UNLUCKY SEVEN

Trenton Competitive Again, But Losing Streak Continues

Trenton High School quarterback Sam Schilling took the fourth-down snap and handed it to his back. The Trenton runner ventured into the fray where legs churned and arms pushed. When the officials uncovered the ball at the end of the play, the chains were brought in for a measurement.
The chains revealed a sobering truth – Trenton was short.
On back-to-back possessions in the third and fourth quarters, the Trenton Bulldogs marched down the field only to have the drive stall in the red zone. Both times the Bulldogs turned the ball over on downs. Trenton trailed South Harrison by two scores at the time and, figuratively, could have tied the game had those two strong possessions not fizzled out.
But, this world is literal, not figurative.
“What kills us is we take six, seven minutes off the clock and we don’t come away with points,” Trenton Head Coach Kevin Hixson said. “I’m not disappointed in the way we played, I’m just disappointed in the outcome.”
The outcome was the seventh-straight loss this season as South Harrison topped Trenton 30-13 on Friday night at C.F. Russell Stadium. The score was nearly identical to the 30-14 loss the Bulldogs incurred a week earlier in Milan. That loss was met generally with optimism in and around the winless Trenton program. For a lot of the same reasons, Trenton remained positive in the face of their latest defeat on Friday night.
“We played hard,” Trenton Head Coach Kevin Hixson said. “We played hard the whole game. We knew it was going to be a tough ballgame and you don’t get to be 6-0 being a shabby team. (South Harrison) did a pretty good job.”
Trenton punted on its opening possession, but held on four downs to chase South Harrison’s offense off the field. A 27-yard run by Dalton Burchett pushed Trenton into South Harrison territory and, a handful of plays later, Burchett was on the receiving end of a 14-yard touchdown pass from Schilling. A successful PAT kick had the Bulldogs leaping toward the sidelines with a lead and momentum – two things Trenton has seen little of this season.
Neither would last long, however. South Harrison answered with a good kick return and a 15-yard penalty on Trenton for a hit out of bounds had the visitors starting their drive on the Trenton side of the 50-yard line. One big run put South Harrison inside the 10 and, two plays later, South Harrison had the first of what would be four straight touchdowns – one in each quarter.
A Trenton fumble – something the Bulldogs avoided entirely last week – set up South Harrison’s second quarter score. The visiting team opened the third quarter with good field position after Trenton was hit with a 15-yard penalty to open the second half after the halftime performance by the cheerleaders and, then, band got started late. Members of the band had not yet cleared the field when the halftime clock hit zero and the flag was dropped at the 50-yard line.
The bizarre sequence spurred a short touchdown drive by South Harrison, putting Trenton down 22-7. That’s when the Bulldogs went to work, moving down the field on the two ill-fated drives that were halted inside the South Harrison 25-yard line.
“We came out, we had lots of fire and lots of energy,” Hixson said. “Defensively, I thought we played well. We came up with some big stops, but we just have to learn to finish, that’s the bottom line. We have to learn to finish a drive, finish a play.”
Trenton would find the end zone with just over a minute left in the game on a one-yard run by Mark Trump. Trenton forewent the extra-point kick that would have given the game an identical score as the previous week’s game in Milan, trying for two instead. The two-point run failed, however, and Trenton took the loss by the 30-13 margin.
Jaren Whitney led Trenton on the ground, going for 75 yards on 10 carries while Trump added 71 yards on a season-high 22 carries.
Trenton also had a decent night passing the ball. In addition to Burchett’s touchdown grab, Trenton saw Royce Jackson and Whitney each grab crucial receptions to convert a pair of third downs. Jackson caught his pass in traffic, taking a hit and holding on to move the sticks for the Bulldogs, Whitney got behind the defense, hauling in a 30-yard pass that put Trenton at the three-yard line and set up Trump’s touchdown run at the end of the game.
Trenton did allow a pair of sacks and saw Schilling miss a few throws but, overall, the passing game was much improved from where it has been for Trenton this year.
“Sam is getting better,” Hixson said. “He’s not the greatest passer, but he is working hard on it in practice. The pass he threw to Royce, we practiced that all week long. They are doing well. It’s coming, but we are running out of time.”
Moral victories are great for teams in dire need of anything positive, but they all lose effectiveness at some point. Trenton will have its best opportunity to get into the win column to date this Friday when the Polo Panthers, also 0-7 on the year, pay a visit to C.F. Russell Stadium. It will be the final home game and Senior Night for the Bulldogs. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

STATISTICS
INDIVIDUAL SCORING
First Quarter
T – Dalton Burchett 14-yard pass from Sam Schilling (Schilling kick).
SH – Collin Haffey 3-yard run (Haffey run).
Second Quarter
SH – Austin Lasher 30-yard run (Gradyn Linthacum run).
Third Quarter
SH – Lasher 9-yard run (run failed).
Fourth Quarter
SH – Haffey 1-yard run (Tyler Daugherty pass from Lasher).
T – Mark Trump 1-yard run (run failed).

TEAM STATISTICS
THS SHHS
First Downs 11 11
Rushes-Yards 44-171 44-283
Passing Yards 59 25
Comp-Att-Int 3-7-0 4-5-0
Total Yards 230 308
Penalties-Yds 6-70 5-40
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 2-0
Third Down 4-10 1-6
Fourth Down 0-2 0-2

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Trenton, Jaren Whitney, 10-75; Mark Trump, 22-71; Dalton Burchett, 3-32; Sam Schilling, 9-(-7). South Harrison, Collin Haffey, 14-110; Gradyn Linthacum, 15-85; Andrew Sweat, 6-44; Austin Lasher, 9-44.
PASSING – Trenton, Schilling, 3-7-0, 59 yards. South Harrison, Lasher, 4-5-0, 25 yards.
RECEIVING – Trenton, Whitney, 1-30, Royce Jackson, 1-15; Dalton Burchett, 1-14. South Harrison, Haffey, 2-12; Tyler Daugherty, 1-8; Braden Spurling, 1-5.