Trenton is often referred to as “Titletown,” based on the number of high school state championships in sports like football, girls basketball, softball and baseball.

On Oct. 10, the Trenton football team honored the softball team during halftime of their game against Branford with a ring ceremony. Last May, the Tigers won their second straight state championship.

The following week against Lafayette (Mayo), they celebrated the 10-year reunion of the 2015 football state championship team as former players and coaches were in attendance, including head coach Andrew Thomas.

Thomas also led the Tigers to the 2013 state title.

Trenton has struggled the past few years, although last year’s team made the FHSAA Rural Florida Invitational Tournament (FIT), or B Division, as a No. 8 seed with a 3-7 record and won a couple of games to finish 5-8 in 2024.

They missed the state playoffs with a 5-5 record in 2023, finished 0-9 in 2022, and also had a losing record and no postseason bid in 2021 (4-6).

But this year, under first-year head coach Bryant Frye, they were one of 13 area teams to advance to the FHSAA playoffs.

Frye, who replaced Cameron Porch (10-22 in three seasons), led the Tigers to a 7-3 record in 2025.

Trenton earned the No. 13 seed in the FHSAA Rural-Region 2 Semifinals. 

“I think we’re really pleased where we’re at,” said Frye, who led the Trenton girls basketball team to the Class 1A state title in 2019. “The gentlemen worked very hard throughout the summer and in the off-season to get where they are. We hit a little bit of a short bump in the road there, losing two games, but they picked back up, and they got where they needed to be, so overall I’m very pleased at where we were at and what we’re doing, and very excited about making the FHSAA playoffs.”

They started fast with a 4-0 record, including a 26-7 win at Bell to open the season.

“The kids seemed to buy in early,” Frye said. “It also helps when you’ve got previous alumni as coaches on staff. That automatically gives you some importance to the program. It brings it back. You can’t account for that as much as it is, you know, even the community and the support that you get. I thought that was a big stepping stone early in the season. I think that’s why we were successful.”

Frye said he only has two coaches on staff who are not Trenton alumni.

“I think that’s what helped bring it back, it’s not just me, it’s about everybody involved in it,” he said. “And the kids bought into that and they appreciate that because they can go back and see, ‘hey, this coach played here in this era, and this coach played here and this is what he did, and they (coaches) can say, ‘hey, look, we know what you’re going through and how you’re doing it, what it what it takes to be there,’ and I think that’s one of the things that helped accelerate this program where it is right now.”

Following a 48-0 win in week two at Dixie County (Cross City), which played in last year’s FIT championship game, the Tigers held off a 2-point conversion late by Aucilla Christian in a 21-20 win at home, plus a 28-8 win at Jefferson County (Monticello) on Sept. 12.

After their first defeat, a 41-0 loss at Chiefland on Sept. 26, they bounced back to beat SSAA playoff participant Oak Hall, 42-26, on homecoming.

However, back-to-back losses to Branford (30-13) and Lafayette (47-6) put them in a must-win situation heading into their final two games.

Trenton defeated Moore Haven, 38-12, on Senior Night, followed by a 39-21 win at Class 3A Central (Brooksville) in the regular-season finale.

The Tigers are averaging 26.1 points per game thanks to a ground attack that is averaging 235.5 yards per game.

Senior Alexzander Henry leads the team with 858 yards and nine touchdowns. He is 142 yards away from a 1,000-yard season.

“Last year they were very heavily pass, so these kids were used to the passing game, the flashy stuff and everything,” Frye said. “The kids like that, so when we were like ‘hey, we’re going to run power. We’re going to run different running formations,’ it took a little bit for them to buy in. But once they started seeing the success of it, I think they bought into it, and now, all of a sudden, they’re like, ‘let’s do this, coach, let’s do that.’ I won’t say they forgot about the passing game, but it’s not as a priority as it used to be in the past.”

Junior Wyatt Vanlandingham is next with 597 yards on 85 carries through nine games (7.0 yards per carry).

The Tigers will travel to No. 4 seed Taylor County (Perry) (9-1) this Friday night. The winner will play either No. 5 seed Pahokee or No. 12 seed Fort Meade in the region finals on Nov. 21.

Win or lose, the excitement is back for Trenton football.

“The community supports Trenton, unbelievably,” Frye said. “You see all the sponsors on the fence to meal sponsors. They all want to participate. They all want to be part of it. When I went to school, the whole town kind of shut down, whether you had a kid or you didn’t, and I think over the last couple years, you didn’t have that. And you can kind of see that coming back with the chairs in the end zone, and it motivates these kids a little bit because they say, ‘Hey, we are getting support from the community,’ and I told them that it’s there. We’ve just got to get them there and give them a reason to come.”