Take responsibility': Victor Loftin's message after Trinity Christian's season-opening loss to Harrells Christian
Rodd Baxley The Fayetteville Observer
Because of its state-championship pedigree, the Trinity Christian football program enters each season with a certain level of hype.
Even in 2020, a year filled with uncertainty because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Crusaders were hoping for a chance to build off their first state title in 10 years.
They got that opportunity on Monday night in Fayetteville, but the visiting Crusaders of Harrells Christian Academy were the ones celebrating on a soggy Wyatt Athletic Field.
With no fans in the stands, the loudest cheers of the night came from the visitors’ sideline after Trinity Christian's 7-6 loss in the season opener.
Senior lineman Victor Loftin, who enters his final prep season with several Division I scholarship offers, said each Trinity player has to “take responsibility” for the setback.
“Each player can see where they messed up at, see where we can improve at,” Loftin said.
“It’s a pretty new team. We just need to come and form together. I know some people are stuck with the hype of Trinity because the last few years we’ve been pretty good. People can’t come in here and expect it to be an easy ride. We have to come in and work — form together as a team — and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Trinity Christian (0-1), which claimed a 56-0 win against Harrells in 2019 on its way to claiming the NCISAA Division III state title, scored its fewest points since being shutout by Metrolina Christian Academy in 2014.
“You understand that your team’s going to be different,” said Trinity coach Chuck Webster.
“We know we have the talent to be better than six points. Harrells came out and played tough. That’s a good rivalry and we have to find a way to execute better. We have to expedite everything. We’re gonna have to start making some plays. We’re gonna have to figure this thing out and get in the end zone.”
From start to finish, the hosts were plagued by mishandled snaps, dropped passes and an inability to find consistency with its rushing attack.
In its first loss to Harrells since 2015, Trinity was held scoreless in a first half that was highlighted by heavy rainfall and a fumble recovery in the end zone that led to a 7-0 halftime lead for the visiting Crusaders.
The rain stopped as the teams made their way onto the field for the second half and Trinity came out with some life on the opening possession.
Cape Fear transfer Tyree Kirk took a handoff up the gut and cut toward the visitor sideline for a 48-yard score. But a bad snap led to a failed two-point conversion and Trinity would get no closer to the end zone over the final 23 minutes as the missed opportunities continued to pile up.
“I thought we showed some guts there,” Webster said of the second-half effort.
“The defense played well. The offense had some momentum plays, but I didn’t see the snaps, the multiple dropped touchdowns ... I didn’t see that coming. We got a lot of work to do like everybody else. I needed to see where we were tonight. I see where our deficiencies are.”
Trinity’s defense had a pair of fumble recoveries with Gabe Galloway-Velazquez and Manny Wall jumping on fumbled snaps in the second half.
Wall’s takeaway with 2:37 left to go gave the Trinity offense another opportunity to swing the momentum. The hosts advanced the ball to the opponent’s 40-yard line with 56 seconds left before another bad snap led to another crippling turnover.
Zach Butler pounced on the loose ball in what proved to be the second-biggest recovery of the night for Harrells, which broke a scoreless tie in the first quarter when Isaac Underwood fumbled on his way to the goal line and Walker Ward jumped on it in the end zone.
The extra point with 3:03 left in the opening quarter proved to be the difference and the final fumble recovery by Butler in the final minute of the game led to the victory formation for the Harrells offense.
“We started off slow and didn’t really pick it up how we wanted to,” Loftin said. “We just have to get back to the drawing board on the offensive side. I liked what I saw on defense if we can stop the run a little bit more.”
Trinity's focus in the film room over the next few days, Loftin added, will be key to bouncing back.
“See where you can improve and forget about it,” he said. “Get better as a group and as a family. We’ll just build up.”
Trinity Christian will look to avoid an 0-2 start when it travels to Ravenscroft on Friday night.
“We have so much room to grow,” Webster said.
“That’s the bright spot of all this: We have so much room to get better, and we will. We’ll look better Friday than we did (Monday). Another good thing is we get to go down to Harrells in our last regular-season game.”
