THURSDAY PREP OPENER: Trinity topples B.T. Washington

Trinity’s Trevor Pearson runs through the tackle of BTW’s Yven Williams in the Wildcats’ win on Thursday. (Tim
Gayle)

By TIM GAYLE

It wasn’t as simple as one play defining Thursday’s season opener between Trinity and Booker T. Washington.

On the other hand, maybe it was.

When Trinity’s newest weapon, Trevor Pearson, sprinted through a hole at left guard and finished his run in the end zone 74 yards later, it gave both sides a good indication of what to expect in the 2022 season opener at Ragsdale-Boykin Field.

The Wildcats, when they were clicking, were too much for the Golden Eagles, using a pair of Pearson touchdown runs on offense and a pair of interceptions from its defense to hold off BTW 34-16. But the Macon County school served notice that it was much improved from teams that had suffered through five consecutive losing seasons entering the 2022 season. 

“I think they lived up to the expectations,” Pearson said. “They played us for four quarters. It was a physical game. They had a nice defense, flowing to the ball and making plays. They were a good team, we just happened to be the better one.”

Trinity has a lot of holes to fill on both sides of the ball but the Wildcats reached the quarterfinals two years ago and the second round of the playoffs last season, so the expectations are high for a program that has reached the state playoffs in 28 of the last 32 years. 

O’Neal, meanwhile, tied a school record last year for region wins in a season (three) in his first year at a program that has had just one winning season and one playoff berth in its 32-year history.

“We wanted a measuring stick,” O’Neal said. “We had a real good summer, I knew we had a lot coming back, so I wanted to play a team where we could get some quality snaps and some looks so we could see how we looked going into region play (in two weeks against Catholic) and see how our kids would respond. We need to play some quality opponents if we plan on changing the program to what we want it to be.”

Pearson, the son of Troy University cornerbacks coach Travis Pearson, took care of the Golden Eagles in the Wildcats’ first two possessions, scoring on a 1-yard run out of Wildcat formation, then showing a burst of speed on the next possession. 

“It felt real good,” said Pearson, a transfer from Fairfield High who arrived at Trinity in May. “I’ve been waiting a long time to get out in open space and run. It opened up for me and that’s what I was able to do.”

He suffered a slight leg injury on defense late in the second quarter and spent the rest of the game on the sideline after rushing for 136 yards on seven carries.  

“I knew he was here, I knew he was a heck of a back,” O’Neal said. “We had to put two or three guys on him to bring home down.

O’Neal would counter with a weapon of his own, junior quarterback E.J. Hall, who ended the evening as the game’s leading rusher with 157 yards on 12 carries, answering Pearson’s second touchdown with a 61-yard run at left end on the next play from scrimmage and throwing 26 yards to Elijah McCray on the first play of the fourth quarter for the Golden Eagles’ final touchdown.

But in between the two touchdowns, there was plenty of drama as a Trinity team that clearly looked better couldn’t put the Golden Eagles away, while a BTW squad that flirted with momentum changing possessions couldn’t quite put it all together when it needed to. 

“I was proud of the way we ran the ball at times, we were just too inconsistent,” Trinity coach Granger Shook said. “Our young guys up front had too many holding penalties, too many bone-headed penalties, but we reestablished the line of scrimmage and I was proud of that.

“I challenged my team to be the tougher team. Not physically tougher, but mentally tougher. Were we that all the time? No, but we were when we needed it.”

No time was more crucial than the second period, when a 21-yard pass from Walker McClinton to his brother Webber in the back of the end zone gave the Wildcats a 20-8 cushion, only to face two consecutive challenges from the Golden Eagles on their next two possessions.

Hall’s second-and-13 pass was batted by Seawell McKee and intercepted by Mike Jones at the Trinity 22-yard line, turning back one threat, but BTW would come back two minutes later with another drive. Jones was shoved out of bounds on a 33-yard run to the 2-yard line with 43.7 seconds left and the Wildcats would hold as a delay penalty and an injury to Jones left the Golden Eagles six yards from the end zone as time expired in the first half. 

“We left 16 points on the field,” O’Neal said. “If we just get one touchdown out of that, we go into the half and it’s a different ballgame. We just couldn’t stop the run. I can’t make any excuses, we just got whipped in the trenches.”

Shook praised the performance of several of his younger reserve players, including kicker Michael Wilson, linebacker Chase Parker, defensive back Bo Stewart, running back Ross Sanders, defensive back Chayman Wilkins, quarterback Fleming Hall and his younger brother Luke, a receiver, but saved his highest praise for Hall, the dynamic BTW quarterback who played the entire game on both sides of the ball.

“The quarterback is one of the best athletes we’ll see all year,” Shook said. “He’s a phenomenal player. Coach L.A. O’Neal has done a great job. That team is going to win a lot of ballgames this year.”

O’Neal called Hall “one of the hardest working kids out there” and a “well-kept secret. First one in the weight room, last one to leave. He’s something special already, but he’s turning into a really good leader. We’ve just got to get a couple of pieces to go around him.”

Trinity (1-0) travels to Montgomery Academy next week, while B.T. Washington (0-1) returns home to play host to Tallassee.