ARLINGTON, Texas — Shiloh Christian Coach Josh Floyd is no stranger to lopsided scores. The Saints have administered plenty over the past few years.
On Monday, the Saints got a taste of how the other side feels.
Euless (Texas) Trinity, ranked No. 1 in the country by USA Today and the defending Texas Class 5A state champion, handed the Saints an 80-26 pounding in the Kirk Herbstreit National Kickoff Classic in Cowboys Stadium.
“We’re usually on the other end of these things,” said Floyd, whose team is ranked No. 23 by USA Today.
There was no area of the game that the Trojans (2-0) did not dominate. Trinity piled up 706 yards of offense, including 565 on the ground. The Trojans had three backs rush for more than 100 yards. When they did pass, they were very effective as well, going 7 of 8 for 141 yards.
“The main problem was we just couldn’t tackle those guys,” Floyd said Trinity, which rushed for 10 touchdowns. “They are a big team.”
And a big school. Trinity, which competes in Texas’ largest classification, has an enrollment of more than 2,192 students.
Shiloh Christian, which competes in Class 4A, Arkansas’ fourth-largest classificaton, has a three-year average of 192 students in the most recent Arkansas Activities Association listings.
Trinity Coach Steve Lineweaver credited the play of his offensive line in providing the lanes for his powerful running attack.
“I could have run through those holes,” Lineweaver said. “We challenged the offensive line on Monday. We didn’t think they played very well at all last week. I think they fixed some things.”
Trinity, which defeated Tyler Lee 35-0 in its season opener, needed just 56 seconds of the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead and poured it on from there. But senior quarterback Kiehl Frazier said the Saints did some things they can build on.
“We had some big plays, but we have to go back to the drawing board and try to get better,” Frazier said.
Three of Shiloh Christian’s four touchdowns came on plays of 69 yards or longer and kept the Saints (1-1) within reasonable striking distance for a short time. The first was Garrett Harper’s 93-yard kickoff return following Trinity’s second score.
“I was hoping to get one,” Harper said of his first career kickoff return for a touchdown. “I was getting tired there at the end, but I made it in there somehow.”
And Frazier connected with senior Zann Jones for two long scoring passes. The first was a 69-yard pass when Frazier scrambled in the pocket to buy time and Jones got behind the Trinity defense.
“I told Kiehl to keep me in the back of his mind if we had a broken play,” Jones said. “He made a good throw, and I was able to take it to the house.”
The pair hooked up again later out of the swinging gate for 83 yards. Jones broke a tackle to get into the end zone.
It was 31-20 with 10:09 to play in the half.
Trinity scored two more touchdowns in the next four minutes, but the play that probably turned the tide overwhelmingly in Trinity’s favor came just before the half when Q’Niko Thomas intercepted Frazier at the Trojans’ 31 and returned it 69 yards for a score.
“That pick-six at the end of the half was huge,” Floyd said. “If we don’t give up that, we might have taken it in and it would have been a different game.”
The Saints put together a nice drive to open the third quarter, capped by Frazier’s 9-yard run. The Saints completed three fourth-down conversions on the drive, the last on a penalty.
But there was just too much Trinity power. The Trojans backups were about as effective as the starters with reserves Sivad Boykin and Brandon Reeves each finding the end zone in the second half.
The experience of playing in Cowboys Stadium was not lost on the Shiloh Christian players, despite the lopsided outcome.
“To play in this stadium was awesome,” Harper said. “We could have played better, but I’m glad we came down here. Obviously they kicked our tails, but we still feel like we can play with anyone. We were not intimidated.”
The 106 combined points surpassed the record for most combined points in a game in the Herbstreit series. The previous mark was 94.
The Saints will have a lengthy layoff before they take the field Sept. 17 at home against Greenwood in a game that will be televised by ESPNU.
Sports, Pages 13 on 09/07/2010