MONROE, La. — The Trinity Episcopal Saints trailed at halftime for the first time this season. But with first place on the line in District 3-AA, that wouldn’t deter them.

Led by sophomores R.J. Fleming and Brandon Daggs, Trinity rallied from a 15-14 halftime deficit to defeat the River Oaks Mustangs 35-29 Friday night to move one game closer to clinching their second straight outright district championship.

“A lot of games were over by halftime and this game was the character builder we were looking for,” Trinity head coach David King said. “We made the plays at the end to win the game. River Oaks is a quality ball club.”

After Jarrett Albritton connected on a 28-yard field goal to give the Mustangs a 3-0 lead with 5:11 to go in the first quarter, Daggs returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown to give the Saints a 7-3 lead.

Then River Oaks quarterback Cody Trichell made his presence in the second quarter. Trichell threw a 70-yard touchdown pass to Zach Scogin and then threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Troy Duguay that gave the Mustangs a 15-14 halftime lead.

Sandwiched between those scores was a 47-yard touchdown run by Fleming with 7:44 to go before halftime.

“River Oaks had a great game plan and they executed it well,” King said. “Two quality teams got after it.”

Trinity (9-0, 4-0) responded with two touchdowns in the third quarter. Fleming scored on a 12-yard run early in the quarter and Daggs scored his second touchdown of the game on an 11-yard run at the 4:10 mark to give the Saints a 27-15 lead.

But River Oaks (6-3, 1-2) wouldn’t go away quietly. Scogin scored on a 77-yard run with 8:48 remaining in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 27-21.

However, that would be as close as the Mustangs would get. Daggs ran in from one yard out and Parker Brumfield completed a key two-point conversion pass to Matthew Freeman to give Trinity a 35-21 lead with 5:55 to go.

The Mustangs tried to rally one last time after Trichell connected with Scogin on a 45-yard pass and Hunter Chapman added the two-point conversion run to make it a 35-29 lead. But the Saints held on for the win.

“It put ourselves in a position to win the district title,” King said. “We learned a lot about ourselves. The kids know how to win. They find a way.”