Trinity (Ky.) survives first-half scare from Brentwood Academy

For one half, Trinity (Louisville, Ky.) High School's football team - No. 1 in the MaxPreps computer-generated Freeman rankings and No. 12 in the Xcellent 25 human rankings - looked vulnerable. 

But three quick touchdowns in the third quarter - one by highly-touted wide receiver James Quick - put host Trinity back in control during a 52-23 season-opening win Friday over a talented Brentwood Academy (Brentwood, Tenn.) squad.

The Rocks scored the final 35 points of the game.

A wild first half ended on a 16-yard pass from Travis Wright to Reggie Bonnafon, giving Trinity a 24-23 with 21.3 seconds remaining in the second quarter.



The Rocks' defense then took over and Brentwood's special teams faltered. A short punt led to a short touchdown drive, capped with an 8-yard touchdown run by Dalyn Dawkins, making it 31-23 with 9:50 left in the third.

Wright, who was brilliant all night, hit Quick for a 45-yard touchdown bomb making it 38-23 before another short punt - this one of six yards - led to a 9-yard scoring drive and a 3-yard TD run by Donald Brooks at the end of the third quarter. That made it 45-23.

Quick is the No. 44 overall recruit in the country from the class of 2013.

Trinity returned 10 starters from last year's 14-0 team that finished No. 2 in the Xcellent 25. Brentwood, led by USC-bound recruit Jalen Ramsey, finished 9-3 last season and returned 13 starters.

The Rocks opened the scoring on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Wright to Cody Swabek with 10:04 minutes to go in the first quarter.

Brentwood closed to 7-6 on 20-yard touchdown pass from Florida-bound Max Staver, but missed a two-point conversion try.



Trinity increased its lead to 14-6 with 3:13 left in the first when Jason Hatcher blocked a punt and returned it 6 yards for a score.

The game of big plays continued as Brentwood's D'montre Wade busted off a 79-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 14-13 with 2:42 left in the first.

Brentwood took its first lead 16-14 on a 31-yard field just before the end of the first quarter. Trinity answered with a long drive but couldn't convert first-and-goal at the 8 and had to settle for an 18-yard field goal by Drew Ward to go up 17-16.

Ramsey gave Brentwood Academy a 23-17 lead on a 69-yard catch and run from quarterback Staver with 9:06 left in the half. But from that point, it was all Trinity.

Information from Quixcore reporter Clifton Roth and various Twitter feeds accounted for this report.