Catholic history

CLASS 2A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP: Trinity Christian overtakes Catholic Champagnat to win 9th FHSAA State Championship

By Elizabeth J. Hayes


TALLAHASSEE, Florida – It was the game everyone expected to happen this season from the time the District and Regions were released as part of the FHSAA’s one-year reclassification cycle due to COVID- 19.

And on Thursday night, it happened when Trinity Christian and Champagnat Catholic met at Gene Cox Stadium for the 2021 FHSAA Class 2A State Championship with the Conquerors claiming their ninth overall state championship victory in US history. school with a 41-23 victory over the Lions.

Here are our six takeaways from the game.

TALE OF TWO QUARTERS IN THE FIRST HALF

If you are looking for a scenario, to sum up, the first half of the game in this game is the fact that the 21 points of the first half were scored in the first quarter before the defenses settled down for. check the second shift.

Champagnat Catholic got the show off to a quick start, being only less than two and a half minutes behind when Ennio Yapoor found Kelvin Blount on a 40-yard deep pass to put the Lions in the foreground with a 7-0 lead.

NOTE: In our tweet, the hit was assigned to the wrong player, which was announced by the PA announcer. We noted it in our recap here with the correct receiver that caught the touchdown.

But Trinity Christian was ready for an answer, quickly …

That response was in the name of a 43-yard carryover from Treyaun Webb that would kick off the Conquerors’ unanswered 27-point streak when Webb entered the end zone with 8:22 remaining in the first quarter.

It would be with 3:48 left in the first quarter when first-year quarterback Colin Hurley found Seth Bialek in the end zone to put the Conquerors ahead 14-7 and where they would retain the lead from there for the rest of the game.

In the second quarter, it became a defensive stalemate as the two teams combined for three punters, two turnovers and one downs turn.

Trinity Christian would be credited with a punt, interception and turnover on downs on their three drives in the second quarter while Champagnat Catholic would be forced to kick twice and return the ball to the Conquerors after taking the ball on an interception.

IT WAS THE WEBB AND ROGERS SHOW

Treyaun Webb and Darnell Rogers put on an impressive show with a total of 346 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the night, both rushing for 173 yards each.

Webb finished the night with 22 runs with two touchdowns under his belt while Rogers finished with 17 runs and three touchdowns.

The dominating performance of Webb and Rogers was a key element in the arrival of Trinity Christian head coach Verlon Dorminey to the game, which has been the case throughout the 2021 season.

FRESHMAN QUARTERBACKS BATTLE

No one can remember exactly – or if ever – that a state championship game featured two freshman starting quarterbacks.

With Trinity Christian starting Colin Hurley and Champagnat Catholic with Ennio Yapoor, both quarterbacks had thrown over 2,000 yards at least before the State Championship game.

In the game, Yapoor performed better overall statistically with 21 of 34 passes for 332 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Yapoor also had a rushing touchdown but also missed the ball which luckily didn’t turn into points for the Conquerors.

FOURTH QUARTER MADNESS

The fourth quarter turned into a kind of madness where Darnell Rogers scored his three touchdowns of the night as the Lions scrambled to get back into the game to try and keep hopes for a third straight league breakout. of state. their hands.

On Champagnat’s penultimate touchdown, there was one of the most unusual plays of the night when Yappor called his own number for an 11-yard touchdown to get closer to the Conquerors, but then managed the two point conversion that was initiated. by Marvin Sims to bring the score to 27-15.

In the final three minutes of the game, three touchdowns were scored, including a one-yard touchdown from Rogers with 2:53 left that many people thought would seal the game to make it 34-15 Conquerors.

However, as soon as those points were scored, Champagnat Catholic scored straight away with just 33 seconds behind a Marvin Sims reception 51 yards from Yapoor to bring the score to 34-23.

In the end, though Rogers quickly put any hope of a Catholic Champagnat return out of reach with one final touchdown with 1:51 to go to bring the score to 41-23.

MORRELL AND ANDERSON ON THE WAY TO DEFENSE

Linebackers Caden Morrell and Cameron Anderson once again showed why they are trusted to lead the Conquerors’ defense this season and they showed it in style on Thursday night.

Morrell finished the night with nine total tackles as well as a sack and a half and three tackles for a loss, recovering Champagnat Catholic’s fumble in the second quarter and smashing a huge passing game later in the game.

For Anderson, he led the team in sacks with 2.5 sacks and ended the night with seven total tackles, two and a half tackles for a loss, and also forced a fumble.

LEGACY GROWTH EVEN FURTHER

Verlon Dorminey, who had 300 career wins in the regular season, added to that total tonight, but more importantly, added a ninth state championship to his and the school’s record.

Dorminey, who was the only coach in Trinity Christian’s history to take them to the playoffs, saw this playoffs a little differently than any other before that due to a medical situation during Thanksgiving week that l ‘let the call of play heard from the bedside as his assistant coaches kept the team going.

Dorminey credited offensive coordinator Gerard Ross with getting things done for the Conquerors, in their regional final match against Saint John Paul II (Tallahassee) as well as helping prepare the squad for their semi. State finals against a very tough Orlando Christian Prep, a game that was down 21-9 at one point before coming back in the second half to win.

And for Ross… the team gave him the Gatorade bath instead as a thank you for helping to keep things together when things could have fallen apart.

COACH’S WORD – VERLON DORMINEY



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Elizabeth J. Hayes
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