Trinity Academy’s Tyler Burns scores seven TDs

Tyler Burns’ pregame preparation for Trinity Academy’s battle with Chaparral on Friday couldn’t have been much more disjointed.

It started with a late-night ride home from Manhattan, where Burns watched his older brother, Morgan, and Kansas State play Auburn in a prime-time Thursday game.

After getting back to Wichita around 3:30 a.m. Friday, Burns tackled some calculus homework, a task that took him right up to school time.

Unfortunately for Chaparral, Burns never hit the proverbial wall. The senior running back scorched the Roadrunners for 365 rushing yards and seven touchdowns, leading Trinity to a wild 53-46 victory that improved the Knights to 3-0.

“I’m just ready to go relax with my guys,” Burns said after Trinity, No. 5 in Class 4A-Division II, kept pace with Central Plains League unbeatens Cheney and Conway Springs by dealing Chaparral its first loss.

Trinity, unscored upon in its first two games, survived a shootout with the Roadrunners, who rolled up 559 yards. Chaparral quarterback Shawn Nulik had 331 passing yards and three touchdowns, and ran for 90 yards and three other TDs.

“If we could have beaten them, we would have made our mark,” said Nulik, who connected with senior wide receiver Roger Clark on nine passes for 224 yards, including the three touchdowns. “They’re a great team. I think we’re a great team, too.”

Chaparral (2-1), which dropped 55-28 and 60-36 decisions to Trinity the past two seasons, stirred its upset hopes by taking a 20-14 halftime lead. But Burns, the 210-pound speedster, fueled a 26-point third quarter for Trinity with touchdowns on three consecutive rushing attempts.

Burns, who ran for 138 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, scored on a 47-yard run on the fourth play of the third quarter to put Trinity ahead for good at 21-20. After Chaparral punter Ethan Francis mishandled a snap and Trinity’s Sam Schroeder recovered at Chaparral’s 2, Burns powered into the end zone on the next play to make it 28-20.

Then, after Chaparral had a 55-yard touchdown pass negated by an illegal procedure penalty, Burns struck quickly after a Roadrunner punt. He went 55 yards around the left end on an option play to make it 34-20 with 6:10 to play in the third.

“What kept me going was our O-line was just playing out of their minds,” Burns said. “That was probably more motivation for me than us being down. They were playing so well.”

But Trinity’s defense couldn’t put the clamps on Nulik. He pulled Chaparral within a touchdown on three occasions with scoring runs of 5, 20 and 1 yard. But Burns countered the first touchdown with a 38-yarder in which he pulled away from two tacklers.

Trinity senior Jacob Johnson added an 81-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. After Nulik scored on a quarterback sneak with six minutes remaining, Burns raced 59 yards to push Trinity’s lead to 53-40 at the 5:15 mark.

Chaparral remained menacing until the end, as Nulik and Clark hooked up for a 60-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-4 play with 31 seconds remaining. But Trinity’s Caleb Hoyt recovered an onside kick to preserve the Knights’ victory.

Chaparral ran 87 plays and outgained Trinity 559-427. It was enough to put a serious tone in Knights coach Jared McDaniel’s postgame message to his team.

“I think we can be a great defense,” Burns said. “We just have some things to work on.”

This story was originally published September 20, 2014 at 12:12 AM with the headline "Trinity Academy’s Tyler Burns scores seven TDs."