Blessed Trinity Defeats Marist In Close Match

By Mike Blum

After reaching the Class AAA state championship game last year before losing in excruciating fashion in overtime, the Blessed Trinity Titans seemingly faced an overwhelming task of trying to challenge that achievement after graduating all but a handful of starters.

The Titans will not go undefeated for 14 games as last year’s team did, but with only one game left on their regular season schedule, are one small step from repeating as region champion in a higher classification.

Blessed Trinity closed in a Region 7-AAAA title with a thrilling 28-26 victory Friday over Marist in the first ever meeting in football between two of metro Atlanta’s three most prominent Catholic high schools.

The Titans used an explosive third quarter, scoring 22 points to take control after trailing 7-6 at halftime. BT seemingly was one play away from wrapping up the victory on several occasions in the final period, but Marist kept clawing back, scoring with two minutes to play to close within 28-26.

But the Titans’ defense stuffed Marist’s attempt for a tying two-pointer, and after recovering an on-sides kick, BT clinched its hard fought victory with two first downs, the latter coming on fourth-and- 2 from the Marist 31.

It was the second clutch fourth-down conversion of the second half for the Titans, the first coming on the drive that put them ahead 28-14. The Titans got strong performances from numerous players on both sides of the ball, with some ineffective tackling on a late punt return that almost allowed Marist to tie the game about the only blemish on BT’s report card.

The BT defense did a respectable job against Marist’s frustrating triple option offense, allowing 244 rushing yards on 56 attempts. The only breakdown by the Titans’ pass defense came on a 29-yard halfback pass thrown by the War Eagles’ backup quarterback, and a closer look at the play revealed that it should have been ruled an incompletion.

Marist attempted a version of that play in its effort to tie the game after closing within 28-26, but this time the Titans swarmed all over the same War Eagle who threw the previous pass to preserve the victory.

An 80-yard punt return enabled the War Eagles to tie the game, with Marist driving 64, 80 and 80 yards for its first three touchdowns and having a 71-yard march end up without points due to penalties.

BT aided two of Marist’s second half drives with defensive penalties, the first an inadvertent late hit after the Titans held on third down, the second an unsportsmanlike infraction after the officials erred in calling the halfback pass complete.

The Titans came up with two turnovers in the second half, with the first Marist mistake changing the complexion of the game. On the second play of the third quarter, BT’s Alex Parham made a hard hit on the Marist quarterback, forcing a fumble that was recovered at the War Eagles’ 23 by J.D. Bertrand, one of four sophomores to produce big plays on offense for the Titans.

Sophomore tailback Steele Chambers converted the turnover into points, breaking loose for 16 yards and the touchdown behind some excellent blocking by the all-senior BT line. After a slow start, Chambers rushed for 109 yards on 16 carries in the second half, finishing with 127 yards and three touchdowns to surpass 1,000 yards this season with 15 TDs.

Sophomore quarterback Jake Smith ran for the 2-point conversion to put the Titans ahead 14-7, and used his arm to take BT 91 yards in only two plays to make it 21-7. After hitting sophomore Ryan Davis for 42 yards on a beautifully thrown deep ball from inside the BT 10, Smith connected with wide open tight end Bertrand for 49 yards and a score, with a crushing downfield block by Harrison Weltlich clearing Bertrand’s path to the end zone.

Weltlich also contributed to BT’s first score, returning a kickoff 46 yards to set up a 49-yard drive capped by Chambers’ 3-yard run early in the second period. That pulled BT within 7-6, as the PAT was blocked. Marist closed within 21-14aided by the late hit penalty, but the Titans answered with a 66-yard drive, 47 on runs by Chambers, who broke tackles on a 22-yard TD.

The touchdown came one play after Davis made a leaping grab for an 11-yard gain on fourth-and- 2, one of his six catches for 109 yards. Davis added an interception, as Bertrand and Chambers all see extensive action on defense along with their offensive duties.

Smith does not play defense, but had some big shoes to fill, taking over for three-year starter Conor Davis, who led the Titans deep into the playoffs each of the last three seasons. Smith had a big night against the War Eagles, completing 14 of 18 passes for 230 yards

“We had to throw the ball more tonight than usual,” Blessed Trinity coach Tim McFarlin said, citing the quality of Marist’s defensive play. He credited Chambers for producing “some tough yards,” especially on the Titans’ final series when he carried five straight times for 28 yards, including a 4-yarder on fourth- and-2 to enable BT to run out the clock.

McFarlin also praised the play of BT’s offensive line, one of the few areas where the Titans have much experience.

“We had 16 of our 22 starters graduate,” McFarlin pointed out. “After losing that many seniors, you never know what a football team is going to do."

Even though the Titans lost a lot of talent and experience, McFarlin noted that their replacements “have come up through our feeder program,” and were ready to step up and assume the roles of the players who took the Titans so close to a state title last year.

BT is 3-0 in the region and 7-2 overall, with both losses coming against out-of- state powers. The Titans are off this week before closing out the season at home Nov. 4 against West Hall, which still has a chance to finish in a 3-way tie with Blessed Trinity and Marist.

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