GOING OUT IN STYLE

Trenton Hammers Maysville On Senior Night

When the Maysville Wolverines failed to convert on fourth down with under five minutes to play in Friday night’s regular season finale, the Trenton Bulldogs headed to the sidelines to a thunderous roar from the crowd at C.F. Russell Stadium. The Bulldog players roared back, they waved their arms and did the things teams do when victory is imminent.
There have been too few moments like this in the 2018 season for the Trenton Bulldogs.
So, with the Bulldogs on their way to a 57-22 win over Maysville on Senior Night, the players, especially those seniors, took a little extra time getting off the field to soak in the moment.
“It was just awesome, especially knowing this was possibly our last game here,” senior Hunter Trask said of the moment. “Being able to come off the field and allow the JV to go in is just an awesome feeling.”
Trenton earned this win, the second in a row to close the season for the Bulldogs, with a balanced offensive attack and a little flare on the defensive side of the ball. After a wild first half that took an hour and 45 minutes to complete – the result of eight touchdowns and 16 penalties for 200 yards by the two teams combined, Trenton held a 35-22 advantage. A touchdown by Carson Radcliff in the early third quarter pushed the lead to three possessions, but it was Jadan Whitney’s pick six at the 8:27 mark of the third that sealed the deal, more or less.
“I called a blitz and Jadan was supposed to go, but (Maysville) lined up with two receivers on one side of the field,” Boswell said. “It was like a fast thrown ball five yards away and he was able to jump up and pick it. Then for him to score. He was saying everyone told him he looked slow, but he’s a big cat and I was really happy for him.
“I think defensively all season we have just struggled and tonight, even though we gave up some points on some big plays, I thought our defense was pretty stingy.”
Maysville scored three times in the game, all in the first half and all on passes from quarterback Mallen Cole. But, Trenton’s defense limited the Wolverines all night, holding the visitors to just 260 yards of total offense and only 87 yards rushing. Take away a 70-yard touchdown pass on Maysville’s first play from scrimmage and the Wolverine’s total dips below 200 yards.
Trenton’s offense, meanwhile was nearly as balanced as it gets. The Bulldogs threw for 266 yards and rushed for another 255 for a grand total of 521 yards of total offense. As was the case last week in Polo, the Whitney brothers were responsible for a big portion of the damage.
Jaren Whitney hauled in eight passes for 164 yards and a touchdown while Jadan Whitney caught two passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. Jadan also added 14 yards and a touchdown on the ground and intercepted two passes on defense including the one returned for a touchdown to give him three scores on the night.
Radcliff came on strong in the third quarter, and finished the night with a team-high 103 rushing yards.
“We really have shown that we can throw it now, which has been really exciting,” Boswell said. “We came out in the second half and the damage we had done in the air caused (Maysville) to play two high (safeties) and got them out of the box. Carson really kind of took off in the second half running the ball. Everything sets everything up. It just kind of plays off of each other.”
The first half was marred by the excessive amount of yellow laundry on the field. But after the teams traded scores, playing to a 14-14 draw, Trenton began to muscle past the Wolverines. Mark Trump scooped up a Maysville fumble and would later run the ball in to give the Bulldogs a 21-14 edge. Schilling then found Jadan Whitney on an 87-yard touchdown pass and Jaren Whitney on a 52-yard touchdown pass to give the Bulldogs a 35-14 edge. Maysville punched one in just ahead of halftime to give the game its 35-22 halftime mark.
After Radcliff’s run and Whitney’s pick six, senior Matt Sibbit punched the ball in on a one-yard run – a fitting end to the scoring on senior night.
As Trenton began to pull away in the second half the flags ceased and only four penalties were called in the third and fourth quarters combined.
With the win, Trenton moved to 3-6 overall on the season. The Bulldogs finished Grand River Conference play with a 3-4 mark, good for fifth in the league standings.
Trenton also leapt two positions in the district standings with the win, passing Brookfield and Carrollton to go from seventh to fifth. Trenton will now travel to Macon to face the fourth-seeded Tigers in the Class 2, District 8 Tournament’s opening round on Friday night.
Macon was ranked seventh in the state in the Class 2 poll going into Friday night’s regular-season finale. The Class 2, District 8 bracket is loaded with state-ranked squads as one-seed Lathrop is ranked third, two-seed Lawson is ranked fifth and three-seed Lexington is ranked 10th.
“It’s something different,” Boswell said. “(Macon) is really, really good, but just to not have to go to Lexington or Lathrop – teams that you have already played – it kind of adds an element of the unknown, so you don’t have those negative thoughts in your head. Hopefully, we can just go out and have a good week of practice. We are kind of playing with house money now, so you just kind of lay it all out there and just play because you never know if it’s your last game. I think the way we have played the last two weeks – even though we have made some mistakes – we are trending up and that’s where you want to be at this point in the season, playing your best football.”

STATISTICS
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
First Quarter
M – Mallen Cole 70-yard pass to Cy Uthe (run failed).
T – Jadan Whitney 11-yard run (Connor Crawford kick).
T – Mark Trump 4-yard run (Crawford kick).
M – Cole 18-yard pass to Morgan Tate (Cole pass to Tate).
T – Trump 1-yard run (Crawford kick).
Second Quarter
T – Sam Schilling 87-yard pass to Jadan Whitney (Crawford kick).
T – Schilling 52-yard pass to Jaren Whitney (Crawford kick).
M – Cole 5-yard pass to Uthe (Cole pass to Uthe).
Third Quarter
T – Carson Radcliff 11-yard run (Shilling pass to Jadan Whitney).
T – Jadan Whitney 31-yard interception return (Crawford kick).
Fourth Quarter
T – Matt Sibbit 1-yard run (Crawford kick).
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TEAM STATISTICS
THS MHS
Rushes-Yards 46-255 27-87
Passing Yards 266 173
Comp-Att-Int 10-17-2 13-25-2
Total Yards 521 260
First Downs 28 16
Penalties-Yards 11-120 9-125
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 4-3
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing – Trenton, Carson Radcliff, 10-103; Mark Trump, 12-58; Sam Schilling, 7-33; Matt Sibbit, 7-29; Jadan Whitney, 4-14; Tyler Siemer, 3-11; Nate Burkeybile, 2-5; Quincy Griffin, 1-2.
PASSING – Trenton, Schilling, 10-17-2, 266 yards, 2 TDs.
RECEIVING – Trenton, Jaren Whitney, 8-164; Jadan Whitney, 2-102.
DEFENSE – Trenton, Jaren Whitney, 12 tackles; Jadan Whitney, 10 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, 2 int., 1 TD; Carson Burchett, 6 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery; Hunter Trask, 5 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 fumble recovery; Jerrick Stotts, 5 tackles; Nick Wattenbarger, 5 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack; Isaac Harris, 5 tackles; Noah Lewis, 5 tackles; Radcliff, 5 tackles; Sibbit, 4 tackles; Nick Shields, 3 tackles; Brian Ewing, 3 tackles; Siemer, 3 tackles; Trump, 2 tackles, 1 fumble recovery; Beau Ireland, 2 tackles; Payden McCullough, 2 tackles; Royce Jackson, 2 tackles.