BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA — Trinity Christian School’s season came to an end on Nov. 5 at Knight Field with a 60-13 loss to Macon East Academy in the first round of the AISA Class A playoffs.
The Eagles (4-7) fell behind almost immediately. The Knights (7-4) scored on a 48-yard touchdown pass from Brandon Fitch to Conner Wallace on their opening possession, and Trinity’s defense could not find an answer in the first half, giving up 52 points before halftime.
Trinity head coach Mike Adams said his young, injured team was unable to deal with Macon East’s size and speed up front.
“We had an eighth grader and a ninth grader starting on our [offensive] line, and they’ve got a really big, seasoned [defensive] line. We just had a terrible problem of trying to protect our quarterback,” Adams said. We just couldn’t outscheme them in that regard. They were relentless and had done a really good job of scouting us. We were hard-pressed to do anything against their pass rush.
Macon East’s Brandon Fitch scored on a 1-yard TD run, and a two-point conversion put Trinity down 14-0. Fitch then scored on each of the next two drives, and two more conversions left the Eagles trailing 30-0 less than eight minutes into the game.
That quick-strike scoring eventually caused game officials to institute a running clock at the start of the second quarter.
From there, Macon East’s running game kept wearing down Trinity’s defense. Matthew Simpson’s 65-yard TD run made it 38-0 with 3:03 left in the first quarter, and Fitch’s fourth rushing TD of the night — again from a yard out — pushed the deficit to 44-0 with 9:34 remaining before halftime.
Trinity’s offense also had its own struggles. Macon East’s Tripp Jackson intercepted an Eagles pass in the flat and returned it 58 yards for a TD, and another two-point conversion made it 52-0 with 7:50 left in the second quarter.
Following the intermission, Simpson wasted little time, scoring on a 44-yard TD run that left Trinity down 60-0 with 9:44 remaining in the third quarter and concluded the Knights’ scoring.
The Eagles then finally broke through behind Reid House, who returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a TD to get Trinity on the scoreboard. House managed to break around the left, avoid being tackled by a host of Knights and scamper up the Eagles’ sideline.
House struck again in the fourth quarter, breaking free on an 88-yard TD run with 9:48 left in the game before FirstName LastName connected on the extra point. The senior accounted for both of Trinity’s TDs in his final game wearing the blue, gold and white.
Trinity also had to contend with an emotional crowd. The game was the final home contest for Glynn Lott, who has served as Macon East’s head coach since 1996 and is leaving to help lead the newly formed Gulf States Independent Athletic Association. The school honored him with a celebration.
Despite the difficult evening, House’s two big plays gave Trinity something to build on as it prepares to close out its second season as a program.
Last year, the Eagles finished their inaugural season with a 6-5 overall record, fourth overall in the classification during the regular season and lost 46-22 at home to Evangel Christian Academy in the first round of the Class A playoffs.
This year, Trinity ended with a 4-7 record, seventh in the classification during the regular season and the road playoff loss.
