AMITE, La. &8212; It was a night to forget for the Trinity Saints. Oak Forest scored two early touchdowns and never looked back, taking a 34-0 lead into the break and cruising to a 45-19 win Friday night in Amite.

With the win, the Yellow Jackets (8-2, 6-0) claim the District 4-AA title and earn the right to host Central Hinds in the first round of the playoffs.

Trinity finished the regular season 8-3 and in second place in the district at 4-2.

The Saints will play at Copiah to open the playoffs.

The first round matchups would have been reversed had the Saints won Friday, but they got down early and never threatened to get in the game.

&8220;We were just out-manned out there,&8221; Trinity coach David King said. &8220;We&8217;ve played a lot better football.&8221;

Taylor Finch returned Stevan Ridley&8217;s opening drive punt 40 yards to the Saint 16. Three plays later, Brandon Seal scored the first of his three first-half touchdowns from 2 yards out.

They got the ball back two plays later when Finch intercepted Ridley at midfield.

Two Seal runs and a 10-yard pass from Shane Holland pass to Mark Thompson later,

and the score was 14-0.

&8220;They made some mistakes early and we were able to take advantage of it, that was really big,&8221; Oak Forest coach Jason Brabham said. &8220;We were able to play with a short field and we executed well early.&8221;

Meanwhile, nothing went right for the Saints.

They turned the ball over four times in the first half &8212; the interception and three Ridley fumbles &8212; in gaining just 42 yards. Trinity finished with 167 yards of total offense.

Seal rushed for 127 yards in the half, his final rush being a 2-yard scamper with 31 seconds remaining in the half to put the Yellow Jackets up 34-0 going into the break.

The touchdown was set up by a 44-yard Finch punt return.

Seal didn&8217;t play in the second half.

King said his team had the utmost respect for Oak Forest, and it showed right off the bat with tentative play.

&8220;We didn&8217;t execute,&8221; Ridley said. &8220;They had an awesome team, and we had to come out and play mistake-free football if we were going to even try to stay in the game.&8221;

Even when things went well for the Saints, they didn&8217;t last for long.

Trinity held Oak Forest to open the second half and scored on a 9-yard pass from Parker Brumfield to Kris Ford, a pass Ford juggled and caught as he landed on his back.

The good feeling didnt last long, as A. J. Petitto returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.

Trinity scored two times late on a 28-yard screen from Brumfield to Tripp Bryant and on a Clint Easom 1-yard run after the Yellow Jackets fumbled inside their own five-yard line.

Ridley finished with 118 yards rushing on 20 carries. A week after passing for more than 350 yards, he was held to 1-of-6 passing for 6 yards Friday. Brabham said he had aimed to stop the do-it-all player.

&8220;Yeah, I was worried about him,&8221; Brabham said. &8220;He&8217;s an outstanding football player and a good person.&8221;

King said his team had been up for its last four games and would be ready for the playoffs next week.

&8220;We&8217;ve had a good season and we&8217;ve got to put this behind us. The bottom line is that there are four teams left in the South (division) and we&8217;re one of them,&8221; King said.

He said he would watch the film with the team, that there was plenty to be learned from it.

If both Trinity and Oak Forest win next week, they would play a rematch in Amite in two weeks.