Trenton Falls To South Harrison

Time and time again Trenton marched down the field. Time and time again, South Harrison had an answer.
Trenton entered the red zone on each and every one of its final four possessions, but couldn’t find any points. The red zone ineptitude proved to be the chief culprit in a 14-8 loss to the visiting South Harrison squad on Friday night at C.F. Russell Stadium.
“Several times we didn’t get blocks that we needed to get,” Trenton head coach Brandon Boswell said. “That’s what it is.”
Tied at 8-8 late in the first half, Trenton began a frantic march down the field, but at the 15-yard line, the Bulldogs had time for just one final play with the clock stopped at 2.3 seconds. A fade from quarterback Lathan Croy to Colton Colston was off the mark.
Trenton got the ball to start the second half and reeled off another nice drive. Trenton marched all the way down inside the 10-yard line, but the Bulldogs put the ball on the turf at the seven-yard line, turning the ball over.
The next time Trenton touched the ball, it was down 14-8. The Bulldogs would put together two more strong drives, marching down the field. But on both occasions, Trenton stalled inside the 20, turning the ball over on downs on the 15-yard line and then the 12. The second turnover on downs would be the last play Trenton ran as South Harrison ran out the clock to secure the upset.
“I think we have some pretty good football players and kids we need to step up and make plays,” Boswell said. “We didn’t get that done tonight. You are going to have those nights. People think that you probably should have won this game and all of that stuff, but, you know what, we are doing our best.
“We had breakdowns in assignments and sometimes you just have to step up and make the play. We got out-athleted in the spots where (South Harrison) was successful. A lot of mistakes on our part and they didn’t seem to make a ton.”
Trenton outgained South Harrison by nearly 100 yards in the game, 360-267. Trenton’s offensive success was easy to see as the team moved the ball effectively, but the momentum stalled inside the 20 time and time again.
“At halftime we just told the kids to really believe in themselves and believe in their teammates around them,” said South Harrison defensive coordinator Erik Coffey, who was Trenton’s defensive coordinator from 2012-2015. “We told them to trust the people around them to do their jobs and they did that. They did a good job of it. Really, we didn’t do anything different (in the red zone) than we were doing anywhere else on the field. They just buckled down when they really needed to and got the stops when they really needed to.”
Adding to the maddening performance from Trenton was a drive in the first quarter that made the game seem as if it wouldn’t be close for a time. After stopping South Harrison after the opening kickoff, Trenton took over at its own two-yard line and began a 98-yard scoring drive. Trenton moved the ball with relative ease on the possession, chewing up clock and yards on each play. The drive was capped by a nine-yard touchdown pass from Croy to Colston. Hunter Dugan ran in the two-point conversion to give Trenton the 8-0 lead.
After a stop, Trenton began marching again, but the Bulldogs stalled out at the end of the first quarter and opened the second frame with a failed third-down pass attempt and a punt. South Harrison pulled out out all the stops on the ensuing drive, using a hook and ladder play where a receiver caught a pass and lateraled it to a teammate for a big gain to keep the drive alive. South Harrison used another trick play minutes later as Kinser Corbett hit Treyton Campbell on a halfback pass that resulted in a 29-yard touchdown. South Harrison’s Cody Weller hit Jacob Starmer for the two-point conversion to tie the game.
Aside from the trick plays, Trenton’s defense did a solid job controlling South Harrison’s offense throughout the game. South Harrison would get one more score in on Trenton, however, and that was the difference in the ballgame. After keeping the drive alive with a fourth-down conversion – even after backing themselves up with a false start penalty – the visiting Bulldogs found the end zone on a 28-yard pass from Weller to Campbell. The two-point run was stopped short.
“We’ve been in a position to make a play all season,” Boswell said. “But, we haven’t made the play more often than we have. It’s frustrating and it all adds up. Eventually kids start doubting. We are just going to get real basic come Monday and be real simple and just try and do a few things really well. Maybe that’s all we can do. That’s where we need to start and build from there.”
The loss dropped Trenton to 2-4 overall on the season and 2-2 within the Grand River Conference. The Bulldogs will be back at home this Friday, hosting Polo, who enters the game at 5-1 and 3-1 in the GRC. It will be homecoming for Trenton with the game at C.F. Russell Stadium set for a 7 p.m. kickoff.