From 2-7 To 7-2: Bulldogs Turn Tables
R-T Photo/Seth Herrold
Travis Leeper pulls away from the Concordia defense on the way to one of his three total touchdowns Friday night. Leeper had four carries for a team-high 150 yards and two touchdowns and also had a 73-yard punt return for a touchdown.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
One short year ago the Trenton High School football team was headed to districts as the eighth seed at 2-7. Now, after the Bulldogs’ 74-15 thrashing of Concordia Friday night at C.F. Russell Stadium, Trenton had fully flipped the script, finishing the regular season with a 7-2 record.
“Ultimately, it’s our kids and their ability to have success,” Trenton Head Coach Brandon Boswell said. “I think they are just naturally very talented. but, going all the way back to the end of last season when we met as a coaching staff, we assessed how we could be better and changed the offense. The kids put in the effort in the off-season and went out for wrestling and basketball in the winter and we think that has made them better. You add in the work in the weight room and our seniors and their leadership. Add all of those things together and we feel like that is why we are where we are.”
Despite the land-slide victory, Trenton lost its grip on the four-seed position in the district standings as LeBlond shocked Savannah with a 21-7 victory Friday night. The win, combined with 20 bonus points for playing up two class sizes, propelled the Golden Eagles back past Trenton in the district standings by a miniscule margin. LeBlond finished the season with an average of 42.67 points per week, while Trenton finished at 42.31.
“It’s disappointing,” Boswell said of not getting a home game to open district play. “We thought for sure we would get it, but shame on me for not even considering the possibility that LeBlond would beat Savannah. Looking at how all the previous games had turned out we didn’t think it was likely, but after watching the film of Savannah and LeBlond, LeBlond is obviously a pretty good football team. They can beat any MEC team on any given night. They are a team that held Maryville to three points in the first quarter, so their defense is extremely sound and extremely good.”
If Friday night’s game was going to be the last at C.F. Russell Stadium this season, Trenton couldn’t have done a better job going out on top. The only trouble Trenton had was not scoring late when the game got out of hand. Trenton scored 11 times, the last three nearly by accident. With the game already in hand, Trenton scored once on a pick-six by sophomore Mason Owen and two 40-plus-yard runs, the first by back-up quarterback Spencer Harris and the last by back-up fullback Logan Shuler.
Trenton started the scoring on a 75-yard touchdown run by Kail McCarter. Travis Leeper fumbled on Trenton’s following possession, but the Bulldogs held Concordia to a four-and-out inside the 15-yard line. Leeper then more than made up for the fumble, scoring three of Trenton’s next four touchdowns. Leeper raced 24 yards for his first score of the night, followed that up with a 73-yard punt return for a touchdown and then capped off his night with a 76-yard touchdown run. Shuler gave Trenton a one-yard touchdown run between Leeper’s final two scores as the Bulldogs stretched out a 32-0 lead.
Leeper carried the ball four times, rushing for a team-high 150 yards and two touchdowns in addition to his punt return touchdown.
“Leeper was outstanding,” Boswell said. “He’s really nice to have and I have said it all season, if you are going to stop Colton Neff, then you better have a way to stop Leeper. It is going to take your entire linebacking corps and interior defense to stop Neff, so our ability to succeed on the edge with Leeper and Jonathan Lamp is huge.”
McCarter hit Cree Mullenix on Trenton’s only pass play of the night, one that went for a 53-yard touchdown. Jonathan Lamp bridged halftime, scoring on a 52-yard run just before halftime and a six-yard touchdown run on the first drive of the second half.
Trenton rushed for 537 yards on the night with Kail McCarter adding 128 yards to Leeper’s 150. Neff carried the ball five times for 72 yards and Shuler ran a team-high seven times, finishing with 60 yards. Lamp carried the ball only twice, but was never tackled, scoring on both carries while rushing for 58 yards.
Defensively, Trenton was at it again, limiting Concordia to a mere 114 rushing yards on 43 carries. Concordia was able to pass for 109 yards, but was only nine-of-29 passing with the interception Owen returned for a touchdown.
“They were able to get some decent throws on us, but Mason was able to get a pick six,” Boswell said. “They were able to beat him on the same play once earlier when he turned his back and couldn’t see the ball. We just told him when you drop you need to open your hips and when they tried it again he dropped in the lane and picked it. That was a big deal and we recovered a couple of fumbles and Cree had another sack. Our defense played extremely well again.”
Trenton travels to St. Joseph Friday, taking on LeBlond in the first round of the Class 2, District 8 Tournament at 7 p.m.
STATISTICS
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
First Quarter
T – Kail McCarter 75-yard run (pass failed)
T – Travis Leeper 24-yard run (pass failed)
T – Travis Leeper 73-yard punt return (Colton Neff kick)
Second Quarter
T – Logan Shuler 1-yard run (kick failed)
T – Travis Leeper 76-yard run (Neff kick)
T – Cree Mullenix 53-yardpass from McCarter (Neff kick)
T – Jonathan Lamp 52-yard run (Neff kick)
Third Quarter
T – Jonathan Lamp 6-yard run (Neff kick)
T – Mason Owen 24-yard interception return (Neff kick)
T – Spencer Harris 44-yard run (Neff kick)
Fourth Quarter
C – Tate Bittiker 1-yard run (pass good)
T – Logan Shuler 40-yard run (Neff kick)
C – Patrick Hastings 1-yard run (kick good)
———
TEAM STATISTICS
Stat THS CHS
First Downs 7 13
Rushes-Yards 25-537 43-114
Passing Yards 53 109
Comp-Att-Int 1-1-0 9-29-1
Total Yards 590 223
Penalties-Yards 6-60 4-30
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 3-2
———
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Trenton, Travis Leeper, 4-150; Kail McCarter, 3-128; Colton Neff, 5-72; Logan Shuler, 7-60; Jonathan Lamp, 2-58; Spencer Harris, 1-44; Chase Marsh, 26; Hunter Dugan, 2-(-1). Concordia, Patrick Hastings, 21-64; Cameron Kelly, 5-28; Tate Bittiker, 16-18; Drew Hon, 1-4.
PASSING – Trenton, McCarter, 1-1-0, 53 yards, 1 TD. Concordia, Bittiker, 9-28-1, 109 yards; Jordan Schlueter, 0-1-0.
RECEIVING – Trenton, Cree Mullenix, 1-53. Concordia, Kelly, 6-84; Schlueter, 2-16; Hon, 1-9.
INTERCEPTIONS – Trenton, Mason Owen, 1-24. Concordia, none.
PUNTING – Trenton, Colston, 1-46 gross, 46 net, 46 avg. gross, 46 avg. net.
DEFENSE – Trenton, Mason Owen, 9 tackles, 1 int.; Trey Shields, 9 tackles; Tucker Franklin, 7 tackles; Austin Burkeybile, 7 tackles; Luke Lewis, 5 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack; Logan Shuler, 5 tackles; Leeper, 4 tackles; Harris, 4 tackles; Mullenix, 3 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery; Jeffrey White, 3 tackles; Lucas Clark, 3 tackles; Isaiah Coon, 3 tackles, 1 fumble recovery; Cole Little, three tackles; Cole Schilling, 2 tackles; Colton Neff, 2 tackles, 1 TFL; Carson Radcliff, 2 tackles; Lamp, 2 tackles; McCarter, 2 tackles; Lathan Croy, 1 tackle; Dugan, 1 tackle; Dylan Burton, 1 tackle; Alex Parrack, 1 tackle; Ryan Hines, 1 tackle.