NATCHEZ — The Trinity fan base held its collective breath for a moment Friday night.

Star R.J. Fleming lay on the opposing sideline after running in the 2-point conversion on the Saints final touchdown Friday night.

With 9:32 left in the fourth and Trinity up 43-14 against Sylva Bay Academy, an injury to Fleming would not have been good news for the Saints’ chances the rest of the postseason.

Fleming hopped up, however, and the Saints fans gave a cheer, and a sigh of relief.

“It was just cramps,” Fleming said afterward.

Sylva Bay would score two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, giving Trinity a 43-28 win in the second round of the MAIS Class A South State playoffs.

Fleming finished the game with 167 yards and three touchdowns rushing, scored another touchdown on a 61-yard catch and was 5-of-6 in passing with 101 yards.

“It’s tough for defenses (having to play against someone like Fleming), because you can’t stack the box up,” Trinity head coach David King said.

“We’ve (also) got plenty of receivers that can catch the ball and run routes, and he throws it well. People don’t know how well he actually throws the football.”

Fleming also said his supporting cast does a great job allowing him to attack opposing defenses.

“We have several threats with our offense,” Fleming said. “Kent (King), (Brandon) Daggs, (Givonni Dent) — it’s hard for anyone to cover all of those guys. That helps open things up for me.

“I also have to credit our offensive line. They stayed with their blocks all night.”

Trinity (10-3) struck first in less than two minutes after the opening kickoff. Fleming scored on a 25 yard carry with 10:37 left in the first quarter.

In the second, Fleming caught a 61-yard pass from Dent for a touchdown, and added a 5-yard touchdown run with 7:31 to go before halftime.

Sylva Bay scored its first touchdown of the evening on a 32-yard catch by Cody Prewitt with 5:33 to go before the half. Trinity responded with less than two minutes left in the second on an 8-yard touchdown carry by Fleming.

Sylva Bay scored on its opening possession in the second half on a 22-yard run by Prewitt. Kent King scored for Trinity on a 5-yard run later in the third.

In the fourth quarter, Trinity scored its final touchdown on a very peculiar chain of events. Fleming hit Daggs for a 20-yard reception before Daggs was stripped of the ball on the Sylva Bay 20-yard line. Trinity’s Nic Partridge then scooped the ball up and ran it 20 yards for a touchdown with 9:32 left in the fourth.

Fleming then ran the 2-point conversion, before going down on the Sylva Bay sidelines for roughly a minute with muscle cramps.

Sylva Bay’s final two touchdowns came on a 4-yard carry by Prewitt and 2-yard run by Dasmond Campbell.

The win put Trinity back in the South State championship game for the first time since 2006.

“It’s absolutely huge (getting back to the South State championship),” Fleming said. “We’ve been working toward that goal since day one in the summer. We haven’t been in a few years, so this puts us back on the map.”

King also said making it back to the South State championship was big.

“I think there was a stat I was looking at the other day, that said six of the last nine years we’ve played in the South State championship, so that’s pretty impressive,” King said.