Trinity Episcopal head football coach Graham Roberts called the first annual Back the Blue Line game a success, and his team replicated that success in a 44-35 win over Amite School Center Friday night.
The pre-game ceremony began with a parade of law enforcement vehicles driving around the field, and a drone delivered the game ball.
After the parade of police officers, a parade of Saints ensued to the tune of 433 total yards and five touchdowns.
“All these guys warned me four about two week about the feeling you get in The Pit,” Roberts said of his first home game as head coach. “Our guys never lost focused … I think (the game) really meant a lot to (local law enforcement) and I’m glad we could show our support.”
Trinity jumped onto the scoreboard first, on a 25-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Sterling Yarbrough to Dee Fleming at just over the two-minute mark.
ASC wore down the Trinity defense for most of the first on 27 rushes for 182 total yards. The Rebels were averaging over six yards per carry for the first half, and quarterback Davin Booty led the team with 140 yards rushing in the first half.
The Saints’ big-play machine, Kevontaye Caston, never let them down. Down 7-6 in the second quarter, Caston connected with Fleming on a 25-yard pass. Fleming high-pointed the ball on a pass over the middle, and the theme of Caston-to-Fleming for big yardage continued for the entire game.
“We knew the middle was going to be open all day,” Fleming said. “We would check each other at the line of scrimmage, and he’d tell me to go get it.”
There were four scores in the final five minutes of the first half. ASC and Trinity alternated touchdowns, but perhaps the most impressive drive was when the Saints took over with :59 remaining in the half. Trinity was pinned back at its own 38-yard line after several long penalties. Caston exploited the mismatched corner guarding Fleming for a 57-yard pass to set up first-and-goal.
On the following play, Caston was flushed out of the pocket. He rolled to his right, then back toward the hash marks to find a wide open Jarred Simpson in the corner of the end zone with :06 remaining.
Caston started the second half with the same explosiveness. On the first play from scrimmage at his own 40-yard line, the senior quarterback took off on a quarterback draw play and ran 60 yards for the Trinity touchdown.
He would break off another long run approximately eight minutes later for 42 yards and a touchdown.
“When I break away, my mind is just, ‘Get into the end zone,’” Caston said.
ASC continued to pound the ball on the ground to its own demise.
After the fourth quarter, ASC possessed the ball for the entire 12 minutes thanks to an onside kick recovery, but its 14 fourth-quarter points were not enough to overcome the Saints.
Trinity ran just 6 offensive plays in the second half before the kneel down at the end of the game.
Roberts said he was impressed with the conditioning of his defense that was on the field for most of the game.
“I was pretty proud of the way (the defense) stepped up,” Roberts said. “In the first half, (ASC) really had their way, but we kept plugging away.”
Caston racked up 93 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. He also passed for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Yarbrough added 58 passing yards and one touchdown.
Fleming totaled 73 yards receiving with three touchdowns.
Trinity (3-3, 2-0) eyes cross-town rival Cathedral next week.