NATCHEZ — With less than 10 seconds left in the game and down by four points to Brookhaven Academy, Trinity Episcopal scrambled to the line of scrimmage in hopes of spiking the ball and stopping the clock.

It was third and goal at the Brookhaven 5, and a spike would have given the Saints a chance to regroup and come up with a fourth down play in the huddle.

Unfortunately for Trinity (6-2), the clock ran down to 2 seconds before it could line up, and Saints quarterback Givonni Dent had no choice but to take the snap and try for the end zone.

That try was a completed pass to receiver Brandon Daggs, but Daggs could only make it back to the 5-yard line as time expired, sealing the 25-21 win for Brookhaven.

“It was a tough game,” Trinity head coach David King said. “We just came out on the short end again. We’re not accustomed to losing like this. It’s pretty tough right now.”

Several plays earlier, Trinity faced a fourth and 15 from the Brookhaven 28, but a 17-yard catch by Daggs gave the Saints first and goal from the 11 at the 50-second mark.

On the next play, Dent caught another pass for 6 yards to get Trinity to the Brookhaven 5. Trinity was unable to either gain yards or stop the clock on second down, forcing it to scramble to the line of scrimmage on third down before time expired.

A Trinity fumble led to the game-winning touchdown by Brookhaven. With about 5 minutes left in the third, the Saints’ R.J. Fleming lost the football after a 9-yard gain on the Brookhaven 42.

Several plays later, Brookhaven quarterback Chandler Rogers connected with Christian Kenne on a 58-yard touchdown pass with 4:40 left in the third.

Brookhaven struck first in the first quarter with a 28-yard field goal by Tyler Trout with 7:55 left in the first.

On the following possession, Fleming got Trinity on the board with an 80-yard touchdown carry at the 7:41 mark in the first.

Brookhaven responded with a big play of its own, when Rogers hit Tripp Jolly with a 42-yard touchdown pass with 7:23 left in the first.

Trinity scored the only touchdown in the second quarter, on a 4-yard carry by Fleming with 6:42 to go before the half.

In the third quarter, Dent was on the receiving end of a touchdown pass when he caught a 20-yard throw from Fleming with 8:11 left in the third.

Brookhaven scored its first third-quarter touchdown with 5:48 left on a 69-yard reception by Jolly.

Penalties crippled the Saints, as they were penalized eight times for 50 yards. The most devastating penalty for the Saints came when a long touchdown run by Kent King was called back for holding in the fourth quarter.

“Penalties are part of the game, and we try to avoid it,” King said.

“We work on it every day and I thought we’d gotten better at times throughout the years on correcting some of those, but that’s just part of the football game. We just lost to a very good football team that made a couple more plays than we did.”