Trenton’s Tucker Otto settled under what he thought was going to be an easy interception. Gallatin’s Payton Feiden had other ideas.
Otto is listed at 5 foot 10, 160 pounds. Feiden, who goes 6 foot 3, 195, came across the field, muscled Otto off the spot then leapt up and pulled in a big reception to keep Gallatin on the field. On the next play, Feiden had a 35-yard touchdown catch.
Trenton had few answers for Feiden and the Gallatin Bulldogs Friday night as they fell 37-6 on the road at Gallatin’s Bulldog Stadium.
It was a game that turned out to be for a share of the conference championship after Milan dispatched of Polo, who entered the week tied with Trenton and Gallatin at the top of the standings with a 4-1 league mark. It was Gallatin who took sole possession of first place with the victory. A win over winless Princeton next week will sew up the outright title. Gallatin was one of three teams to share the conference crown in 2019 and this year’s title marks the 12th GRC football championship for the school.
“We kind of preached all week that, we know every game matters and every play matters, but this game just has that little bit of extra in it,” Gallatin head coach Patrick Treece said. “Just as far as the conference implications that it had and both towns talking about this game — the build up was there. I think our guys were hyped up and excited to play this game.”
On the other side of the coin, the lights might have been a little bright for Trenton, which had won just two games in the past two seasons combined before putting everything together this year. Trenton’s turnaround thrust them into a faux conference championship game with Gallatin and near the end of the game when the Milan-Polo score was announced over the loudspeaker, it was the home Bulldogs who began to celebrate.
“Not the way we wanted it to end up,” Trenton head coach Kevin Hixson said. “I think because of where we are the pressure might have got us a little bit. You know, it was a big game.”
Gallatin grabbed control from the onset, taking the opening possession down the field for the game’s first touchdown, a 12-yard run by Draven Wright. Quarterback Peyton Baker ran in the 2-point conversion and Gallatin had an 8-0 edge just three and a half minutes into the game.
Trenton’s defense picked up after that, but a personal foul after a punt and another for roughing the passer gave Gallatin the ball at the Trenton 14-yard line. The host Bulldogs didn’t have to work hard for their second score as Feiden pulled down a jump ball in the back corner of the end zone. Jagger Gray ran in the 2 and Trenton was in a 16-0 hole.
“[Baker] is a wonderful quarterback,” Feiden said. “I love having him as my quarterback and I wouldn’t have anyone else. I know he trusts me to go up and get those balls, so it is my job to go up and catch them. I just need to do my job.”
Draven Wright had the first of what would be two defensive scores for Gallatin, going 50 yards on an interception return. After one quarter, Gallatin was well in charge, leading 22-0.
Feiden would grab a touchdown of 35 yards just before halftime to give a Gallatin team that was hampered by turnovers in the second quarter, a 30-0 halftime lead.
“We just knew we needed to play well as a team, all be on the same page” Feiden said. “We all know that if we are all working together, have the same mindset and have a good attitude that nothing can stop us. We just need to keep going in the future. If we keep working as a team we can do anything that we want.”
Trenton’s most successful drive of the night was the one they got to open the second half. A 5-yard touchdown run by Gabe Novak capped an 8 and a half minute drive that saw the visiting Bulldogs convert on a couple of crucial fourth downs.
“There is some fight in this team,” Hixson said of his team’s drive to open the second half. “These guys, they will fight you. We went in at halftime and we told them ‘hey, we have to earn a little bit of respect, we have to hang onto the ball, we’ve got to move it down the field and score.’ So, we went for a couple of fourth-and-two’s in the drive to let those guys know that we believe in them and they answered the call. I’m pretty proud of the effort in the second half.”
Trenton’s defense was much better in the second half as well. The Bulldogs shut out Gallatin’s offense, but the home school got one final score with a second interception returned for a touchdown. Isaac Bird grabbed this one and went 36 yards for the score.
“We’ve been working a lot during practice on our drop backs on defense,” Feiden said. “Coach has been talking about how we need to get more turnovers if we want to keep putting up numbers, so we just feel like we need to keep doing that.”
Outside of the touchdown drive to start the second half, Trenton didn’t get much push against Gallatin’s front. Sam Gibson led the Bulldogs with 101 yards, but needed 31 carries to break the century mark. Outside of him, Trenton didn’t get much, amassing just 204 yards of total offense in the loss. Novak had 55 yards on 19 carries and Ian Elbert ran the ball four times for 33 yards.
“[Gallatin] was probably a little better than we gave them credit for up front,” Hixson said. “They were pretty physical and had speed to the edge. We knew speed was going to be to their advantage so we put in a package to try and play a little more power football, but they battled right back and stayed right in the mix.”
Gallatin had a very balanced night, throwing for 175 yards and rushing for 146. Baker completed 7-of-12 passes for 175 yards and two touchdowns. Feiden was his target of choice on the night, catching six balls for 156 yards and two scores.
“[Feiden] is a big help,” Treece said. “Maybe a ball that isn’t perfect, he can help make it a completion there. He is a great athlete. He can run, he can jump, he can catch. He has great ball skills. Feiden and Isaac Bird are a couple of big targets for [Baker] and they are helping him develop into a pretty accurate quarterback and a quarterback who is making some pretty good decisions.”
Feiden had 58 yards on four carries to represent Gallatin’s leading rusher as well.
Gallatin improved to 6-2 overall on the season and 5-1 in the GRC. The worst they can do is be co-champions of the league, but Gallatin will be heavily favored against Princeton next week, seeking to take the title outright. Kickoff from the Tigers’ Eddie Allen Field is slated for 7 p.m.
“As coaches we don’t have to tell [our team] where we are sitting here or what has to happen there to get a share of the conference title,” Treece said. “They keep up with all of that and they figure that stuff out on their own. Obviously [tonight was] big, we’ve had quite a bit of adversity through the year. We lost a couple of seniors that have been big parts of our team to injury and to moving, but the way the guys have rallied together and stuck together, just rolled with the punches has been phenomenal. I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Trenton meanwhile fell to 4-4 overall and 4-2 in league play. The Bulldogs close out the regular season this week with a road trip to Bethany to face South Harrison. That game at South Harrison’s Memorial Stadium is also slated for a 7 p.m. kick.