Bulldogs’ season ends with loss to Conquerors

Published 12:36 am Saturday, November 10, 2018

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Football powerhouse Trinity Christian Academy ended Suwannee’s season on Friday. 

The Conquerors, seeded first in Class 5A-Region 1, landed an early knockout blow with 42 points in the second quarter. They rolled to a 62-15 victory against the eighth-seeded Bulldogs in the first round of the playoffs.

Trinity Christian 62, Suwannee 15

FIRST QUARTER

TCA — Isiah Washington 80 kickoff return

TCA — Marcus Crowley 97 run

TCA — Crowley 3 run

SECOND QUARTER

SHS — Taylor 1 run

TCA — Malik Myers 4 pass from Jacory Jordan

TCA — Steven Williams 57 interception return 

TCA — George Hawkins 32 fumble return

TCA — Treyaun Webb 5 run

TCA — Jonathan Ealy 74 run

TCA — Williams 48 interception return 

THIRD QUARTER

SHS — Carlton Hall 3 run

 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS 

PASSING — Taylor 12-21-109

RUSHING — Hall 14-57, 1 touchdown, Taylor 10-32, 1 touchdown, Moore 3-5, Robinson 4-9

RECEIVING — Jaquez Moore 3-29, Hall 3-27, Jaquary Pratt 3-17, Antonio White 2-17, Jarrett Gardner 1-19

Suwannee trailed by just two scores early in the second quarter, but the Bulldogs committed three consecutive turnovers on three straight plays and the rout was on. 

Trinity Christian’s Steven Williams had two interception returns for touchdowns that completely sunk Suwannee.   

“It just snowballed,” said Bulldogs coach Kyler Hall. “Wish we could have sent the seniors off a little better.

“I hate the way it ended, but I’m extremely proud of the seniors. I told them ‘it didn’t end how we wanted, but they got us back in the playoffs where we need to be.’ Now it’s time for these underclassmen to continue to make it better.”

The Bulldogs showed some promise with a long touchdown drive that began in the middle of the first quarter and finished at the start of the second quarter. They went 66 yards on 13 plays and milked almost six minutes off the clock, which was the plan going against a powerful TCA offense.

Tyree Taylor competed four long passes on the drive, connecting with Carlton Hall, Jaquez Moore, Antonio White and Jaquary Pratt. Taylor got the Bulldogs into the end zone on a 1-yard quarterback sneak on third down. The touchdown cut the deficit to 20-7.

But Trinity Christian (11-1) took over from there.

TCA running back Marcus Crowley finished with 123 yards rushing on four carries in one half of play, which included a 97-yard touchdown run. 

For the Bulldogs, Hall ran for 57 yards and a touchdown on 14 totes. The senior back, playing in his final high school game after starting the past three years, went down with a neck injury in the second quarter. But he recovered and ran for 48 yards yards in the second half. 

Suwannee ended the season with a 6-5 record and broke a two-year playoff absence.  

“If you look at it, we lost to Columbia, Trinity Christian, Madison County — three potential state champions this year,” said Kyler Hall. “Our guys kept responding after we had a tough loss. If we hadn’t responded just one time, we don’t get in the playoffs.”