The Belleville East senior running back shook a tackle and completed a 70-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter Friday that sparked the Lancers to a 20-12 victory over Collinsville in the season opener for both schools.
Trimble took the handoff from junior quarterback Darrion Millender Jr. and headed for the right sidelines, where he eluded Kahoks senior Kolby Anderson’s diving tackle attempt. The PAT put the Lancers ahead by eight, and East used a goal-line stand to hold on in the fourth quarter.
“I wasn’t going to go down,” said Trimble, who waited for the hole to develop before accelerating. “I didn’t want to be too fast. But then I just took off.”
Trimble, who finished with 111 yards on eight carries, is part of a talented backfield that also features senior Markevious Curiton and junior Brandon Coleman. Trimble’s touchdown followed a field goal and safety by Collinsville that trimmed its deficit to 13-12.
“It was an outstanding run,” Lancers coach Mike Harrison said. “The big boys up front blocked well. He hit the hole and took off. Credit to him. He’s done a lot of work in the offseason to take care of the things he needed to take care of to be able to play on a Friday night. He did a great job.”
The Lancers overcame three turnovers, and their goal-line stand early in the fourth quarter was a critical setback to the Kahoks.
Collinsville started its drive on the Belleville East 38-yard-line and faced a fourth-and-1 from the 4 when Lancers senior star and Iowa State recruit Anthony Cunningham jumped offsides, giving the Kahoks a first down on the 2.
But the Lancers stuffed the next two running plays for losses of 4 yards and 1 yard before a 5-yard pass from junior quarterback Ethan Bagwell to senior Jerry Richardson made it fourth-and-goal at the 2.
On the next play, Bagwell ran right but was stopped near the sideline for no gain.
“Those guys stepped up and got that goal-line stand,” Harrison said. “It’s just a hats off to the kids. They did an outstanding job. They really buckled down and played some great defense and allowed us to come out on top.”
East, buried in its end, was forced to punt, giving Collinsville yet another opportunity. But Bagwell’s pass for Anderson was intercepted by senior Jaedon Coleman.
The Lancers were unable to run out the clock, however, and the Kahoks got the ball on their 42 with 2.9 seconds left. But Bagwell’s desperation heave for the end zone was knocked down by the East secondary.
“That goal-line stand was really tough for us,” Collinsville coach Colton Rhodes said. “We were moving (the ball) and our front was doing a great job all the way down until we got inside the 10. Then we couldn’t do anything after that. We just couldn’t sniff the end zone.
“The red zone was tough on us tonight. There were a lot of things that were tough, but that was one of them.”
Belleville East took a 7-0 lead on Curiton’s 12-yard touchdown run up the middle with 4 minutes and 41 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Kahoks tied the game on a 60-yard touchdown pass from Bagwell to junior KJ Thorps-Watt with 7:34 to play in the second quarter. Thorps-Watt made a sensational leaping grab over Lancers senior defensive back Sony McGill and finished with a sprint into the end zone.
A 54-yard touchdown pass over the middle from Millender Jr. to junior Justin Spears put the Lancers ahead 13-7 with 1:34 remaining in the second quarter.
Collinsville climbed within 13-10 on senior Andrew Chi’s 31-yard field goal with 8:31 left in the third quarter, and a safety made it 13-12 with 3:47 to play in the period. The Kahoks fumbled on their ensuing possession, as Lancers freshman Jonathon Rulo picked up the loose ball.
Three plays later, Trimble scored the key touchdown of the game, giving the Lancers some much-needed breathing room.
“Tonight we didn’t do all the little thing well enough,” Rhodes said. “Belleville East seemed to do a lot of the little things wel... Click here to read full article
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