CRAWFORD | Trinity shrugs off shaky start, rolls past Bryan Station 41-20 for 28th state title | Sports

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WDRB) -- Some things were a bit different for the Trinity High School football in winning the program's state-record 28th state championship in Saturday's KHSAA 6A title game. But some things were very much the same.

Trinity, as it did early this season, faced early adversity in Saturday's against Lexington Bryan Station. It fell behind 14-3. But over time, Trinity used its superior numbers and outstanding play by senior running back Clint Stansbury (155 yards rushing, three TDs) and freshman quarterback Zane Johnson to bounce back for a 41-20 victory before a crowd of 9,029 in Kroger Field.

It was a sweet win for Trinity's seniors, who won the state title in 2020 but had endured a couple of difficult seasons – by Trinity standards.

"They preach your legacy at Trinity," Shamrocks' defensive end Nate Tronzo said. "And the one thing we (seniors) needed to have our legacy complete was this. We got here and came prepared and played well and performed."

Trinity had already climbed back into the lead at 20-14 early in the third quarter when coach Jay Cobb made the game's key call. On fourth-and-2 he dialed up a fake punt, having Stansbury take a direct snap. He sprinted 48 yards to set up another Trinity score, to take control of the game.

"It was demoralizing," Bryan Station coach Phillip Hawkins said.

"Yeah we work on it in practice all the time," Stansbury said. "Carson Hillary came over and told me we were running it. And I said, 'All right. Let's go.' Brady (McEnaney) snapped it to me, and I saw nothing but green grass."

Cobb heard the rumblings after moving up to the head coaching job at Trinity. He had spent six seasons as defensive coordinator, during which he was part of five state titles, but thought it would take some time to build the program back to its top status. Even while doing that, he has steadfastly defended his program, and did so again after winning the title on Saturday.

"Trinity's fan base just wants you to win," Cobb said. "They don't care who you're playing. They don't care what kind of talent you have. They don't care what your roster looks like. They just want to win. I get it. I understand it. As coaches, that's all we want to do. But for us, told him them first two years are going to be tough. And I'll be honest with you, in our mind in terms of coaches, we kind of overperformed."

There will be no more questions about that after Saturday. Trinity fought through the adversity of losing three of its first five games this season, and it came from behind in several games before the state championship game.

Cobb said a big part of the team's success was the maturation of its freshman QB, who showed some nerves early on Saturday but settled in well, completing 15 of 23 passes for 175 yards and a touchdown.

"We had some things early that we saw and he just was holding the ball a little bit too long," Cobb said. "Anytime you see a quarterback patting the football, you've got a problem. And he was doing that a little bit early. He hadn't done that a long time. Every night when I lay that head on the pillow and think I've got a 15-year-old starting in the 6A championship game, it's a little tough. So, I expected some of this. The good thing about him is he calms down right away. I think these guys help him do that. He's surrounded by seniors and guys that have been through the wars a little bit. He's been through the wars, too."

Hawkins, whose Bryan Station team ended Trinity's season a year ago, said it's tough for the Defenders to match Trinity's numbers. Trinity beat Bryan Station 36-3 to open the season.

"Well, I mean it's a lot to keep up with Trinity over four quarters, I don't think that's a secret," he said. "And they just bring more guys at you, and more guys. And, you know, we're trying to grow our program and we've gotten ourselves pretty far. But we're still short on guys."

Trinity, which finishes the season 13-3, was led defensively by Robert Murrow, who had six tackles, three pass break-ups and an interception. Tronzo had four tackles, three of them sacks.