Every time something good happened to St. Anne’s-Belfield, something bad — or perhaps worse yet, nothing — seemed to follow.
It started early with an interception that almost immediately turned into a safety and an early two-point lead for Trinity Episcopal. It continued after they completed a double reverse flea flicker for a touchdown and the Saints couldn’t get a stop. Then twice in the second half after recovering fumbles, the Saints couldn’t move the ball and capitalize.
Those struggles allowed Trinity Episcopal to pick up what the Titans believed to be its first win ever at St. Anne’s as Trinity rolled 47-20. STAB simply couldn’t build on momentum swings.
“We get to spots where if we can make a play or get over that hump then we might have a shot,” STAB coach John Blake said. “We just can’t get enough momentum to just carry it on. Momentum is everything, no matter what. They’re good though. They’re better than we are right now.”
Trinity’s ground game did a lot of damage too, as the Titans rolled up 454 yards on the ground, with a pair of 100-yard rushers in Bryan Black and Abraham Ferrell-Logan. Black was the workhorse with 27 carries for 210 yards while Ferrell-Logan went for 130 yards on 10 carries. Bill Patton also got in on the action with 82 yards on nine carries for a pair of touchdowns.
“This is our first win ever up here,” said Trinity coach Sam Mickens. “It doesn’t matter what their record is, it’s STAB at STAB, they’re a formidable opponent no matter when you come up here.”
As the game worn on, Trinity wore down STAB as the Saints struggled to come up with stops during the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. That allowed Trinity to keep scoring and keep STAB outside striking distance.
“Collegiate just took (Black) away, said you’ve got to beat us with somebody else. Norfolk Academy did the same thing. We were able to get back to Bryan this week,” Mickens said. “It’s really a rotation of who’s got the hot hand (in the ground game) and we were just fortunate tonight.”
Trinity jumped out to a 8-0 lead on the safety, which came after a STAB interception on the one-yardline, and a touchdown on the ensuing drive when Black punched it in for the game’s first touchdown. STAB came up with another interception though to set the table for the double reverse quarterback throwback where Jake Allen found Miles Davis streaking down the right sideline for a touchdown.
Trinity didn’t break its rhythm though, pounding it in on a quarterback keeper by Ferrell-Logan to extend its lead to 16-6. The Titans tacked on another touchdown late in the second quarter to take a 22-6 lead into the locker room. STAB never fully recovered as the Titans kept pounding away, including a deliberate, hard-nosed drive for a touchdown early in the third quarter to push the advantage to 28-6.
Allen struck quickly on the next drive with a touchdown pass to Healy and a two-point conversion to Miles Davis. Two straight fumbles sandwiching an unproductive possession for the Saints opened the door for a STAB comeback, but the Saints couldn’t shake loose of a Trinity front seven that was pinning its ears back and coming after Allen. Even on rollouts Allen was feeling the pressure.
A diving touchdown from Patton effectively put the game out of reach for the Saints in the fourth quarter.
“We just stopped tackling,” Blake said. “We got tired and they were able to push us around a little bit. We’re just going to have to go back and get better.”
STAB got a late spark from backup quarterback Lee Parkhill who led a quick touchdown drive in the final frame. Parkhill also had a 28-yard run on a scramble.
Healy finished with four catches for 78 yards and his touchdown. Justin Paton and Rob Schotta each had five tackles.
STAB hosts Flint Hill next week at home on Friday at 6 p.m.
