Friday November 14th was a historic night for the Trinity Prep Varsity Football team; It was the team’s first playoff game since 2007. After finishing runner-up in the district, the boys drove out to Tampa Catholic High School for the FHSAA Class 3A regional quarterfinals. After an injury plagued season and coming off of an overtime win against Lake Highland, the team was as close to full strength on Friday as they had been all season. So as 7 o’clock rolled around for potentially the last time for the boys, they were ready to go.
The Tampa Catholic Crusaders took a quick lead after a 63-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Austin Sessums to receiver Darius Corbett. The Saints answered back strong with an eight-play drive, capped off by a Chris Cayo 5-yard touchdown. However, that was as close as the game would be.
Following Cayo’s touchdown, the Crusaders took the ensuing kickoff all they way back to put the Crusaders up 14-7. After another 27-yard touchdown from Sessums to Corbett, Sessums found five-start recruit Nate Craig-Myers for a 17-yard score. Craig-Myers is officially ranked as the third highest wide receiver prospect in the country with impressive offers from schools such as the University of Alabama. After his touchdown, the first quarter ended with a score of 28-7.
The second quarter did not fare much better for the Saints. Jared Herron was sidelined with an ankle injury, which put freshman quarterback Spencer Fetter in the spotlight once again. (Fetter played his only game of the season last month in the district championship against Trinity Catholic.) After driving the Saints deep into the Crusaders territory, Fetter was picked off by Craig-Myers who took it back 99-yards for yet another Crusaders touchdown. The score at halftime was 55-7.
The majority of Tampa Catholic’s starters were benched in the second half. Due to FHSAA rules, the clock was not stopped in the second half except for timeouts. After another Chris Cayo touchdown for Trinity, the game ended with a score of 62-14.
Although the season didn’t end on a great note, the team has much to be proud of. An 8-2 record, overtime win against LHP and a second place finish in the district is nothing to be ashamed of for the Saints football program.