After five losses to teams ranked in the top 50 of the FHSAA’s most recent rankings, Trinity Catholic head coach John Brantley indicated that their 2-6 record wasn’t indicative of how good his team is.
They proved just that as the Celtics on Thursday night dominated P.K. Yonge 49-8 to claim their second-straight 1S District 3 title.
“It’s been tough. I’m not used to losing,” Brantley said. “I challenged our kids, challenged our coaches. When we got back into our classification, we seem to have a little more success, and that’s the plan.”
Junior quarterback Preston Wright threw four touchdowns in the first half including two to Davon Jones in the first quarter. Wright was named the Sonic Drive-In Player of the Game for his performance.
Running back Jamarkus Starkes added two touchdown rushes in the second quarter, and Wright threw touchdowns to Caiden Buchs and Ace Means. Kicker Cooper Badics went 6-for-6 on his extra point attempts, too, giving the Celtics a 42-0 lead with under a minute left in the first half. Trinity Christian’s Courtney Patterson added a 49-yard pick-6 to end the first half.
Defensively, the Celtics stifled the Blue Wave offensive attack.
“(The defense) has been playing well all year,” Brantley said. “They’ve had their ups and downs, mostly ups. They’ve played seven, eight quarters of shutout football.”
The Blue Wave (3-6) did find offensive success late in the second half as they held the ball for the entirety of the third quarter and most of the fourth due to the running clock. Lawrence Wright IV hit Devin Johnson for a 50-yard touchdown, and his two-point conversion made the score 49-8 with under seven minutes left.
P.K. Yonge will host Keystone Heights at 7 p.m. to conclude the regular season next Friday.
Meanwhile, Trinity Catholic’s gauntlet of a schedule continues next week with a matchup against Buchholz before heading into postseason play. That game will be carried on 106.9 FM “I am Country” beginning at 6:30 p.m.
“My team has seen everything they can possibly see over the course of a high school football season,” Brantley said. “So when you get to the playoffs, there should be no surprises wherever we go or whoever we play.”