Trenton pulls away from Maysville with strong second half, staying in GRC first-place tie with Polo, Gallatin

The Trenton Bulldogs went into halftime of Friday night’s Senior Night affair with Maysville having lost momentum, with the Wolverines tying the game at 8, while MHS boasted vastly superior field position and red zone opportunities compared to the Bulldogs.

After falling to Polo in a key mid-season Grand River Conference game the prior week, Trenton showed no interest in seeing its losing streak hit two, as the Bulldogs showed vigor and fight in dominating the second half, outscoring Maysville 26-0 for a 34-8 win at C.F. Russell Stadium, improving to 4-3 on the season, and 4-1 in the GRC, good for a first-place tie with Polo and Gallatin.  The win also pushed Trenton back into the #2 seed in Class 2, District 7, behind only powerhouse Maryville with a razor-thin lead over Palmyra, Brookfield, and Macon.

While junior fullback Sam Gibson continues to be one of the best overall runners in the GRC, sophomore Gabe Novak, receiving about half of the number of carries as Gibson, is blossoming into a “big-play” back for the Bulldogs, opening the scoring on Friday night on Trenton’s first play of the second quarter.  Tom Johnson had the play-by-play call on Hot Country Z 101.7: 

Maysville had a potential opportunity to tie the game eliminated on goal-line fumble midway through the second quarter, but, undaunted by that disappointment, the Wolverines got the football back, and with a Kaleb Jestes to Jacob Uthe connection of 21 yards, and a two-point pass between the same duo with 10 seconds to go in the half, Maysville knotted up Trenton 8-8.

Novak made a return to the end zone with 10:38 remaining in the third quarter, pushing Trenton’s lead to 15-8, as Gibson made the point after attempt:

While Trenton’s use of Gibson has been consistent and strong during GRC play, buoyed by the emergence of Novak over the past three games, the Bulldogs have struggled to get the jet sweep play to Ian Elbert to work with consistency, as defensive lines have used constant penetration to thwart that Trenton offensive staple.  However, that trend began to show a change with 6:24 remaining in the third quarter: 

The extra-point kick by Gibson missed, leaving Trenton’s lead at 21-8.  Maysville, on the ensuing drive, pushed the ball out to the 40-yard line, but faced 4th-and-2, needing a spark to regain momentum lost since halftime.  The Wolverines chose the fake punt route which did not surprise the Bulldogs.  A special teams touchdown was the result: 

The made PAT by Gibson made the score 28-8, with Trenton taking the lead to the 5 minute remaining mark in the final quarter.  In a rarity in Kevin Hixson’s offense, the Bulldogs went to a short pass to attempt to get that aspect of the offense going.  The call and execution worked to perfection: 

The Bulldogs, in comparison to the previous week’s loss to Polo, played much cleaner football this week, with only three penalties for 26 yards, and one fumble lost, that coming with 6:49 remaining in the final quarter.

Novak had eight carries to lead the Bulldogs, rushing for an unofficial 143 yards, with the Wolverines interior run defense doing good work against Gibson, with the Bulldog junior going 18 carries for 76 yards, numbers well below his seasonal averages.

With Trenton moving to 4-1 in conference play, Gallatin and Polo joined THS atop the GRC standings with two weeks to play in the regular season, as the Bulldogs won at Putnam County 38-6 and the Panthers won at Princeton 41-18.  Falling out of the first-place tie with a 28-7 road loss at Milan were the South Harrison Bulldogs, in action heard on KTTN FM 92.3.

Milan head coach John Dabney spoke about the Wildcats victory on the Friday night Locker Room Show: 

The PAR Broadcast Group will be your home for the biggest games of the week on Friday night, October 15th, as Trenton travels to Gallatin for a “Battle of the Bulldogs” at 7 o’clock, with each team holding a share of first place in the conference.  Polo will host the Milan Wildcats at 7 o’clock on KTTN FM 92.3.

Here is the high school football scoreboard for Friday, October 8, 2021: 

Milan 28, South Harrison 7

Trenton 34, Maysville 8 

Gallatin 38, Putnam County 6

Polo 41, Princeton 18 

Penney 57, Plattsburg 14

West Platte 54, North Platte 14

Lathrop 8, Lawson 0 

Mid-Buchanan 28, East Buchanan 21

Chillicothe 19, Savannah 13

St. Pius X 63, Benton 7

Lincoln Prep 27, Maryville 26

Lafayette 32, Cameron 10 

Monroe City 58, Macon 38 

Highland 24, Palmyra 20 

Centralia 38, South Shelby 32

Brookfield 40, Clark County 8 

Marceline 49, Salisbury 24

Fayette 42, Harrisburg 26

Scotland County 54, Miller 0 

Sweet Springs 14, Westran 12

Russelville 34, Paris 28

Lexington 42, Carrollton 0 

Richmond 38, Holden 2

Lafayette County 75, Knob Noster 6

8-Man:

North Shelby 14, Stanberry 13

North Andrew 66, Albany 40 

Worth County 92, Pattonsburg 6

St. Mary’s Academy 49, St. Joseph Christian 16

King City 64, Schuyler County 0 

Platte Valley 66, DeKalb 16

East Atchison 13, Stewartsville-Osborn 0 

Orrick 80, NHC 34

Bishop LeBlond 40, Nodaway Valley 20 

South Holt 24, Mound City 20 

Rock Port 68, Southwest Livingston 14

Concordia 68, Braymer 56

Northwest (Hughesville) 64, Santa Fe 16

Photo credit – Trenton High School / Faccbook / Trenton, MO