VICTORY AT LAST

Trenton Bursts Into The Win Column In A Big Way

It took longer than what was originally hoped for, but the 2014 Trenton Bulldogs football team is in the win column. The Bulldogs picked up a long-awaited first victory on Friday night, defeating the Princeton Tigers 61-12 on homecoming at C. F. Russell Stadium.
Trenton scored early and often, crossing the goal line on both of its first two possessions. The Bulldogs would score nine total times in the game for a runaway victory.
“I just thought we played fairly well,” Trenton Head Coach Brandon Boswell said. “We had some kids make some plays for us, but I was just happy that for the most part we played fairly well for ourselves. That is good. I feel like we are getting better and better every week. It seems like we are going in the right direction, so that is very comforting.”
The only downside to the victory was the number of penalties racked up by not just the Bulldogs but the Tigers as well. Trenton was flagged 14 times in the game for a whopping 160 yards. Princeton also drew 14 flags and racked up 115 penalty yards. The Bulldogs had two touchdowns and one interception taken away by penalties in the game.
“I thought some of the penalties that were called were unnecessary,” Boswell said. “You know, I think some other crews wouldn’t have thrown that many flags. That being said there were times when we weren’t very disciplined. With different crews you are going to get different interpretations of different actions. I wasn’t extremely disappointed in our kids on a couple of those penalties; I just didn’t think the flag should have been thrown. That’s going to happen, though; some games will be like that. We are just happy there weren’t any flags thrown that influenced the outcome of the game. The flags were even for both teams.”
Trenton got huge games from multiple players. Quarterback Dalton Ellis, who broke into the top five all-time passing leaders in Trenton school history last week, threw for 81 yards and three touchdowns. Bailey Owen ran for touchdowns of four and 11 yards, collecting 112 yards on 15 carries, and Logan Shuler had touchdown runs of one and 45 yards and also hauled in receiving touchdowns, one from Ellis and one late in the game from backup quarterback Kail McCarter. Shuler finished with 66 rushing yards on the night. Jonathan Lamp also gave Trenton a rushing touchdown and 80 rushing yards, and Travis Leeper paced all backs in Trenton’s rushing attack with a game-high 148 yards on just six carries, an average of almost 25 yards per touch.
Trenton’s defense was solid for the most part as well, yielding just two scores to the Tigers. Princeton quarterback Brant Faulkner had a 57-yard touchdown run and a 10-yard touchdown pass to Tanner Coffman, but was picked off twice by the Bulldogs’ secondary.
“There were times when we didn’t get blocks on the edge that I thought we should have got from our running backs, but for the most part I thought we did pretty well,” Boswell said. “Bailey ran the ball well, Leeper ran the ball well, Lamp had some good runs and then Shuler was able to break off a few runs, so it all went pretty well. I think that is a testament to the improvement in our offensive line. I think the offensive line as a group has gotten so much better and as a result we are better as a team. I was proud of our kids and proud of their effort.”
With a win in their back pocket, Trenton will now look to add another as they travel to Bethany this Friday night to take on another Grand River Conference team in South Harrison. The Bulldogs from Bethany will present a bit of a tougher test for Trenton than Princeton was able to.
“We just need to keep working and keep getting better,” Boswell said. “We are going to have a much tougher game this Friday at South Harrison. I feel like they are a pretty physical team that can give us a lot of problems. Their linebacker play is exceptional and it seems like any time we have played a team with really good linebackers this year we have struggled. We have a lot of work left to do this week if we are going to get another win, so our kids just need to stay focused.”
Kickoff at Memorial Stadium in Bethany is set for 7 p.m. Friday night.
Princeton, meanwhile, fell to 0-6 on the season with the loss. The Tigers will be on the road again in week seven, traveling to King City for a Grand River Conference match-up with the Wildkats.
STATISTICS
Individual Scoring
First Quarter
T – Jonathan Lamp 5-yard run (kick blocked).
T – Bailey Owen 4-yard run (Aaron Anderson pass from Dalton Ellis).

Second Quarter
T – Anderson 34-yard pass from Ellis (pass failed).
P – Tanner Coffman 10-yard pass from Brant Faulkner. (kick failed).
T – Anderson 31-yard pass from Ellis (Lamp kick).
P – Faulkner 57-yard run (pass failed).
T – Logan Shuler 16-yard pass from Ellis (Lamp kick).

Third Quarter
T – Owen 11-yard run (Lamp kick).
T – Shuler 1-yard run (Lamp kick).
T – Shuler 45-yard run (Lamp kick).

Fourth Quarter
T – Shuler 60-yard pass from Kail McCarter (kick failed).

Team Statistics
THS PHS
First downs 19 6
Rushes-Yards 42-425 18-88
Passing Yards 141 83
Comp.-Att.-Int. 4-7-0 10-31-2
Total Yards 566 171
Penalties-Yards 14-160 14-115
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0

Individual Statistics
RUSHING – Trenton, Travis Leeper, 6-148; Bailey Owen, 15-112; Jonathan Lamp, 5-80; Logan Shuler, 5-66; Hunter Dugan, 3-16; Dalton Ellis, 5-12; Kail McCarter, 1-(-4); Keone Stanton, 2-(-5). Princeton, Brant Faulkner, 10-97; Cru Taff, 4-8; Hunter Boxley, 1-(-1); Garrett Enright, 2-(-16).

PASSING – Trenton, Ellis, 3-6-0, 81 yards, 3 touchdowns; McCarter, 1-1-0, 60 yards, 1 touchdown. Princeton, Faulkner, 10-31-2, 83 yards, 1 touchdown.

RECEIVING – Trenton, Shuler, 2-76; Aaron Anderson, 2-65. Princeton, Jason McLain, 5-39; Tanner Coffman, 4-37; Boxley, 1-7.

DEFENSE – Trenton, Trey Shields, 8 tackles; Gavin Griffin, 5 tackles; Terrin Ellis, 4 tackles; Austin Burkeybile, 4 tackles; Shuler, 3 tackles; Connor Cotton, 3 tackles, 1 TFL; McCarter, 3 tackles, 1 int.; Anderson, 2 tackles, 1 int.; Ryan Hines, 2 tackles; Travis Gilbertson, 2 tackles; Nick Gass, 2 tackles; Tucker Franklin, 2 tackles; Leeper, 2 tackles; Dalton Ellis, 2 tackles; Spencer Harris 2 tackles; Luke Lewis, 1 tackle, 1 TFL; Mason Owen, 1 tackle; Cree Mullenix, 1 tackle; Bailey Owen, 1 tackle.