NATCHEZ — When most people think of Trinity, they think of high flying, high-scoring offensive football.

But on a chilly Friday night in the first round of the MSPA Class AA playoffs, it was old school smash mouth football that put Trinity over the top.

The Trinity defense dominated and the offense did enough to give the Saints a 17-7 victory over Simpson Academy.

“The defense was outstanding,” Trinity coach David King said. “Coach (Matt) Mason and the coaches do an outstanding job of having these guys prepared. We were physical and that’s what we preached all week. It was going to take physical play to win this game and that’s exactly what we got tonight.”

Trinity’s defense allowed only four first downs and held the powerful Simpson rushing attack to just 139 yards, with 73 of those yards coming on one play late in the fourth quarter with the game already in hand.

The Saints didn’t do that much on offense themselves, but did have two long pass plays that were the difference.

The first one came on a third and 13 late in the first quarter.

Quarterback Givonni Dent threw long to a streaking Wells Middleton down the near sideline for a 65-yard touchdown pass that put Trinity up 7-0 following Chas Moroney’s extra point.

That score held until late in the third quarter, when the two hooked up again, this time on a 34-yard pass play on third and eight.

“We had some guys banged up who weren’t able to make some plays, so we went to steady old Wells, who makes plays every game,” King said. “We were able to get him one-on-one with the defender for some big plays that put some points on the scoreboard.”

And the defense made sure those two big plays would stand up.

Linebacker Jordan Dossett thwarted an early Simpson scoring drive when he intercepted quarterback Kyle Munn at the 5-yard line midway through the first quarter.

It was the same play Dossett was burned on three plays before, when Munn hit Cade Eiland on a wheel route out of the backfield for 52 yards.

The play would have gone for a touchdown except Eiland fumbled the ball with no one close to him at the 25.

Simpson recovered the fumble but Dossett made up for his previous mistake with the pick three plays later.

“They had already run that play once and it was my fault he caught the ball,” Dossett said. “(The interception) was my job, and I just did what I was supposed to do.”

Dossett added another pick in the second half on a deflected pass.

“That was just plain reflex right there,” Dossett said.

“We always throw the football around (at practice) trying to catch it with one hand. It came in use tonight.”

Trinity went up 17-0 with just over two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter when Moroney nailed a 31-yard field goal after Simpson fumbled a punt at the 12-yard line.

The Cougars spoiled the shutout with 1:36 remaining when Munn broke several tackles and raced down the sideline for a 73-yard score.

But Trinity recovered the onside kick and iced the game.

The Saints will host Oak Forest next Friday in the second round of the playoffs.

The Yellow Jackets upset Central Private 28-22 in overtime Friday night.

It’s the second consecutive year the Saints have hosted the Jackets in the second round. Trinity defeated Oak Forest 35-12 last year.

“We’re excited to host another round in the playoffs,” King said. “I don’t think anybody had us figured in the top four of the south with all the guys we lost last year.

“But we had a great spring and summer, and we’re back here again.”