The quest for a breakout season begins

By Scott Womack
TCNS correspondent

TRINITY — With the 2024 Texas High School Football Season rapidly approaching, the Trinity Tigers are preparing to take the field under the Friday Night Lights

On Friday, the Tigers hosted the Top 10-ranked Lovelady Lions in the first of two organized scrimmages prior to the beginning of non-district play. 

In what is basically considered a full-speed practice, with each team getting a set amount of offensive and defensive plays followed by one quarter of live football, the Lions and Tigers embraced the opportunity to compete against a different team. 

The Lions took their first set of offensive plays first and attacked quickly completing a 75-yard pass for a quick score. The Lions remained on offense and took 9 plays to march down the field, but on a fourth-down play, the Tiger defense caused a fumble out of bounds. Due to the rules of scrimmage play, the Lions retained possession and scored on the final play of their offensive reps taking a two score lead.

The Tiger offense started sluggish, but a 57-yard run by quarterback Turbo Maxey set the Tigers up at the Lion 20-yard line, after a 3-yard loss on the following play, Maxey found Aden Dubose in the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown pass. 

The Lions and Tigers second team offenses were unable to score on their allotted plays and on the final set of 8 plays for each team the Lions were able to combine long pass plays and running plays to add another score to their tally. The Tiger offense was unable to sustain a drive to score on their eight plays. 

With the controlled portion of the scrimmage concluded, the teams played one 12-minute timed quarter in game-like conditions, with the exception of special teams play. The Tigers took the ball first and were unable to make a first down so a simulated 30-yard punt gave the Lions the ball at their 42-yard line. A 41-yard run set the Lions up at the Tiger 18-yard line and 4 plays later were able to punch the ball into the end zone from the 1-yard line. 

Neither team was able to effectively move the ball during the remainder of the quarter and the Lions left the scrimmage with a 4-touchdown-to-1 advantage over the Tigers. 

The Tiger coaching staff commended the team on its effort and showed where improvements have been made and what areas are still in need of work. The Tigers will travel to Centerville Thursday night to scrimmage the Centerville Tigers in the final intersquad practice before hosting Hull-Daisetta on Aug. 30 at Tiger Stadium.