MANCHESTER, NH — Senior quarterback Ollie Session ran for three touchdowns and threw for a fourth, leading Trinity High past Kingswood, 42-14, Friday night at Derryfield Park.
Session had a sensational two-way game, finishing with 162 yards rushing on just 11 carries, including touchdown runs of 64, 40 and 14 yards. He added a 13-yard touchdown pass to Connor Bishop.
On the other side of the ball, Session had an interception from his safety position, one of four turnovers forced by the Trinity defense.
While far from perfect, Trinity’s performance was impressive, given that it was playing without three senior starters, sidelined by injury.
“And they were all (injured players) that are physical guys,” said Trinity Head Coach Rob Cathcart. “So we had to rely on some younger guys to step up and try to help us and they did a good job.”
Another player who shined on both side of the ball was junior Malith Malith, who had a 7-yard touchdown run to cap the scoring in the fourth quarter and also had an interception on Kingswood’s opening possession.
Malith’s pick led to a 5-yard touchdown run by senior Dom Detone, giving Trinity a 7-0 lead.
Kingswood (1-1) answered with an 8-yard touchdown run from junior Gary Porter (2 TDs).
The Knights caught the Pioneers napping with an onside kick and looked poised to build on their momentum. But a muffed shotgun snap led to a fumble recovery for Trinity at the Kingswood 44.
The Pioneers took full advantage of the short field, putting together an eight-play scoring drive. Service capped the drive with a 14-yard scamper to put Trinity back on top, 14-7.
Trinity (2-0) dominated play at the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and Cathcart praised the play of less experienced players like junior defensive end Danny Nguyen and sophomore center Griffin Kitchin, who stepped into key roles.
”These were guys who were all making their first varsity starts and they did a great job for us,” said Cathcart.
The Pioneers’ youth did cause a few hiccups. A miscommunication on a shotgun snap led to a Kingswood fumble recovery inside Trinity territory. Seven plays later, Porter took an option pitch from quarterback Nolan Chominski and scored from 12 yards out to tie the game, 14-14.
But any momentum the Knights thought they might carry into halftime disappeared quickly. Service put Trinity back on top with highlight-reel touchdown run from 40 yards, breaking four tackles on his way to the end zone to give the Pioneers a 21-14 lead.
Later in quarter, Service intercepted a pass deep over the middle from Chominski and returned it inside the Kingswood 30.
It took Trinity just four plays to cash in on the turnover. This time it was Service connecting with Connor Bishop on a 13-yard touchdown pass, giving Trinity a 28-14 halftime lead.
But Service wasn’t done. His 64-yard touchdown run in the third quarter made it 35-14 and all but put the game away.
Trinity returns to action Saturday at 1 pm, on the road at Plymouth High.