The first play of the game would be an indication of how the entire first half would play out for the Lions. Martin Luther used a trick play to get in the end zone that really dampened the Lions’ spirits. The defense didn’t tackle well throughout the half, and the offense failed to execute in a first half Trinity hopes to forget. The second half would be much better though.

The Lions would score twice and hold Martin Luther to zero points in the 3^rd quarter as Trinity would gain much needed confidence and momentum. With 5:05 left in the quarter, Freshman Vincent Williams would connect with Freshman wide receiver Clay Emerson on a 6 yard touchdown completion for the Lions first touchdown of the day. The defense was able to force 3 turnovers in the 3^rd quarter alone, to put the offense in great positions for most of the quarter. And, with 15 seconds remaining in the quarter, Freshman wide receiver turned defensive back Brandon Welch intercepted a pass and returned it 35 yards for the score. This would provide a huge emotional lift to the entire team and bring the score to 14-47 after freshman kicker Kiah Jackson tacked on his second extra point of the game. The Lions moved the ball well in the final quarter but was unable to add to the score – mostly due to penalties which plagued the young Lions offense all day. Penalties would claim victim to two touchdowns, (a 85 yard electrifying kick return by Kyle Swanson and a 60 yard bomb from Williams to Emerson), and they also negated 3 plays of 20 or more yards for TBC on the afternoon. Martin Luther would tack on another touchdown in the 4^th to bring us to our final score of 14-54.

Trinity’s defense forced 5 turnovers on the day to help pace the Lions second half surge. Fatir Pillow had a great statistical game with 7 tackles (all solo), 2 sacks and 3 tackles for loss, totaling a negative of 24 yards. He also forced a fumble and recovered a fumble. Brandon Welch provided the first defensive touchdown of the season with an interception returned for a 35 yard touchdown. Joel Sandoz led the team with 11 tackles (10 solo) and record 1 tackle for loss. Kyle Swanson had 9 tackles in the game. Marcus Bartels and Nathan Foster also had fumble recoveries with Bartels returning his 26 yards before being brought down. Nate Pfitzer had an interception for a return of 9 yards.

“It was definitely nice to get a defensive touchdown,” Coach Hess said. “Our goal was to win the turnover battle and we did that today. Our tackling has to get better if we want to start competing in games like this. We are a young defense that is getting better from week to week.”

Offensively, Clyde Lewis paced the Lions’ rushing attack with 78 yards on 12 carries for an average of 6.5 yards per carry. Clint Linthicum also gained 78 yards on the ground for a Lions team that would rush for a total of 170 yards for the game. Linthicum also completed 6 passes for 53 yards. Vincent Williams played the entire second half and completed 5 passes for 51 yards and a 3^rd quarter score to Clay Emerson. Clay caught 5 passes on the day for 40 yards and a touchdown. Welch caught 2 passes for 52 yards and Linthicum caught 1 pass for 18 yards. Trinity’s offense racked up 240 yards on the day in total offense.

Coach Morgan had this to say about the game: “The penalties killed us today! We could of easily had five more TD’s today. That’s a lot of points we left on the field. We made progress though today and this team is going to hit their stride and when they do – look out!!!!”

“We are a young football team,” Coach Maroney said. “We have a lot of positive aspects to this team and even more potential. This football team is growing and gaining ground week to week.”