Week 3: Trinity 13, Sandalwood 7 (Sept. 14)

JACKSONVILLE-Trinity Christian players and coaches wanted to send a clear message to everyone Friday night, although the road to Orlando goes through Madison County, don’t forget about them.  

Feeling a bit unappreciated, visiting Trinity Christian left Saints Field with a monumental statement 13-7 win over host Sandalwood.

“Today in the Times Union, they wrote in the preview of the game that this would be a tune up for Sandalwood to get ready for next week’s big showdown with Fletcher,” Trinity Christian two-way player Nick Washington stated. “That ticked us off a bit and we wanted to prove them wrong and send a message.”

That message was that 3A Trinity Christian can play with anyone including an 8A school like Sandalwood.

Dorminey challenged his kids in the regular season with a demanding schedule that in the last two years has included games with 3A state runner-up Madison County, 6A Orange Park, 6A St. Augustine and 8A Sandalwood.    

“We knew we were able to win tonight,” Dorminey said. “It’s hard to schedule games every year when you are consistently good, we know the road to state goes through Madison County but games like these challenge us and make us a lot better.”

Battling a potential down pour the entire first half, both team’s offensive game plans might have been altered a bit.  

“We’ve been trying to throw the ball a lot more, but we’re a wing-t offense and I think the weather played into our favor tonight,” Trinity coach Vernon Dorminey said.

The foursome of Jalin Buie (64 yards on 13 carries), Isaiah Ford (1 catch for 37 yards), Jeffery Holland (104 yards on 14 carries),  and Washington (30 yards on 11 carries, 1 TD ) proved to be too difficult of a job for the Saints to contain as the four combined for 200 yards of offense just by themselves.

With a quick moving clock in the first half due to the weather, both teams combined for four punts and four fumbled snaps (including all four in a five play series) in the first half.

Trinity took advantage of its last possession of the first half with a 14-play 91-yard drive which resulted in Washington’s 3-yard toss sweep down the right sideline for the only score of the first half.

Washington’s score with 24.4 seconds left in the half gave the Conquerors a 7-0 lead at the half, a lead which held until the fourth quarter.

A lethargic offense, which was held to 100 total yards, took advantage of a rare Trinity turnover in the second half to tie the game up.

Saints quarterback Parker Boehme (3 of 16 for 20 yards), who was constantly pressured all night and was sacked six times, moved the Saints down the field with his legs instead of his arm.

When Boehme (46 yards on 16 carries) wasn’t running, he was pitching it to Mike White (29 yards on 9 carries) via option plays. The play was the only effective play in the book the Saints had.

A pass interference play on the Conquerors moved the Saints to the 8-yard line, but Boehme was hit for a loss by Victor Alexander and Jimmie Bowes on the last play of third quarter and again two plays later to start the fourth to force a fourth and goal from the 20-yard line.

“That was huge for us, both of those red zone stands were big,” Dorminey said. “Our defense has played really well so far this season, except for four big plays against St. Augustine.”  

After forcing a three and out on the Conquerors next drive, Sandalwood was back in the red zone again and took advantage of the great field position.

Desean Blair fielded a O’shay Carter punt at the 40-yard line, cut through the Conquerors defense making seven guys miss before being tackled at the 11-ayrd line. Four plays later, a Boehme option pitch to White resulted in a 11-yard touchdown down the left sideline and tie game with 8:12 left in the game.

As quickly as Sandalwood appeared to be swinging the momentum, Trinity took it back immediately.

Six plays later, Holland rumbled 40-yards down the left sideline untouched to give the Conquerors the lead back at 13-7 with 5:57 left in the game after Aaron Sims point after attempt was blocked.

Holland’s 14 yard run with under two minutes left in the game appeared to be enough to put the game away but Holland was stripped of the ball while falling down giving the Saints one final drive.

However, the Conquerors defense like they had all night but Boehme on his back again to put the Saints back at their own 20-yard line.

Washington deflected Boehme’s fourth down desperation pass setting off a wild celebration on the sidelines for the Conquerors players and coaches.

“I’m really proud of our defense tonight, we played well against St. Augustine a few weeks ago except for giving up four big plays, tonight we stepped up and left it all out on the field,” Washington said.   

The 201th win for Dorminey was even more special because it came at the hands of Trinity knocking off the biggest enrollment school in the school’s history.

“We beat Columbia in a pre-season jamboree a few years ago, also Mandarin in a pre-season scrimmage but this no doubt was our biggest win ever against a larger school.”

Trinity Christian (2-1) takes the week off again after coming off a bye last week; while Sandalwood (2-1) will have to regroup quickly facing arch-rival and district rival Fletcher (3-0) at home in a huge District 1-8A showdown.

Notes: Dorminey stated that Ford and Holland already have several  offers on the table and should be major recruits next season. Holland has offers from Georgia Tech, FAU and FIU while Ford has over 20 offers including South Carolina, Clemson and Vanderbilt to name just a few…Moments after the game, Sandalwood players refused to line up at midfield and shake their opponents hands instead heading for the locker room.. Alabama commit Desmond Walker lined up at both on the defensive line and tight end and made several significant plays especially on defense….The game featured six Division I-A commitments: quarterback Oshay Carter (Georgia State), two-way player Nick Washington (Florida), two-way player Desmond Walker (Alabama), lineman Donald Rucker (FIU) and defensive back Malik Greeves (Vanderbilt)….