Titans Suffer Another Heartbreaking Playoff Loss

By Mike Blum

Blessed Trinity’s season ended Friday on a disheartening note, as standout kicker Brooks Hosea, who had already connected on four field goals in the game, missed from 28 yards in the closing seconds of a 28-27 loss to Mary Persons in Forsyth.

Hosea had made kicks of 44, 47, 26 and 38 yards earlier in the AAAA quarterfinal game. It was the second straight year the Titans lost their final game in similar fashion, as BT fell in overtime in the Class AAA championship game last season against then region rival Westminster.

Blessed Trinity (10-3) led four times during the back-and-forth contest against Mary Persons, the last time 24-21 early in the fourth quarter after Hosea’s third field goal. The Titans scored first on a 41-yard touchdown pass from Jake Smith to Ryan Davis, and led 10-7 in the second period after a 44-yard field goal by Hosea, who cut BT’s halftime deficit to 14-13 on a 47-yard kick.

Blessed Trinity went ahead 21-14 in the third period on a 50-yard pass from Smith to Will Carlton, who teamed up for a 32-yard completion to set up Hosea’s late field in the first half. Steele Chambers ran for the 2-point conversion.

The Titans took their final lead at 24-21 on a 26-yard field goal by Hosea early in the fourth quarter after a bad snap on a Mary Persons punt put BT in scoring position. But the Bulldogs quickly responded with a long touchdown pass to regain the lead at 28-24.

A 40-yard run by Davis led to a 38-yard field by Hosea to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 28-27, and the Titans had a final chance to win the game after getting the ball at their 46 with 31 seconds to play following a short punt.

Blessed Trinity went 43 yards in five plays, among them a 20-yard run by Smith, to reach the Mary Persons 11, but Hosea’s potentially game-winning kick missed. Hosea also averaged 50 yards on his four punts, placing three of them inside the Mary Persons 20, and will attend West Point after he graduates from BT this spring.

Smith completed 13 of 23 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns, but was intercepted twice. Davis had eight catches for 96 yards and Carlton’s two receptions covered 82 yards.

The Mary Persons defense contained Chambers, who had rushed for at least 100 yards in his last six games, averaging more than 150 yards per game during that span. Chambers managed just 39 yards on 15 attempts, finishing the season with 1500 yards and 21 rushing touchdowns. Smith led the team with 43 yards against the Bulldogs, with the Titans finishing with 133 yards on the ground.

Mary Persons (11-2) ran the ball effectively against BT, with the Bulldogs’ two main running backs combining for 265 yards and three touchdowns. The Bulldogs will play No. 1 Cartersville in the semifinals.

The Titans return most of their starters other than an all-senior offensive line led by tackle Jacob Bolton. Smith, Chambers, Davis and defensive lineman/tight end J.D. Bertrand were all sophomores this season, with Bertrand, Chambers and Davis two-way starters.

BT will also lose much of its defensive line along with Harrison Weltlich and Alex Parham, both starters in the secondary. Linebacker Jake Rudolph, one of just a handful of junior starters, and lineman J.R. Bivens, part of the team’s talented sophomore class, will also return next season.

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