MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After two-straight wins to start the season, the surprising Trinity football team was hoping to continue their winning ways against Fairport Harding (Ohio), but the Warriors’ luck seemed to run out, as the Skippers powered out to a 22-0 first quarter lead on their way to a dominating 50-0 victory.
The opening kickoff was a harbinger of tough times ahead, as the Warriors seemed to have Cody Paugh hemmed in and stopped, only to see the shifty, speedy back break loose for 65 yards all the way to the 3.
Quarterback Sam Schuster sneaked in on the next play, then ran in the conversion for an uber-quick 8-0 after just 26 seconds. Trinity (2-1) went three-and-out, then Fairport (2-1) scored again on a 22-yard drag route pass and run to tight end Ethan Whitt.
The try failed, but another Trinity punt was followed up by a another long run from Paugh, who skipped through the line and sprinted to the sidelines for a 57-yard score. He converted the try as well, pushing the lead to 22-0. The Warriors put together a pair of decent 10-play drives on their next two possessions, only to see both end in turnovers deep in Fairport territory. After the second TO, the Skippers pounded out a 10-play, 73-yard scoring drive that ended with a 1-yard keeper from Schuster to extend the lead to 28-0 at the half.
In the second half, the Skippers continued to completely control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, shutting down the short-handed and depleted Warriors offense, while scoring on each of their own possessions. Justice Barkley scored on a wide receiver screen late in the third quarter to make it 34-0, then Paugh capped his outstanding 15 carry, 221 yard night with a 21-yard off-tackle TD burst.
The final score came from back-up lineman Martin Mendoza, who broke several tackle attempts from the exhausted Trinity defense on his way to a 45-yard score to close it out. After the game, Warriors coach Marcus Law was quick to praise the Fairport bigs.
“Their front three was very physical,” he explained, “and they gave our young offensive line some looks they’ve never seen before. When they can get in our backfield and pressure with just three, it’s real tough to find an answer for that. And we got a bit worn down and banged up, too, but we kept playing and battled to the final gun.
“We knew as a first-year team, games like this might happen,” he continued. “I told the kids that our job is to get to work, look at the tape and learn from it. These guys are very visual, so we welcome the chance to get on the field, compete and see what we need to do to improve. Plus you can try to simulate tackling and game speed in practice, but there’s nothing that can replace Friday Night Lights. The more game reps we get, the quicker we’ll learn and the better we can become as a team.
“Our heads are up, and we’re ready to get back to work and learn as much as we can from this one.”
Trinity plays Maryland School for the Deaf at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Frederick, Md.
