NATCHEZ — As the Trinity Episcopal football players and coaches walked off Harper Davis Field on the Millsaps College campus Friday afternoon, they felt a sense of accomplishment that comes with the completion of a goal.

That goal was to win a state championship, and the Saints did just that with a 37-7 victory over DeSoto School (Ark.) in the MAIS Class A championship game.

Trinity players and coaches set that goal back in the spring and put lots of work into it all throughout the summer in order to accomplish it.

“The first day of spring we started working,” senior running back R.J. Fleming said. “We felt like we could be here. Finishing the deal was the main thing. All of the hard times we came through, times in the weight room and all the hot days was definitely worth it.”

The state championship game was a bit of a microcosm of the Saints season.

Trinity started off strong, went through a little bit of a lull in the middle before putting their foot down and crushing their opponent in the end.

Trinity jumped out to a 6-0 start to their season and jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the state title game.

In the regular season, the Saints suffered a three-game losing streak in the middle of the season, and in the title game, DeSoto scored right before halftime to cut the lead to 14-7.

But, just like in the season, when Trinity recovered to win their final six games, the Saints came out of halftime on fire, outscoring DeSoto 23-0 in the second half to take the victory and the state championship.

Trinity head coach David King said the three-game losing streak tested his team, but in the end it made them stronger.

“We had that three-game losing streak that tested us, but the night after the Centreville loss, we got together and made a vow that we weren’t going to taste that feeling again,” King said. “They stepped up and didn’t lose again the rest of the way.”

The championship is even sweeter for the six seniors on the Trinity roster, as Fleming, Brandon Daggs, Chas Moroney, Matthew Rymer, Deacon Newman and Jordan Dossett, who end their high school football careers with two state championships.

“For those seniors, this is their day,” King said. “They led this team throughout the season.”