Trinity Academy picks up the tempo in win over Cheney (+video)
When things are going well for Trinity Academy’s offense, the play clock becomes insignificant.
The Knights run a play, the official sets the ball and within seconds, they’re doing it again.
Trinity settled into its rapid-fire groove in the third quarter Friday and used senior quarterback Josh Osborne’s two touchdown runs to charge past visiting Cheney 19-7 in a Central Plains League game.
Osborne finished with 27 carries for 110 yards, while junior running back Sam Schroeder had 136 yards on 28 attempts as Trinity improved to 4-1.
“Our offensive line really stepped up and we just drove it down the field,” said Osborne, who got Trinity on the scoreboard with a 12-yard touchdown run and added the go-ahead score from six yards on the final play of the third. “We grounded and pounded, and (the line) played great.”
Trinity’s offense churned out 334 yards on 80 plays, eventually wearing down Cheney (3-2). Cheney led 7-0 at halftime on quarterback Austin Wheelock’s 83-yard touchdown run, but the Cardinals were limited to 80 yards in the final two quarters.
“It affects both sides,” Wheelock said of Trinity’s quick tempo. “It shouldn’t, but it did. When you can’t move the ball up the middle, it’s hard to do anything.”
Cheney, which had a three-game winning streak snapped, took its lead one play after Cardinals defensive lineman Noah Schomacker recovered a Trinity fumble at the Cheney 17. But an opportunity to stretch the advantage vanished early in the second quarter when Trinity’s Caleb Hoyt stripped the ball from Cheney’s Austin Ray and recovered it on first-and-goal from the 5.
“If we go up 14-0, they’re the ones whose emotions are down and ours are up,” Wheelock said.
In the third quarter, Osborne’s touchdown runs capped scoring drives of 55 and 86 yards. The Knights picked up 10 first downs in the quarter, while Cheney was limited to 15 yards on nine plays.
“We tell our guys it may not catch them in the first quarter or the second quarter,” Trinity coach Jared McDaniel said of his team’s fast pace. “But if we can get into that third and fourth quarter with it, we feel it’s going to be to our advantage.”
Trinity partially blocked two Cheney punts. The second gave the Knights the ball at Cheney’s 11 and helped Trinity put the game out of reach. Junior Ethan Bennett scored three plays later on a 4-yard run — the only Trinity rushing attempt not by Osborne or Schroeder — to make it 19-7 with 3:05 remaining.
“Cheney’s always a really good team and we just knew it was going to be a fight,” Osborne said. “We figured it wouldn’t be a high-scoring game and we came out ready to fight.”
Cheney | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Trinity Academy | 0 | 0 | 13 | 6 | 19 |
C—Wheelock 83 run (Craig kick)
TA—Osborne 12 run (List kick)
TA—Osborne 6 run (kick failed)
TA—Bennett 4 run (kick failed)
Individual statistics
Rushing—Cheney, Wheelock 13-109, Sigwing 7-26, Ray 7-11, Jones 1-0. Trinity, Schroeder 28-136, Osborne 27-110, Bennett 1-4.
Passing—Cheney, Wheelock 14-32-152-0. Trinity, Osborne 11-24-84-0.
Receiving—Cheney, Scheer 6-92, Patterson 3-20, Adolph 2-16, McGuire 1-12, Jones 1-8, Ray 1-4. Trinity, Bennett 3-37, List 3-19, Schroeder 2-11, Wead 2-8, Mack 1-9.
This story was originally published October 2, 2015 at 11:46 PM with the headline "Trinity Academy picks up the tempo in win over Cheney (+video)."