STOPPED SHORT

Bulldogs’ Rally Denied In Lexington

What looked like a sure runaway turned into the game of the week in north Missouri on Friday night. After falling behind 20-0 in the first half, the Trenton Bulldogs roared back with a second half rally that fell short by a single point as the Lexington Minutemen held on for a 20-19 victory at Gil Rector Stadium.
The game hinged on a two-point try with just over a minute left in the contest. Travis Leeper had just put the ball in the end zone from 11 yards out to pull the Bulldogs to within a single point. Colton Neff came close, but was ultimately dragged down a half-yard short on Trenton’s two-point try as the Bulldogs went for the victory on the road rather than kicking an extra point to force overtime.
“I knew we were going for two before we even got the ball back the last time,” Trenton Head Coach Brandon Boswell said. “I just felt like Lexington was back on their heels and we had the momentum and that is kind of what did it. I didn’t want to go for one and tie it and then have something go right for them in overtime and turn that around on us. So, I knew we had the kids capable of doing it, so we were going to go for the win. We didn’t quite get it, but going for two in that situation is always going to happen.”
The road back into the game was a long one for Trenton. The Bulldogs dug themselves a pretty deep hole in the first half, beginning with the opening possession of the game. Trenton was flagged for holding, a call that killed what appeared to be a promising drive, and then a botched snap on the ensuing punt attempt set up Lexington just 27 yards away from paydirt. Lexington made Trenton pay as Cooper Lynn ran the ball in from nine yards out, giving the Minutemen an early 6-0 advantage after a missed PAT kick.
Lexington tacked on another first-quarter score on a 45-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Reese Gassen to Blake Johnson. Trenton was flagged for pass interference, but even the penalty couldn’t stop the Minutemen score. Warren Sheppard ran in a two-point try as Lexington stretched the lead to 14-0.
Trenton finally started to show some life on its next possession, but turned over the ball on downs after reaching the 32-yard line. Lexington promptly went the other way, taking the ball 68 yards on a drive capped by a two-yard touchdown run by Warren Sheppard. Trenton again had a promising drive but Lexington intercepted a pass in the end zone late in the half and then ran the clock out to secure the 20-0 halftime lead.
In the first half, Trenton turned over the ball twice, botched the punt snap and didn’t stop Lexington from scoring until with just over three minutes left in the half. Things looked bleak, but Trenton would make a complete 180 degree turn.
“At halftime we just kind of encouraged the kids to keep going,” Boswell said. “We made some offensive adjustments at halftime that obviously worked and got us going there in the second half. Defensively we didn’t really change much. We just got onto the D-line and their technique and how they were executing what we wanted to do in terms of not playing too high and not getting driven off the ball. We were able to come out and we were able to get something going. We were able to get a stop defensively and then ripped off some big plays. I think it is a real testament to this group that they never feel like they are out of a game.”
The Bulldogs opened the second half by stopping Lexington and forcing a punt. The Bulldogs then drove down and scored for the first time all night with a six-yard run by Kail McCarter. Colton Neff tacked on the extra point and the Bulldogs had some life. Trenton stopped Lexington again on the next possession as the momentum began to swing the Bulldogs’ way. Travis Leeper ran in the ball for the Bulldogs’ second score on a nice five-yard carry. The point-after went wide right, but Trenton was still within a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Trenton finally scored its third touchdown, equaling Lexington’s first half output, with just over a minute to go in the game on Leeper’s second score of the game. The score was set up by a big pass completion from McCarter to wideout Cree Mullenix, who had a breakout game after a quiet week one on the offensive side. Mullenix caught three passes for 103 yards, complementing another great week on the ground by the Bulldogs.
“It was big to get Cree involved,” Boswell said. “They were really cheating their safety up and their corner was off quite a bit, so we took advantage of that alignment with some quick slants to Cree and he had two big plays out of it. He had 103 yards receiving and on our final drive, when we needed a big play, we just kind of threw it up to him and he made a great play with a defender on him so that was really big.”
