The Trenton Bulldogs 2021 high school football season effectively ended in the final two minutes of the first half Friday night at the ’Hound Pound in Maryville.
With the ball at midfield, Trenton had a chance to drive down the field for a touchdown that would have pulled the Bulldogs to within 20-10 at halftime, something that would have no doubt raised the eyebrows of all following the Class 2, District 7 semifinal from afar.
But Trenton didn’t score and Maryville reeled off 17 points in the final minute and a half before the teams hit the locker rooms.
When the sequence was over, after the ’Hounds had bitten Trenton with a barrage of long passes and a safety, the home squad leaped and bounded up the hill to their respective locker room. The Bulldogs still had a half to play, but their district championship game hopes were effectively extinguished there, without scoring another point, en route to a 51-3 season-ending loss.
“It just happened so fast,” Trenton head coach Kevin Hixson said. “And, we don’t have a great come-from-behind offense that’s going to score a bunch of points in a quick turnaround.”
Perhaps asking the Bulldogs to drive down the field for a touchdown that would have reeled Maryville in to within 10 points was asking too much, though. Maryville limited Trenton’s offense all game. Even when Gabe Stark blew up the Maryville backfield, creating a fumble that Sam Gibson recovered just 20 yards from the end zone, Trenton couldn’t capitalize, settling for a 29-yard field goal from Gibson — what turned out to be the only points of the evening for the Bulldogs.
When it was all said and done, Trenton had rushed for just 73 yards and managed only 110 overall, their lowest respective totals of the season. Gibson, who turned in 1,470 yards in an otherwise fantastic season, led Trenton with 48 yards rushing, his lowest total of the year by 26 yards.
Maryville stacked the box to slow down Trenton’s ground game, so much so that their secondary seemed suspect. Nate Burkeybile was able to beat Maryville four times, totaling 37 yards. Each catch was big to keep drives alive, but Trenton’s passing game simply wasn’t good enough to take advantage of holes in the Spoofhound secondary — especially with Tucker Otto on the sidelines after breaking his leg in week 9 against South Harrison.
Ultimately, Maryville was just better. The program that proudly boasts five state championships on their scoreboard — four coming at the Class 3 level and all coming since Trenton’s lone triumph in 1966 — will play for its second-straight district championship and 12th in the last 13 years on Friday. The Spoofhounds will host Macon, who toppled second-seeded Palmyra on the road, 34-7.
The Spoofhounds were without star running back Caden Stoecklein who was out with an injury but that opened the door for former Trenton Bulldog Tyler Siemer to star against his former team. Siemer returned the opening kickoff 60 yards for a touchdown and would finish the night leading Maryville with 109 yards and a rushing touchdown on nine carries.
Siemer had 150 yards and a touchdown in Maryville’s week 1 loss to Blair Oaks, but carried the ball just 29 times for 223 yards over the next seven weeks. Stoecklein’s injury opened the door for the former Bulldog, however, and he rushed for 101 yards and a score on 12 carries in week 9, the final regular season game of the year.
Siemer’s first two touchdowns staked the Spoofhounds to a 14-0 lead before Gibson’s field goal got the Bulldogs on the board. Maryville’s first passing touchdown pushed the lead to 20-3 on the first play of the second quarter.
“Once we get behind like that we have a tough time,” Hixson said. “I think it is just the pressure, you know. Hopefully we will get out of that, get away from that mentality of the game getting too big for us. The Gallatin game, this game, but we put some effort out, we battled.”
The Bulldogs’ defense dug in until the final two minutes. Trenton turned Maryville over twice and stopped the Spoofhounds on downs another time.
The Bulldogs’ couldn’t hold out forever, though and Maryville hit a big pass play, setting up a Cooper Low 6-yard touchdown run. After Trenton botched the kick return, Ian Elbert was tackled in his own end zone for a safety. Maryville had a big return on the free kick before scoring one final first-half touchdown on a 28-yard pass.
In the second half, a punt return to the 2-yard line set up another Maryville score and the ’Hounds got in one more time on a fumble return of 28 yards. The clock ran continuously for the majority of the half, bringing an accelerated end to the Trenton season.
With the loss, Trenton closed the year with a 5-6 overall record — a big jump from the program’s 0-8 showing a year ago. The Bulldogs also collected their first district win since 2016 last week, defeating Brookfield in the quarterfinals, 28-6.
“I think the kids played hard and played well together,” Hixson said of the season. “They are really a tight-woven group. My expectation was higher and so they tried to achieve more. They did a great job and put in a lot of effort and hard work. The expectation is going to be even higher [next year]. We expect to get right back here.”
Trenton, for the most part, will bring back the bulk of its team. Unanimous All-Grand River Conference selection Caleb Johnson will be the biggest loss, but players like Burkeybile, Trevor Murphy and Kaden Owen came into their own this season to earn all-conference honors as well.
Gibson will be back, though, as well as Gabe Novak, who rushed for over 800 yards, and quarterback Coleman Griffin giving Trenton its entire backfield back. Stark, who played particularly well alongside Murphy in the middle of the line against Maryville will be a big asset coming back as well.