Run-play after run-play ran the Lathrop Mules into the ground Friday night as the Trenton Bull-dogs picked up their second win in as many weeks, a 34-0 rout at C.F. Russell Stadium. Clay Oneal broke the century mark with a team-high 116 yards and Dalton Preston and Keegan McGinness carried the ball in for two touchdowns each as Trenton ran for a season-high 364 yards and five touchdowns.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
Lathrop had no answers for the Bulldogs early on as Trenton scored twice on Preston runs of 31 and five yards in the first quarter. McGinness added his two touchdowns in the second quarter on runs of three and 15 yards. The key factor on all four scoring drives was the hard running of Oneal, who did the majority of the leg work with hard runs up the middle.
Trenton’s final score came on the ground yet again as senior running back Trevor Golden carried the ball in from 14 yards out, pointing to the sky. The image of Golden running in, finger in the air, summed up the night as Trenton pounded the overwhelmed Mules.
“I thought overall we played pretty well,” said Trenton Head Coach Wes Croy, who collected career-victory number 100 with the win. “Offensively, we were able to do some good things: we were able to get our speed in space and it was really nice to be able to get Clay established. That was something we wanted to do going into the game and I thought we were able to do that on the outside and inside veer plays.”
Trenton’s offense was making plenty of noise in the first half, but the defense was doing their part as well, shutting out the Mules. By game’s end, Lathrop had run 50 plays, but only gained 100 total yards. On the ground the Mules went backwards, finishing with -14 yards rushing.
“Defensively we played well early,” Croy said. “We were able to get that big halftime lead and we went into the locker room feeling pretty good about what we had done up to that point.”
The only negative to come out of a lopsided home victory was a letdown in the second half. The second-string offense was unable to score despite moving the ball well at times.
“We got really sloppy,” Croy said. “Sometimes that happens when you get up like that, it’s hard to get your engine going again and get it revved up. We were sloppy on our offensive assignments and we didn’t get where we needed to be. Those guys that were in there are twos and they are one play away from being in the game, so it was good for them to get that experience, but we definitely need to improve on some things on the offensive side with some of those back-up guys.”
The starters remained in the game on defense for the better part of the second half, but Croy wasn’t exactly pleased with their second-half performance either.
“Defensively we were all looking for the big hit or the big play instead of doing what had gotten us to that point, which was being technically and fundamentally sound,” Croy said. “Those are things that we watched in film and addressed, so hopefully we can take the things from the first half and move forward with that and learn from the things we didn’t do as well in the second half.”
Trenton’s performance on the ground made it hard to be disappointed in anything, however. The Bulldogs’ three-headed rushing attack of Preston, McGinness and Oneal combined for 247 yards and four touchdowns.
“Now we just need to get Scotty (Dolan) going,” Croy said. “We feel like we have four guys back there who can be successful running the football and hurt people in certain ways. Hopefully we get Scotty going and that will make us that much tougher to defend. If we can do that and throw the ball a little bit better, then we will be a pretty explosive football team.”
With the win, Trenton moved to 2-1 on the season. THS will be back in action this Friday as they face off with Putnam County at C.F. Russell Stadium in Trenton at 7 p.m. This will be the Bulldogs’ third-straight home game.
