two-point conversion pass to Trisler after the second score to cut the Cougars’ lead to 22-15, but the Cougars held on for the win.