Trinity football rides momentum to win over Lebanon in D3 championship game (video)

DURHAM – Momentum was on the Trinity High School football team’s side from the opening kickoff throughout the first half on Sunday’s Division III championship game.

Fortunately for the Pioneers, they were able to hold on to it for at least one more play in the second half.

After No. 1 Lebanon opened the second half with a touchdown to make it a one-score game, No. 2 Trinity wasted little time going back up by two touchdowns. On the Pioneers first play from scrimmage, John Thibault got outside, made one defender miss and raced to the end zone for a 68-yard touchdown run.

Lebanon answered with another scoring drive, but Trinity’s defense was able to get the job done in the fourth quarter to help lead the Pioneers to a 28-21 victory at Wildcat Stadium at the University of New Hampshire. It’s Trinity’s first title since 2011 and the Pioneers become the first program in the state to win a championship in four different divisions.

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The championship also comes just two years after the Pioneers (11-1) dropped their varsity schedule due to a low number of upperclassmen.

“We’ve got a lot of seniors that have been with us that came when I first came to the program,” Trinity coach Rob Cathcart said. “A couple of years ago, we had to play a JV schedule because we didn’t have any upperclassmen. It’s a group that had to take a step back to take a couple of steps forward, so for them to be able to come full circle and win a championship is awesome.”

Thibault led Trinity with 117 yards rushing and two touchdowns and the senior also had 11 tackles, including a sack, on defense. Younger brother James Thibault added 42 yards rushing and a score to go with a game-high 14 tackles, as the Pioneers held Lebanon (10-2) to just 20 yards over the Raiders’ final three possessions.

While Lebanon’s Wade Rainey had 122 yards rushing and a touchdown, and caught a 20-yard touchdown pass, Trinity was able to keep Raiders quarterback Jon Willeman in check on the ground. The senior had 38 yards rushing and was 3 of 10 for 49 yards and three interceptions.

“We didn’t rush (Willeman) too hard,” John Thibault said. “We kind of gave him a little bit of space, but we kept our edge, and didn’t let him get outside as much. We gave him more time and I think that helped us. He’s dangerous on the run.”

Trinity showed how dangerous it could be on the opening kickoff, as Dantre Taylor returned it 70 yards to the Lebanon 17-yard line. But a false start penalty forced the Pioneers to settle for a field goal attempt and Liam McCoy’s kick from 29 yards was wide right.

The kick return helped tilt the field Trinity’s way, and on third down, Peter Alisandro picked off Willeman to give the Pioneers the ball back at Lebanon’s 40. On second down, Alisandro floated a pass to Jacob Brown behind the Raiders’ defense for a 29-yard gain.

Three plays later, on third-and-3, Alisandro kept it for a 5-yard touchdown run and a 6-0 lead for Trinity with 6:20 left in the first quarter.

Lebanon put together a drive on its next possession, keeping the ball for more than five minutes, but turned it over on downs at the Trinity 36. The Pioneers stretched the lead to two touchdowns with an eight-play, 64-yard drive, capped by a 26-yard scoring run by John Thibault, who also ran in the conversion to make it 14-0 with 9:39 remaining in the first half.

“That’s so important,” John Thibault said of getting the lead. “It’s one of the things we’ve been stressing all season. At the beginning of the season, we were starting slow. Teams would get points on us first. Coming out and hitting them hard was one of our main focuses.”

The Raiders got on the board on their next drive, as Willeman connected with Rainey for a 20-yard touchdown on fourth-and-13, cutting the lead to 14-7. It looked like Lebanon’s defense would get a stop, but Alisandro scampered for 11 yards on third-and-10 and a flag for a late hit on the play put Trinity at the Raiders’ 37.

A 30-yard run by Alisandro gave the Pioneers a first-and-goal at the 10, and after John Thibault rushed for seven yards on first down, James Thibault scored to make it 21-7 with 2:36 left in the half and that’s where it stood at the break.

A big kick return to start the second half by Nyeoti Punni gave Lebanon the ball at its own 45, and the Raiders went 55 yards in eight plays, scoring on a 1-yard run by Rainey, who had 50 yards rushing on the drive, to get within one touchdown again.

But Trinity answered right back on its next play, as John Thibault broke a tackle by Rainey in the backfield, got outside and ran for a 68-yard touchdown that made it 28-14 Pioneers just 20 seconds after Lebanon’s score.

“We had a little bit of a cushion,” Cathcart said. “What helped it feel a lot better was them having that long drive and score, and then John immediately answers it with that long touchdown run, that swung the momentum in our favor a little bit. If we don’t have that, we’re probably reeling a little more. That was a huge play.”

Trinity still had the lead when Lebanon again responded with a 55-yard drive, this time needing seven plays and taking up 3:27 before getting a 2-yard scoring run from Philip Mellish with 4:12 remaining in the third quarter.

Lebanon’s defense forced Trinity to go three-and-out on its next two possessions, and a fumble on the second one led to a 4-yard punt by John Thibault that gave the Raiders the ball at their 48. Lebanon converted a fourth-and-4 and third-and-5 to set up first down at the Pioneers’ 22, and it looked like the Raiders picked up another first down when Willeman hit Cole Ames for a 19-yard gain on fourth-and-9.

But Lebanon was called for a hold on the play, pushing the ball back to the 28 to set up fourth-and-26, and Willeman was sacked for an 8-yard loss to turn the ball over on downs.

The Raiders got one more chance after Trinity came up a yard short of a first down on fourth-and-3, but Willeman was picked off by Alisandro again with 1:39 remaining in the game. This time, the Pioneers were able to run out the clock.

“I was following the guy and I saw the ball, my eyes lit up,” Alisandro said. “I came up and got the pick. I wanted to run with it but I fell. That was a scary feeling (giving Lebanon the ball back). I thought they were going to come up and score. We buckled down.”