Trenton Is A Vastly Different Team Than It Was In Week 1 Loss
R-T Photo/Seth Herrold
Trenton quarterback Sam Schilling was 4-for-4 with 197 yards and four touchdowns last week against Maysville.
This website brought to you in part by the following sponsor:
For the Bulldogs, 2019 has been a long and, at most points, painful journey to becoming a better football team. But if the mission was to improve week-to-week from a season-opening 42-14 loss to the Lathrop Mules, it’s easy to see that goal has been accomplished.
The Bulldogs enter week 10 and another match-up with Lathrop as a transformed team, fresh off of back-to-back victories. Even before the competition level dipped a bit in weeks 8 and 9, Trenton was showing signs of improvement in losses to tough opponents in Milan and South Harrison.
The Bulldogs have changed their offense since they last played Lathrop, tailoring it to the likes of Jaren Whitney and Mark Trump. That duo has blossomed with the move from a ‘Flexbone’ offense to the ‘Split-Back’ set. Whitney stands at 967 yards on the ground through nine weeks. Trump is at 828.
“I really just had to go back to the drawing board and just find things that fit our kids better,” Trenton Head Coach Kevin Hixson said. “I think what we are doing now, the little ‘Split-Back’ stuff, throwing the ball a little bit here and there and trying to be more balanced, works well for our kids.”
Though it would take a Herculean effort from Trump, the possibility of Trenton finishing the season with a pair of 1,000-yard rushers is not off the table. To put that in perspective, Trenton hasn’t had multiple 1,000-yard rushers share a backfield together since 2007 when De’Andre Vandevender rushed for 2,680 and Scott Stevens added 1,064. That took 12 games to accomplish.
Win or lose, playing the team you opened the season with at the end of the year presents an opportunity to show the growth a team has made over the course of 10 games. And Trenton hopes to do just that.
“As a coaching staff we kind of want to gauge where we were (then) and where we are now,” Trenton Head Coach Kevin Hixson said. “You can look at it statistically and our stats got better as the season went along and we got into conference play. But, this will kind of give us an idea of what our growth has been.”
The Bulldogs were out of it early in week one, falling behind 21-0 in the opening quarter. Trenton trailed 28-0 at halftime and 42-0 entering the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs were able to stick the ball in the end zone on Lathrop’s junior varsity twice in the final frame for a moral victory. Even if Lathrop is too good for Trenton to spring the big upset, improvement from week one is very much there to be had for the Bulldogs.
While Trenton doesn’t even resemble the team that was blown out in week one, Lathrop, too, has seen improvements over the course of the year.
“(Lathrop) has gotten better,” Hixson said. “I watched them on film and I watched our film against them. They do some things better, too, so I guess this will be an opportunity to see how both teams have progressed.”
Though wins have come easy for the Mules in the KCI Conference, Lathrop is a team that had several key pieces to replace from a state-runner-up finish the previous year. Tyler Paul was tasked with replacing production from an all-state rusher in Seth McKnight. Quarterback Blake Gordon was given much more responsibility within the offense. With each week the Mules grew into their new roles. Now, 10 weeks later, Lathrop is as formidable as they were a year earlier when the Mules made their run through the state playoffs.
“We were confident our skill kids would be fine and they have been,” Lathrop Head Coach Chris Holt said. “We have not missed a beat on offense. Time is the difference (between week 1 and now). Everyone has practiced and competed. That is the key to improvement.”
Lathrop now stands at 9-0, champions of the KCI Conference for the second consecutive year. The Mules, ranked second in the state in the Class 2 poll, would love to add back-to-back district champions to their two-straight KCI titles. To get there, however, Lathrop must win three games and that starts with facing Trenton.
The Bulldogs know all about the majesty of Lathrop. This meeting will mark the seventh matchup between the two schools in just the past four seasons. The Mules have taken five of the previous six meetings, including a 41-15 victory in the 2017 district tournament. Trenton’s lone win came in the 2016 district tournament, when the Bulldogs sprung a mild upset and defeated fourth-seeded Lathrop as the five seed, 28-13.
“I told the kids ‘nobody is giving you a shot to win this thing,’ but that is why we play (the game),” Hixson said. “Things can happen.”
The Bulldogs and Mules kick off the Class 2, District 8 Tournament tonight (Friday) at 7 o’clock in Lathrop.
TRENTON PROJECTED STARTERS
Offense
#13 QB – Sam Schilling, Sr. 6-1 185
#21 FB – Mark Trump, Sr. 5-11 185
#23 RB – Jaren Whitney, Sr. 5-11 170
#18 WB – Quincy Griffin, Jr. 5-10 150
#57 OT – Jerrick Stotts, Sr. 5-9 250
#75 OG – Carson Burchett, Sr. 6-3 270
#50 C – Noah Lewis, Sr. 6-0 170
#55 OG – Kael Brock, Jr. 6-1 215
#67 OT – Jake McNabb, Jr. 6-0 280
#17 WR – Dalton Burchett, Sr. 6-3 190
#87 WR – Royce Jackson, Jr. 6-3 180
Defense
#87 DE – Royce Jackson, Jr. 6-3 180
#75 DT – Carson Burchett, Sr. 6-3 270
#57 DT – Jerrick Stotts, Sr. 5-9 250
#17 DE – Dalton Burchett, Sr. 6-3 190
#50 LB – Noah Lewis, Sr. 6-0 170
#10 LB – Sam Gibson, Fr. 5-10 175
#21 LB – Payden McCullough, Jr. 5-5 155
#16 SS – Coleman Griffin, Fr. 5-8 145
#22 CB – Tyler Siemer, So. 6-0 180
#18 CB – Quincy Griffin, Jr. 5-10 150
#23 FS – Jaren Whitney, Sr. 5-11 170
LAST 10 MEETINGS
2008 Trenton 30, Lathrop 22 @ Lathrop
2009 Trenton 20, Lathrop 13 @ Trenton
2010 Trenton 34, Lathrop 0 @ Trenton
2011 Lathrop 28, Trenton 7 @ Lathrop
2016 Lathrop 31, Trenton 15 @ Lathrop
2016* Trenton 28, Lathrop 13 @ Lathrop
2017 Lathrop 23, Trenton 0 @ Trenton
2017* Lathrop 41, Trenton 15 @ Lathrop
2018 Lathrop 55, Trenton 7 @ Lathrop
2019 Lathrop 42, Trenton 14 @ Trenton
2019* ? @ Lathrop
(* Denotes Playoff Game)