Roswell -- Roswell High and Blessed Trinity Catholic School are separated by just one mile, essentially the space of a Publix on one side of the road and The Home Depot on the other. In the lengthy history of both programs, however, they had never faced off on a football field.
Until Thursday night.
No. 3 Roswell dominated on both sides of the ball and cruised to a 41-10 win over No. 10 Blessed Trinity. It was an important win for Roswell (5-1, 2-0 Region 7-AAAAAA), which remained undefeated in region play while Blessed Trinity (4-2, 1-1) dropped its second game in three weeks.
In what has become a theme for the Titans, offensive struggles prevented them from reaching the 20-point threshold for the third time in four games. Meanwhile, the Hornets appear to be hitting the stride, scoring five touchdowns Thursday before Blessed Trinity registered its first points on a Bryson Hosea 30-yard field goal in the third quarter,
“The most important thing is I thought we executed at a high level,” said Roswell coach Chris Prewett, in his third year with the program. “That’s big because I feel like we’ve been a little up-and-down this year, but I thought tonight we really executed at a high level across the board.
The Hornets’ defense was suffocating in the first half, allowing just 47 total yards and taking the ball away twice before the break. The Titans failed to cross midfield at all in the first two quarters, finally reaching Hornets territory on the fourth play of the third quarter with the help of an offsides penalty.
Senior defensive backs Ethan Nation and Hill Punkett both recorded interceptions before the break, as well. Nation’s came following a turnover by Roswell. His team leading 12-0, Hornets quarterback K.J. Smith had just tossed an odd interception that appeared to be caught by his own receiver, Ethan Crite. Crite dove to the ground, but Blessed Trinity defensive back Simon Vail came up holding the ball.
The pass was ruled an interception, and the Titans were given life in a game that appeared to be slipping away from it midway through the first quarter. Instead, on the second play of the ensuing drive, Titans quarterback Brooks Goodman threw into double coverage and Nation stepped in front of the pass to get the ball back for Roswell.
Plunkett got his interception as Blessed Trinity appeared to be finding somewhat of a groove in the passing game. Goodman had completed two passes to Cole Weaver and Drew Stephenson, but Plunkett ended the drive and the first-half scoring threat.
Jordan Beaurem added another interception for the Roswell defense in the second half, and a fumbled punt made it four takeaways for the game.
“Our goal every week is to stop the run,” Prewett said. “If it’s a team that runs 10 times, we want to stop it 10 times. Or if they run it 60. We just knew it was a different challenge tonight, and our goal was to stop the run.”
The Roswell offense did the rest of the work.
It recorded five plays of 20 or more yards, including a 37-yard passing touchdown to running back Nykahi Davenport and another 33-yard score through the air to Crite. Davenport added a 41-yard run on the ground, finishing with 120 yards and two touchdowns rushing to go with his receiving score.
“I really just have to give a lot of credit to my offensive linemen,” Davenport said. “They were doing all the work, and we were able to move the ball behind them.”
Smith added two more passing touchdowns, both to receiver Dylan Williams. Williams caught a 10-yarder and a 9-yarder to round out the Roswell offense.
Blessed Trinity’s only touchdown in the game came on a 90-yard touchdown return by Zyon McKenzie with just 7:15 remaining in the game.
The game was moved up to Thursday this week in anticipation of inclement weather due to Hurricane Ian. Roswell plays next at Lassiter on Oct. 7. Blessed Trinity hosts Pope, also on Oct. 7.
Blessed Trinity – 0 – 0 – 3 – 7 – 10
Roswell – 12 – 14 – 8 – 7 – 41
First quarter
RHS—Dylan Williams 10 pass from K.J. Smith (kick failed)
RHS—Nykahi Davenport 37 pass from Smith (run failed)
Second quarter
RHS—Ethan Crite 33 pass from Smith (Brett Gonda kick)
RHS—Davenport 1 run (Gonda kick)
Third quarter
RHS—Williams 9 pass from Smith (Ethan Gurela pass from Chris Elko)
BT—Bryson Hosea 30 FG
Fourth quarter
RHS—Davenport 6 run (Gonda kick)
BT—Zyon McKenzie 90 kickoff return (Hosea kick)
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