Varsity Football: Conquerors Shut Out Ribault 37-0
Raymond Bureau | September, 2021
Cam Miller’s fumble recovery on the opening kickoff set up an early touchdown, and the Conquerors never let up in defeating Jacksonville’s Ribault Trojans 37-0 Friday night at Trinity Christian Academy’s first home game of 2021.
After the Trojans dropped the kickoff, Miller recovered the fumble on the Ribault 34, which made it very easy for quarterback Colin Hurley to throw his first touchdown pass as the varsity starter. After an 18-yard pass to senior receiver Darius James and a 5-yard run from Darnell Rogers, Hurley found senior receiver Fred Highsmith open in the back right corner of the end zone for an 11-yard touchdown pass to put the Conquerors on the board.
Hurley and Highsmith repeated their 11-yard scoring play early in the second quarter to cap an 8-play, 74-yard drive that gave Trinity a 13-0 lead.
Hurley continued his stellar performance with a pair of 50+-yard second-half touchdown passes to James, who got his first 2 TD’s as a Conqueror. The duo connected for 56 yards and a score at the 10:15 mark of the third quarter and 54 yards and a touchdown with 6:15 remaining in the game.
That final touchdown to James forced a running clock.
In between Highsmith’s and James’s 2 TD receptions each, Seth Bialek kicked a 37-yard field goal with 9:04 left in the second quarter, and cornerback Keaton Thomas returned an interception 34 yards untouched for a touchdown with 3:49 remaining until halftime.
Showing his versatility, Bialek added 2 extra points as the kicker, caught 2 passes (4 targets) for 27 yards as a receiver, and made a tackle downfield after his own kickoff.
Hurley finished the night with 334 yards and 4 touchdowns through the air on 17 completions in 25 attempts -- without an interception -- for a quarterback rating of 148.0. James totaled 137 yards and 2 TD’s on four receptions, and Highsmith caught 3 passes for 38 yards and 2 scores.
Senior linebacker Thomas Fryer stole 2 possessions from Ribault via an interception and a fumble recovery caused by Tomarion McCray. Linebacker Cameron Anderson led the defense with 13 total tackles, including 3.5 for 11 yards of loss. Sixteen different Conquerors recorded tackles with 11 of them getting at least 2.
Overall, the Conquerors’ defense held Ribault to 133 total yards (54 rushing, 79 passing) while the offense totaled 405.
The Conquerors (2-0) have 2 more home games before hitting the road again. Trinity will host Zarephath Academy (1-0) on September 10 and Clearwater Academy International (2-0) on September 17. Both teams are unclassed freelance opponents. The Conquerors will then travel to 4A Bolles and 6A Columbia in succession.