| With the nation’s top pass defense (Trinity) and the nation’s 24th-ranked offense (Millsaps), something had to give at Harper Davis Field in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship on Saturday afternoon.
After a 31-year drought, Millsaps (7-3, 6-0 SCAC) is on its way to the Division III playoffs after a 34-12 trouncing over the 14th ranked Trinity Tigers – winners of 13 straight conference championships.
From the pre-game senior recognition, to the Hall of Fame inductees, to the playing of God Bless America, to the Invocation and to the singing of the National Anthem, it was all Millsaps Majors football.
Millsaps was not fazed by the No. 14 Trinity University Tigers (8-2, 5-1 SCAC), dropping 21 points on the reigning champs in the first quarter alone thanks in part to two Juan Joseph touchdown strikes to Burt Pereira and Chris Jackson and an electrifying 67 yard punt return by Jackson.
The senior transfer from Phenix City, Ala., put on a show on Saturday afternoon, racking up 225 yards of total offense, including two punt returns for a touchdown (51, 67 yards) and one receiving touchdown. The senior sets a new school-record for punt return yards (150) and punt returns for a TD (two) in a single-game.
With the game clock reading 1:03 before halftime and the Majors holding a comfortable 27-0 lead, Trinity finally put its first points of the game on the scoreboard when Jacob Cannon connected with Riley Curry from seven yards out. The touchdown capped off an 11 play, 67 yard drive that spanned only 1:48.
The point after attempt from Peter Lizalci sailed wide and Millsaps took a 27-6 lead into the half.
Although the Majors were in great position on the scoreboard, the momentum felt like it might have been moving in the direction of Trinity to close out the half and to begin the second half.
After an Anthony Hicks 19 yard return set up the Tigers at their own 30 yardline on the second half kickoff, Trinity proceeded to cover 45 yards in seven plays down to the Millsaps 25. Cannon completed 5-of-6 passes and Matt Moorefield picked up 18 yards on the ground, before the Majors stuffed Trinity on a fourth-and-five to deny the Tigers a scoring opportunity.
The game went scoreless through the third and midway through the fourth until Ronnie Wheat returned his second interception for a touchdown in as many weeks, picking off the Cannon delivery and scampering 73 yards untouched for the score.
With the game already decided and the Millsaps faithful ready to celebrate, Trinity calmly put together its best scoring drive of the afternoon, driving 81 yards in 11 plays over a 2:31 span that cut the Majors lead to 34-12 with a little over 5 minutes remaining in the game.
After an unsuccessful onside kick from the Tigers and two drives that ended quickly on a Michael Sims interception and a Joey Doxey fumble recovery, the reign of 13-straight conference championships and nine-straight playoff appearances was suddenly over.
The final buzzer sounded and the students came pouring over the fence located in the south endzone, storming the field to congratulate the players and take down the goalpost in the north endzone, while Queen’s “We are the Champions” was blaring from the stadium speakers.
When the fireworks ended and the confetti cleared, Millsaps had put up 34 points on the nation’s ninth-ranked defense (9.2 ppg) and 168 passing yards on the nation’s top ranked pass defense (62.8 ypg).
A week after tying Beau Pollard’s record of touchdown passes in a single-season with 19 and coming 24 yards shy of tying the record for total yardage in a season (2,147), Joseph added his name to the school-record books once again, completing 18-of-31 passes for 142 yards and two TDs while connecting with seven different receivers. The sophomore now has 21 TDs to go along with his 2,265 yards.
Jackson, Pereira, Josh Hanna, Kenneth Metzger and Eric McCarty each caught multiple balls, while Donnie Epps, Neil Woodall and Kennedy Griffin each chipped in with one.
Metzger had a solid game on the ground as well, carrying the ball 21 times for 65 yards (3.1 avg.) after starting running back Tyson Roy was sidelined due to injury. Roy had three carries for 46 yards before being caught from behind by Trinity’s David Morgan late in the first quarter.
The defense was dominant as usual, picking up a combined 13 pass breakups, seven tackles-for-loss, four interceptions, three sacks and one fumble recovery, while holding the Tigers to a dismal 12 points.
Senior defensive back Kirk Jackson and junior defensive tackle Casey Younger each picked up a team-high eight tackles, while Wheat, Lee Klein, Marcus Harris and Canaan Farris each tallied six or more.
With the four interceptions on Saturday, Millsaps moves into first place in the SCAC in total interceptions on the season with 18, one better than Trinity’s season total of 17. Wheat’s 73 yard interception return marks the fifth time this season a defender has taken a ball to the house, also a conference best.
For the visiting Tigers, Cannon completed 33-of-58 passes for 313 yards, two TDs and four INTs, with Curry (10 catches, 88 yards, TD) and Matthew Weldon (nine catches, 71 yards, TD) leading the way for the receiving core.
Defensively for Trinity, Patrick Hayes, the senior defensive back from Round Rock, Texas, led the team with 12 tackles, while Lee Patterson (nine) and Tyler Flynn (seven) rounded out the top three.
Millsaps will play its first playoff game since 1975 on Saturday, Nov. 18, traveling to Pittsburgh, Pa., to face off with the 10-0 Carnegie Mellon University Tartans in Round 1 of the Division III playoffs. Game time is slated for a 1 p.m. ET kickoff and is subject to change.
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