Trinity shuts out Killdeer, 32-0, in season opener
The Dickinson Trinity football team knew it was in for battle. Starting the first five minutes of the game with two touchdowns off turnovers made its job much easier.By: Royal McGregor, The Dickinson Press
- Jacob Good
By Royal McGregor
rmcgregor@thedickinsonpress.com
The Dickinson Trinity football team knew it was in for battle.
Starting the first five minutes of the game with two touchdowns off turnovers made the Titans’ job much easier.
Class 2A Trinity used a balanced offensive attack and solid defensive play to shut out Class 1A Killdeer 32-0 in the season opener for both teams on Friday at the Badlands Activities Center.
“It was fun,” Trinity senior quarterback Ben Gordon said. “That was the most fun I’ve ever had in a football game, because we had a huge wake-up call at halftime.
“Killdeer is a great team to start off because they have some of the best lineman we’ll see all year.”
Killdeer’s first two possessions resulted in only three plays as Trinity pounced on fumbles for back-to-back takaways inside the 20-yard line.
“Our kids needed that boost,” Trinity head coach Randy Gordon said. “After that, we gained some confidence and we started doing some nice things off and on.”
That’s when Ben Gordon went to work, shredding Killdeer’s secondary.
The Titans built a 13-0 lead with the senior’s two touchdown passes from 16 and 11 yards out.
Senior receiver Jacob Good caught the opening touchdown just 62 seconds into the game and senior Isiah Binstock corralled the next at the 8:56 mark.
After the two early scores, each team buckled down and remained quiet throughout the remainder of the first half.
Before halftime, Trinity’s ground game struggled to get going.
That all changed in the second half.
“Our offensive line really stepped up in the second half,” Randy Gordon said. “We needed to establish a running game, because they were coming at our passing game pretty hard.”
The Titans rushed for 187 yards in the second half, including 70- and 33- yard TD runs by senior halfback Brendin Steiner. He finished with 10 carries for 125 yards and two touchdowns.
“That was a big test for our lineman and they responded,” Ben Gordon said. “We can’t say we beat a single-A team. Killdeer is a good team.”
Killdeer’s biggest downfall was penalties. The Cowboys committed 14 penalties for 90 yards.
“At halftime, we had nine penalties and most of those are simple things,” Killdeer head coach Lou Dobitz said. “We didn’t completely correct it and we played pretty hard in the second half.”
Trinity’s defense kept its end of the bargain too.
Killdeer’s best chance to score was after sophomore Trenton Rohr’s 53-yard run that set up the Cowboys at the Trinity 3-yard line in the third quarter. Rohr finished with 18 carries for 98 yards.
“Our offensive line did a nice job blocking for him and fullback Riley Rohde,” Dobitz said.
The Titans didn’t back down during the goal-line stand.
Trinity sophomore Jacob Brooke shut down the Cowboys’ scoring threat with a 12-yard sack of quarterback Christian Kulish on fourth down.
“The goal-line stand was huge,” Randy Gordon said. “That was a play of the game to me. That was very much a jump of confidence for them.”
Trinity marched back down the field as Ben Gordon and Binstock connected for their second touchdown of the night, this time from 15 yards out.
Binstock led the Titans’ receivers with four catches for 43 yards.
“It’s nice to know that we have the size and the athletes to throw to,” Ben Gordon said.
The Titans want to keep that winning confidence going when they travel to Valley City next week for a nonconference game. It will be Valley City’s season opener after their scheduled game against Carrington on Friday night was canceled because of weather.
“I think this game is confidence builder,” Randy Gordon said. “We found out tonight that we’re a little deeper than we thought and that’s a good thing. Next week is another good test.”
Killdeer 0 0 0 0 — 0
Trinity 13 0 19 0 — 32
First quarter
T–Jacob Good pass from Ben Gordon 16 yards (Brendin Steiner kick no good), 10:58.
T–Isiah Binstock pass from Gordon 11 yards (Steiner kick good), 8:56.
Second quarter
No scoring
Third quarter
T–Steiner 70 run (Steiner kick no good), 11:42.
T–Binstock pass from Gordon 15 yards (Steiner kick good), 4:21.
T–Steiner 33 run (kick no good), :03.
Fourth quarter
No scoring.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: K, Trenton Rohr 18-98, Riley Rohde 9-32, Christian Kulish 9-(-minus 17). T, Brendin Steiner 10-125, Mason Heth 4-32, Ben Gordon 7-27, Travis Heidt 1-4., Lane Herberholz 1-3.
PASSING: K, Kulish 7-18-0, 91. T, Gordon 8-16-0, 88.
RECEIVING: K, Rohr 3-41, Calum Blankenship 2-20, Tuff Kling 1-20, Rohde 1-10. T, Isiah Binstock 4-43, Jacob Good 2-25, Steiner 1-18, Herberholz 1-2.
Tags: trinity titans, killdeer cowboys, high school football, sports, preps, football, updates
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