Trinity eyes big prize
Saturday, October 19, 2002
BY ROD FRISCO
Of The Patriot-News
The goals are beginning to fall like Oregon hardwoods for Trinity football.
Goal No. 1 to hit the deck: Playoffs. The Shamrocks are in the District 3-AA postseason party for just the second time in school history and the first time since that initial appearance in 1995.
But Goal No. 2, while tantalizingly close, is still not in the Shamrocks' hands: the Mid-Penn Conference Liberty Division title.
And if you listen to the Shamrocks after last night's casual 32-8 triumph over Scotland, that is really Job One over in Shiremanstown this season.
"Playoffs are nice, and it's great to be in the playoffs," said Trinity head coach Jeff Boger.
"But we've been in the playoffs before," said Boger. "And we've never won this league. That's what we want to accomplish more than anything."
Well, it would seem that at 8-0 overall and 6-0 in the division, Trinity is hardly short on accomplishments this year. Last night was yet another example in what is rapidly becoming a historic season for the Shamrocks.
Scotland (5-3 overall, 3-3 league) has a very active, very difficult defense to attack. And early in the game, it gave the Shamrocks some genuine problems.
But Trinity has no ordinary offense. On the game's first series at Competition Of Brotherly Opposition Field -- you know it as COBO Field -- Trinity was ragged and mildly confused.
But not for long: On the game's third play, Trinity quarterback Chris Crane found Rob Lutz cruising behind the Scotland secondary and got in the vicinity for a 45-yard play.
The Shamrocks suddenly sprang to life, and fullback Scott Jocken carried on consecutive plays for 11 and 13 yards, the latter a touchdown.
That was big. Trinity never did find a groove against Scotland, but the early lead forced the Cadets to start looking for some abnormal answers.
The Cadets threw more than usual. And they fumbled more than usual, too.
Six first-half fumbles and seven for the game (two lost) kept interrupting the things Scotland kept trying to do. But the Trinity defense was even worse, from the Cadets' point of view.
The Shamrocks turned Scotland's running game to mush, for the most part. Scotland rushed for just 77 net yards, its second lowest total of the season.
And even when the Cadets finally got 270-pound fullback Angelo Washington cranked up a bit on the first series of the second half, Trinity had the answer for him, too.
Shown exactly how to do it by Trinity defensive tackle Will Healy, the Shamrocks started nailing Washington around the ankles.
"It scared us a little [when Washington started running hard]," said Healy. "But we just had to find a way to get him down to the ground."
With Scotland's offense neutered, Trinity gradually claimed control of the game.
The Shamrocks scored twice in the second quarter on Rob Lutz's 21-yard sweep and a neat little 9-yard pass from Lutz, throwing back to Crane for a 19-0 halftime lead.
Trinity's lone possession of the third quarter also resulted in a touchdown, a 7-yard pop by Jocken, who rushed 12 times for 85 yards.
"He's worked hard for us all year, and he deserved those carries," said Boger.
Scotland received its lone score defensively when Crane made a rare mistake and sent an option pitch toward his own goal line. Jarmal Ruffin scooped it up on the 25 for an easy score.
But Trinity was back in the end zone just one play after Jonathan Smith's 46-yard kickoff return when Lutz cut up another sweep for a 25-yard score.