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com
Rodd Baxley The Fayetteville Observer
Because of its state-championship pedigree, the Trinity Christian football program enters each season with a certain level of hype.
Even in 2020, a year filled with uncertainty because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Crusaders were hoping for a chance to build off their first state title in 10 years.
They got that opportunity on Monday night in Fayetteville, but the visiting Crusaders of Harrells Christian Academy were the ones celebrating on a soggy Wyatt Athletic Field.
With no fans in the stands, the loudest cheers of the night came from the visitors’ sideline after Trinity Christian's 7-6 loss in the season opener.
Senior lineman Victor Loftin, who enters his final prep season with several Division I scholarship offers, said each Trinity player has to “take responsibility” for the setback.
“Each player can see where they messed up at, see where we can improve at,” Loftin said.
“It’s a pretty new team. We just need to come and form together. I know some people are stuck with the hype of Trinity because the last few years we’ve been pretty good. People can’t come in here and expect it to be an easy ride. We have to come in and work — form together as a team — and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Trinity Christian (0-1), which claimed a 56-0 win against Harrells in 2019 on its way to claiming the NCISAA Division III state title, scored its fewest points since being shutout by Metrolina Christian Academy in 2014.
“You understand that your team’s going to be different,” said Trinity coach Chuck Webster.
“We know we have the talent to be better than six points. Harrells came out and played tough. That’s a good rivalry and we have to find a way to execute better. We have to expedite everything. We’re gonna have to start making some plays. We’re gonna have to figure this thing out and get in the end zone.”
From start to finish, the hosts were plagued by mishandled snaps, dropped passes and an inability to find consistency with its rushing attack.
In its first loss to Harrells since 2015, Trinity was held scoreless in a first half that was highlighted by heavy rainfall and a fumble recovery in the end zone that led to a 7-0 halftime lead for the visiting Crusaders.
The rain stopped as the teams made their way onto the field for the second half and Trinity came out with some life on the opening possession.
Cape Fear transfer Tyree Kirk took a handoff up the gut and cut toward the visitor sideline for a 48-yard score. But a bad snap led to a failed two-point conversion and Trinity would get no closer to the end zone over the final 23 minutes as the missed opportunities continued to pile up.
“I thought we showed some guts there,” Webster said of the second-half effort.
“The defense played well. The offense had some momentum plays, but I didn’t see the snaps, the multiple dropped touchdowns ... I didn’t see that coming. We got a lot of work to do like everybody else. I needed to see where we were tonight. I see where our deficiencies are.”
Trinity’s defense had a pair of fumble recoveries with Gabe Galloway-Velazquez and Manny Wall jumping on fumbled snaps in the second half.
Wall’s takeaway with 2:37 left to go gave the Trinity offense another opportunity to swing the momentum. The hosts advanced the ball to the opponent’s 40-yard line with 56 seconds left before another bad snap led to another crippling turnover.
Zach Butler pounced on the loose ball in what proved to be the second-biggest recovery of the night for Harrells, which broke a scoreless tie in the first quarter when Isaac Underwood fumbled on his way to the goal line and Walker Ward jumped on it in the end zone.
The extra point with 3:03 left in the opening quarter proved to be the difference and the final fumble recovery by Butler in the final minute of the game led to the victory formation for the Harrells offense.
“We started off slow and didn’t really pick it up how we wanted to,” Loftin said. “We just have to get back to the drawing board on the offensive side. I liked what I saw on defense if we can stop the run a little bit more.”
Trinity's focus in the film room over the next few days, Loftin added, will be key to bouncing back.
“See where you can improve and forget about it,” he said. “Get better as a group and as a family. We’ll just build up.”
Trinity Christian will look to avoid an 0-2 start when it travels to Ravenscroft on Friday night.
“We have so much room to grow,” Webster said.
“That’s the bright spot of all this: We have so much room to get better, and we will. We’ll look better Friday than we did (Monday). Another good thing is we get to go down to Harrells in our last regular-season game.”
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com
