Varsity Football: Conquerors Fall to Florida High on the Road

TCA Conquerors Football suffered its second loss of the season Friday night as the Conquerors fell to the very powerful Seminoles of Class 3A Florida State University High School in Tallahassee. The Seminoles used both the ground game and the passing game effectively in getting the win by a final score of 31-17.

The Conquerors led at only 1 point: 17-16 midway through the third.

Just 1:21 into the 2nd quarter, Darnell Rogers swept around the left side for a 14-yard touchdown to cap an 8-play, 80-yard drive that started late in the 1st quarter after Florida High scored first. The touchdown was Rogers’s 7th of the season, and Seth Bialek’s extra point tied the score at 7-7.

The Seminoles, though, answered that touchdown with a 12-play, 72-yard drive to regain the lead with 4:51 remaining until halftime. The extra-point failed, and FSU High led 13-7.

The teams traded field goals in the final minute of the 2nd quarter. Trinity drove 49 yards to the Florida High 11 and looked primed to take the lead. A big 2nd-down sack, however, and a 1-yard gain set up 4th and 16 at the 21. Bialek kicked a 38-yard field goal that pulled the Conquerors to within 3 at 13-10 with only 20 seconds left on the clock.

The Seminoles, though, got a big kickoff return by Rhyder Poppel to their own 43, a 15-yard penalty added onto the return, and a 14-yard pass to the Trinity 28 – all within 16 seconds. Brooks Hickman then hit a 31-yard field goal as time expired to give the Seminoles a 16-10 lead at the break.

Trinity claimed its only lead of the night at the 6:10 mark of the 3rd quarter. Colin Hurley’s 36-yard touchdown pass to Fred Highsmith finished off 6-play, 79-yard drive. Bialek’s PAT made the score 17-16, but that is all Trinity would put on the board. The touchdown was Highsmith’s 10th of the season.

Florida High scored 2 more touchdowns on a 40-yard pass from Auburn commit Tre Donaldson to receiver Kesean Inman late in the 3rd and Machai Danzy’s 5-yard run less than a minute into the 4th. The Seminoles’ defense held Trinity to only 19 yards on the final 2 TCA possessions that followed.

Florida High’s first score came on Donaldson’s 57-yard scamper down the left sideline with 3:06 remaining in the 1st quarter.

Treyuan Webb led Trinity with 70 yards rushing on 10 carries, and Rogers rushed 9 times for 49 yards and a touchdown. Hurley was 9 for 14 for 100 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions. Highsmith caught 6 passes for 80 yards and a score.

Leaders for the Seminoles included Donaldson at 15 for 18, 163 yards, 2 TD’s, and 1 INT passing and 100 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries rushing. Eight receivers caught passes totaling 163 yards; Inman and Taylor Gilley each caught a TD pass from Donaldson.

The Conquerors (6-2) will host Jacksonville’s Riverside High School (6-1) on Homecoming night: Friday, October 22. After a bye-week on October 29, Trinity will finish the regular season back in Tallahassee at Lincoln High School (5-2) on Thursday, November 4.

The playoffs begin on Friday, November 12.

Raymond Bureau | October, 2021

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