Owls clinch playoffs with huge win

TRINITY - The Anderson-Shiro Fighting Owls bullied their way into the 3A-Div. 2 playoffs Thursday, Nov. 3 with a big 44-6 win over the Trinity Tigers.  

Fear of inclement weather moved the game up a day from Friday to Thursday, but Trinity wasn’t exempt from the storm. The Owls wasted no time scoring on their first possession.  Junior running back Jarvis Haynes ignited the offense with his first touchdown on a run up the middle. The Owls repeated the success of the first drive 3 minutes later with Haynes scoring his second rushing touchdown. Quarterback Connor Daley contributed to the first-quarter scoring when he punched it in on a run off the right side. By the end of the first, the Owls were flying high with an 18-point lead.  

Trinity put together a nice drive in the second quarter leading to their only points of the game.  The Owls responded 2 minutes later with another Daley rushing touchdown that pushed their halftime lead out to 24-6. 

Haynes scored three more touchdowns in the second half to seal the big win. The final run and score may have been the junior’s best of the year. He hurdled a defender at the 10-yard line to coast into the endzone.  He finished the night with an impressive five touchdowns and 139 yards rushing on 13 carries. He also had 39 receiving yards. Daley passed for 149 yards and rushed for 135 yards on 12 carries and two rushing touchdowns.

The offensive onslaught was possible thanks to another stingy performance by the defense. On the night Trinity had less than 125 yards total offense and only scored once. Junior Will Lee accounted for seven tackles, a tackle for loss, and two sacks. Senior defensive back Brant Werner and linebacker Travis Anderson also led the defensive charge. Brayden Adair, Jacob Borski, Jordan Coronado and Andre Nguyen were also cited by the coaching staff for making great contributions on both sides of the ball all night.  

After the game, a very happy Coach Bradley Hodges talked about the win, “Tonight was a culmination of months of hard work. We did not like how things ended last year. These kids bought in all year. A lot of people did not believe in them. They fed off that, it fueled their fire.  They worked hard all year. Tonight, was all about finishing and accomplishing the goal of making it back to the playoffs.” The Owls did just that Thursday night. 

This week, they will face Daingerfield in round one of the 3A-Division 2 playoffs on Thursday, Nov. 10, at the historic Tomato Bowl Stadium in Jacksonville. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. As always, if you cannot make it to the game, follow along Thursday night at the “EXAMINER SPORTS” Facebook page for updates, videos and commentary.