Football

November 15, 2008

Trinity Caps Regular Season With Win Over Austin College

Trinity (8-2, 5-2) took a 21-0 lead at halftime, highlighted by three touchdowns from running back Chris Baer.  The Tigers piled up 463 yards of total offense - including a season-best 316 yards through the air.  Trinity's defense limited Austin College to just 106 passing yards on the day and forced two turnovers.

Austin College opened up the scoring in the third quarter to break up the shutout, and following a Trinity field goal from Peter Licalzi, capped a two-play drive with a 60-yard touchdown run to make it a 24-14 game with more than a quarter remaining.  The visitors then forced a fumble on Trinity's next play from scrimmage and looked poised to pull off an improbable come-from-behind win. 

An 11-play drive ended with Austin College turning the ball over on downs, though, as Trinity's defense turned back two rushing plays from the one yard line to take over at the three.  The Tigers then put together a crushing 97-yard drive that erased any thoughts of the upset.

In addition to Baer's three touchdowns in the first half, Chris Coleman had two fourth-quarter touchdown receptions to seal the win.  Coleman finished with nine receptions for a career-high 141 yards and the two scores.  Baer had four catches for 44 yards and 22 carries for 58 yards on the ground. 

Quarterback Bryant Wilson had a solid outing on his final day under center for the Tigers, completing 22-26 for 316 yards and three touchdowns.  The 84.6% completion percentage set a new Trinity record for a single game (minimum of 20 completions), giving Wilson three of the top five performances in that category this season.

Jake Huggins led Trinity's defense with 11 tackles, while leading tackler Dennis Grebe finished with 10 total stops.  Bobby Adamson had an interception - and 25 return yards to go with it - and a forced fumble in the game, as well as picking up six tackles.  Adamson's forced fumble came at the end of a 55-yard run by Austin College, and not only saved a touchdown, but then led to Trinity's third score that made it 21-0 instead of 14-7.

Trinity's season is likely at an end, though the team has slim hopes of earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Playoffs.  The Tigers finish second in the SCAC with today's win.