Putnam County had no answers for Trenton running back Dalton Preston on Friday night. The senior ran for 236 yards and three touchdowns as the Bulldogs defeated the Midgets 42-16 at C.F. Russell Stadium in Trenton.
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From the game’s first play, Trenton dominated Putnam County with their trademark running game. Preston broke free and there was no catching him as he raced 71 yards for a touchdown a mere 20 seconds into the game.
“It wasn’t a normal play,” Preston said of the gamebreaker. “I didn’t think we were going to run it tonight, but it was a fake pitch and then I came around and Scotty (Dolan) pitched me the ball. It worked out pretty good.”
The play worked well indeed as Trenton was able to establish a 6-0 lead after running just one play from scrimmage.
“The big thing about the opening play was Scotty (Dolan) did a good job pitching the ball,” Trenton Head Coach Wes Croy said. “We have been working on it for a couple of weeks, making sure on inside veer that if we don’t give it to the first guy, that the quarterback gets out there and gets the ball out of his hands to the pitch-man. We executed it well. Scotty pitched it and Dalton had good blocking downfield. James Deaver and Dalton Triplet had good blocks along with the receiver to spring him. Dalton is not going to get caught very often when he gets into the clear.”
The game was far from over following the big play, however, but it set the tone for what was to come. Trenton took advantage of the momentum created and dominated the contest throughout the remainder of the first half.
“It was a big play,” Croy said. “It set the tone for the rest of the first half. I thought we had them on their heels for the rest of the first half because of that and we were able to get out to a comfortable lead.”
A continued dose of Preston, along with some good running from Keegan McGinness, Clay Oneal and Dolan, allowed the Bulldogs to build a 35-0 lead by halftime. Oneal carried the ball in from six yards out to give Trenton its second touchdown and Preston scored twice more in the second quarter on runs of 27 and 42 yards. Dolan took the ball in for Trenton’s final score of the half on a three yard run. Two-point conversion runs by McGinness on the final two scores negated a failed point-after kick and two-point conversion try on the first two scores.
Preston eclipsed the 200-yard mark in the first half alone. After limited time in the second half, he finished with 236 yards.
“He has good speed, great straight-line speed,” Croy said of his back. “He is probably the fastest running back we have had here and he has good vision and cut-back ability. I think one of the things that makes him as explosive as he is, is that the offensive line is playing very well and then Keegan and Clay are running really well, also. It’s hard for opponents to really key on him because of those other guys. It’s a case where having all of those weapons back there makes each of them better.”
The performance was the first 200-plus yard game turned in by a Trenton player since De’Andre Vandevender, the school’s all-time leading rusher, did so in 2007. Like Croy, however, Preston puts a lot of the credit on his line.
“I had great blocking in front of me all night,” Preston said. “I wouldn’t have had any of those yards without that great blocking up front.”
In the third quarter, Trenton added to the lead with Oneal’s second touchdown of the night. The advantage went to 42 points as the third quarter went by swiftly due to a running clock.
Putnam County stopped the running clock in the fourth period, however, scoring for the first time all game on a three-yard run by quarterback Blane Robinson with 10:42 left in the contest. A two-point conversion cut the Trenton advantage to 34 points. The Midgets returned to the end zone again soon after, but that would be all they would get as time ran out.
“I think it’s hard when you’re up like that to keep your intensity level up as high as it was at the beginning of the game,” Croy said. “On the other hand, we need to finish games better and that is what we talked about with the kids after the game. Whether it’s a starter or a reserve, we need to go out and finish games and we didn’t do that. We felt like we made some mistakes in the fourth quarter and tried to do too much and that’s where you get yourself into trouble.”
Trenton’s offense finished just shy of 500 total yards. The Bulldogs’ unit has found yards and points easy to come by in the last two weeks and Croy feels the team is getting better and better, but also notes the competition level is about to pick up.
“I think we haven’t played a defense like we are going to see this week since South Shelby,” Croy said. “At the same time I think we are getting better on offense. We have gotten more used to the offense and the change took a little time, but we are getting better week after week. The strength of our opponents is going to be getting better and better every week and we told our kids that we are going to have to keep improving on the little things here and there that we aren’t doing right.”
With the win, Trenton’s third straight, the Bulldogs moved to 3-1 on the season.
Trenton will need to use the momentum gained from their three-game winning streak this week as they wrap up the home-stand against West Platte, ranked ninth in the Class 1 poll heading into last Friday night. Adding to the big match-up is homecoming, which makes its annual return with the game.
“It’s fun, you know,” Croy said. “I think the spirit of the school is high and the spirit of the community is high. It’s always good when you’re having success: practices go better and it seems like all is right with the world. We realize we have a huge challenge this week. West Platte is a very, very good football team and it’s going to take our best effort of the season to get to 4-1.”
The Bulldogs and Blue Jays will kick off from C.F. Russell Stadium Friday night at 7 p.m.