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Football

Eagles drop opener

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In this past Friday’s season opening football game, the Willow Park Trinity Christian Eagles fell on the road to Fort Worth Temple Christian 28-14.

Temple Christian built a 21-7 halftime lead before the teams exchanged second-half touchdowns. 

Among the highlights for Trinity, senior running back and linebacker Caleb Nelson led the Eagles in rushing and total tackles. Nelson scored TCA's first TD on a 14-yard run in the second quarter.  

Junior Jake Anderson scored on a 12-yard pass from senior Evan Chrane to start the fourth quarter, drawing TCA within seven points.

Freshman punter/placekicker Riley McCraken connected on both extra points, had two punts downed inside the Temple 10-yard line and had two touchbacks on kickoffs.

In all, Temple Christian ran 64 plays to 53 for Trinity and had a 23-16 first downs advantage.

Trinity did win the battle of the flags. The visiting Eagles committed six penalties for 50 yards compared to eight for 55 yards for the host Eagles.

The game was also the Trinity debut for new head coach Bryan Marmion. He had high praise for his young team that closed the deficit to 21-14 in the final stages before Temple scored a sealing TD.

“Considering this was the first high school football game, not just varsity game, for almost half our squad, our coaches could not be prouder of the effort our kids showed. They very easily could have lost heart down 14-0 in the first quarter,” Marmion said. “So, to have a one-score game midway through the fourth let our coaches know more about the character of this squad  and let our players know what they are capable of when tested.    

“In most close games if you change two or three plays, you change the outcome. That was certainly the case in this game. We were able to see some things on video that our kids understand they can fix in the short-term that will have a significant impact on our performance.” 

Trinity Christian is on the road again this week as they travel to Reicher Catholic Friday. The Cougars are coming off a 41-7 loss to Milano to open the season.

On Sept. 9 Trinity will play its first game in their new stadium when they host Dallas Christian Home Educators at 7:30 p.m.

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