PREP PREVIEW: Ball-hawking Trinity defense has large expectations

Xavier Boswell is back to lead the Trinity secondary in 2024. (Tim Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

Xavier Boswell leaves the field with his arms extended, flying like an airplane as he runs off Ragsdale-Boykin Field.

It’s the “No-Fly Zone” and the Trinity secondary has turned back another offender with an interception.

“We want them to throw,” said Boswell, a Trinity senior. “We play with a lot of high energy. Pick everything I see. If the ball’s in the air, I think of it as my ball. I want to go get it.”

Eight different Wildcats snared interceptions last year, with 19 of the 22 picks falling into the ball-hawking hands of defensive coordinator’s Tommy Shoemaker’s secondary.

“That’s the most I’ve ever had in my career,” head coach Brian Seymore noted.

Three of the five starters return this fall -- safeties Bo Stewart and Boswell and cornerback Chayman Wilkins -- along with corner Reed Daniel and rover Fleming Hall, who is returning after stepping away from football for a year to replace 2023 senior Webber McClinton.

Fleming’s younger brother Luke, who had an interception last year and finished as the third leading tackler on the defense, also returns.

“We executed very well last year and put a lot of trust in Coach ‘Shoe,’” said Stewart, who had three interceptions, 12 passes defensed and 52 tackles last season. “I think we executed very well, but I’m eager to see how we can defend the passes consistently throughout the game because every defense has holes in it and to be self aware of where those holes are is a good thing just to know our weaknesses.” 

Boswell had seven interceptions, 14 passes defensed and 57 tackles (fourth on the team), giving the two Wildcat safeties 10 of the 22 interceptions. As they worked side by side this summer in 7-on-7s, they continued to challenge each other.

“Defensive back is one of our strengths,” Seymore said. “They’re perfectionists. If they see somebody catch a ball in 7-on-7, I told them it’s a perfect situation for the offense and they’ll be some holes. They’re trying to make sure they eliminate those holes.

“The thing you can’t factor in is the rush. Because if you factor in the rush, that may change the quarterback’s timing. But when the ball goes up, I feel like we did a tremendous job last year.”

Replacing McClinton, who had five interceptions a year ago, will be crucial to make the rover position effective, but the secret to the Wildcat secondary is the chemistry among the players.  

“We work on turnovers every day,” Seymore said. “Coach ‘Shoe’ is a fundamental guy. He’s going to work on stripping the ball out. We want to get tipped balls in the secondary. When the ball goes up, we want to compete for it. We want to score on defense. We want to create explosive plays on defense just like we do on offense.

“What sets it apart from a lot of teams is it’s not one guy, it’s a bunch of guys that play together, don’t have any egos, they show up every day, they work hard, they do the little things right. I hope we reap the benefits when we do things like that.”

Stewart agreed with his coach, crediting Shoemaker for getting all the secondary players on the same page.

“I would definitely credit Coach Shoe for putting us in the right position,” Stewart said. “Xavier was our leading interception guy but all the DBs -- Webber, Chaymen -- we knew we had the skill but to put us in the right position and that’s something Coach Shoe did very well.

“When the ball’s in the air, that’s our ball. We like (facing) a passing team because we know we’re going to have opportunities to get those interceptions and make big plays.”