NATCHEZ — Coach David King got four quarters of football from his players this week, and the results left him smiling.

After last week’s win over Class AAA East Rankin, Trinity Episcopal’s King was not happy with the team’s effort and performance in the second half.

But against Briarfield in the MAIS District 6-A opener for both teams, the Saints steam rolled their way to a 40-19 win over the Rebels Friday night.

“I thought we played better in the second half this week. We played harder tonight than we did against East Rankin,” King said. “We’re still having to battle complacency.”

The Saints defense did give up the big plays, two of which were long touchdown passes from Jacob Hopkins to Ridge Creech. Another big play set up Hopkins’ 2-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

“We had a couple of breakdowns in coverage,” King said. “We had big plays on offense. It was a big-play kind of game.”

Trinity’s offense scored first, as Givonni Dent threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Daggs, R.J. Fleming connected with Kent King on a 57-yard touchdown, and Fleming scored on a 63-yard run, all in the first quarter. The Saints jumped out to a 20-0 lead.

Trinity Episcopal (3-0, 1-0) added to its lead when Dent scored on a 1-yard run late in the first half to give the Saints a 27-0 halftime lead.

The Saints then responded to the Rebels’ first touchdown of the game very quickly — just 14 seconds after the Hopkins-to-Creech 80-yard pass. Fleming scored on a 52-yard run with 10:18 to go in the third quarter for a 33-7 lead.

Just over a minute after Hopkins’ short touchdown run, Dent threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to King at the 3:25 mark of the fourth quarter.

“It was a good overall team performance. I was pleased with the effort overall,” King said. “There’s still room for improvement. I hope we continue to improve.”

Fleming had seven carries for 169 yards two touchdowns while Dent had seven carries for 89 yards and one touchdown to lead Trinity’s ground game. Dent completed 2-of-4 passes for 93 yards and two touchdowns while Fleming was 1-of-2 for 57 yards and one score. King had two catches for 119 yards.