Lexington continued to stack the box even with Mullenix’s performance. But that didn’t slow Trenton’s rushing game, which went over 200 yards on the ground for the second week in a row. McCarter led Trenton for the second week in a row, carrying the ball 19 times for 107 yards. Neff added 81 yards on 16 carries.
“We still rushed well,” Boswell said. “I think we ran for 255 yards, which is a big deal. We were able to do it with Neff, Leeper and (Jonathan) Lamp. Leeper didn’t have a lot of yards, but he had two big touchdowns. Then Lamp had a run of about 14 yards and (Logan) Shuler gave us some good reps again. We were able to get the ball to our backs and perform pretty well.”
Despite the loss, at 1-1 Trenton is off to a much better start than what occurred last season, when the Bulldogs stumbled to an 0-2 start. Improved coaching and a different offense are two factors Boswell credits the turnaround to.
“First of all I think I am a better coach than I was last year,” Boswell said. “I don’t think I am as good as where I need to be, but I think my ability to put our kids in a better situation to succeed is better than it was last year. We ran a different offensive scheme than we did at Lexington last year and I thought defensively our defense did a good job, we just made them work with a short field all night. That was tough on them, but again, I think our kids are good kids. Even though we lost tonight, to come back and have a chance to win it at the end is a positive you can take from it and it helps us understand that we are capable of doing good things if we take care of the ball and eliminate mistakes and turnovers. If we can do that, then I think we will be a pretty good team.”
The Bulldogs will look to bounce back from the loss this Friday as they travel for the second week in a row. Trenton will be in Holden to take on the Eagles at 7 p.m.
STATISTICS
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
First Quarter
L – Cooper Lynn 9-yard run (kick failed).
L – Blake Johnson 45-yard pass from Reese Gassen (Warren Sheppard run).
Second Quarter
L – Sheppard 1-yard run (kick failed).
Third Quarter
T – Kail McCarter 6-yard run (Neff kick).
Fourth Quarter
T – Travis Leeper 5-yard run (kick failed).
T – Leeper 11-yard run (run failed).
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TEAM STATISTICS
Stat THS LHS
First Downs 16 12
Rushes-Yards 48-255 42-145
Passing Yards 104 59
Comp-Att-Int 4-5-1 2-5-0
Total Yards 359 204
Penalties-Yards 6-55 2-25
Fumbles-Lost 3-1 0-0
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Trenton, Kail McCarter, 19-107; Colton Neff, 16-81; Travis Leeper, 4-33; Logan Shuler, 4-24; Jonathan Lamp, 5-10. Lexington, Warren Sheppard, 18-60; Cooper Lynn, 7-60; Reese Gassen, 14-18; Lorenzo Crumble, 1-9; Cayden Bertz, 1-0; Blake Johnson, 1-(-2).
PASSING – Trenton, McCarter, 4-5-1, 104 yards. Lexington, Gassen, 2-5-0, 59 yards, 1 TD.
RECEIVING – Trenton, Cree Mullenix, 3-103; Leeper, 1-1. Lexington, Johnson, 2-59.
INTERCEPTIONS – Trenton, None. Lexington, Trey Kullen, 1-34.
DEFENSE – Trenton, Colton Neff, 14 tackles, 2 TFL; Trey Shields, 13 tackles; Austin Burkeybile, 9 tackles, 1 TFL; Mullenix, 6 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack; McCarter, 6 tackles; Ryan Hines, 5 tackles; Isaiah Coon, 4 tackles; Tucker Franklin, 4 tackles, 1 TFL; Leeper, 4 tackles; Colton Allen, 4 tackles; Lamp, 3 tackles; Connor Cotton, 2 tackles; Spencer Harris, 1 tackle; Mason Owen, 1 tackle; Colton Colston, 1 tackle.