Trinity Christian, led by senior quarterback and Florida Atlantic commit
Shedeur Sanders, son of offensive coordinator Deion Sanders, had leads of 14-7 at halftime and 26-20 with five minutes to go, but could not hold on against the defending MAIS 6A state champions.
Trinity Christian, which went 39-2 the last three seasons with Sanders at quarterback, left TAPPS during the spring and is now an independent program. TAPPS and University Interscholastic League 5A and 6A schools in Texas don't open their football seasons until Sept. 24.
Sanders got the game rolling with a 10-yard touchdown run in the first quarter and added a TD pass to
Kavion Williams in the third quarter to go up 20-7.
MRA quarterback Zach Beasley responded all night long, throwing three touchdown passes to lift the state's 15th-ranked team to the victory.
The Tigers, who were No. 12 in the MaxPreps preseason Texas computer-generated rankings, will play largely a national 2020 schedule, including another road game Saturday at
Knoxville Catholic (Knoxville, Tenn.).
Madison-Ridgeland Academy travels to
Copiah Academy (Gallman, Miss.) on Friday.
Shedeur Sanders led Trinity Christian to a 39-2 record and three TAPPS state titles from 2017-19.
File photo by Kyle Dantzler
