Gallery: Trinity Catholic wins heavyweight battle with John Carroll Catholic to earn a spot in the State Championship Game

Trinity Catholic’s head coach John Brantley III, celebrates with the game ball for his 90th win after he was given the ball by Athletic Director Tommy Bond, left, after Trinity Catholic defeated John Carroll Catholic 22-10 in the FHSAA State Semifinal at Trinity Catholic High School in Ocala, Fla. on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022. With the win, Trinity Catholic will head to Tallahassee for the FHSAA State Final on Dec. 10, 2022. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2022.

The Trinity Catholic Celtics football team is headed to the 1-Suburban State Championship Game after beating the John Carroll Catholic Rams in a defensive battle on Friday night.
It was a perfect night for football as the temperature sat at 70 degrees for kickoff but the action on the field was white hot from the beginning as Trinity Catholic started on offense at their own 36-yard line.
A sack on second down by John Carroll defensive end Wilky Denaud put the Trinity Catholic offense behind the eight-ball and fullback Kenyen Smith was stopped on fourth-and-1 to give the ball to the John Carroll offense.
The visitors from Fort Pierce had no issues moving the ball on their opening possession as running back Tony Colebrook had four consecutive carries and gained 37 yards, he finished off the drive with a two-yard touchdown run to give his team a 7-0 lead with six minutes left in the first quarter.
On the ensuing drive for Trinity Catholic, running back Beau Beard gained 38 yards on three carries but the drive stalled due to an illegal substitution penalty and two incomplete passes to force a punt. Trinity Catholic’s defense bounced back from giving up a touchdown to force a punt.
Four carries and 31 yards by Beard combined with a 15-yard run by Gerald Lawton gave Trinity Catholic superb field position at the John Carroll one-yard line. Beard was given three opportunities to punch it in, but John Carroll’s defense made a fantastic stand and forced a 20-yard field goal from senior kicker Justin Arroyo.
John Carroll had to start their next drive on their own 5-yard line and did gain a first down on a 10-yard reception by Aidan Singleton. The first down conversion would be the high point of the drive as Trinity Catholic stuffed Colebrook the next three plays to force another punt.
“The offense wasn’t rolling so we had to back them up and we played as a unit, and it came together pretty well.” Trinity Catholic linebacker Donathan Lecorn said.
A short punt gave Trinity Catholic the ball at the 50-yard line and Beard gained a first down on the first two plays before quarterback Preston Wright connected with tight end Mekai Griffin for a 13-yard gain on third-and-10.
Following a few more carries from Beard, the senior would give Trinity Catholic the lead with a 1-yard touchdown run with just over a minute left before halftime. The struggles continued for the John Carroll offense as carries by Colebrook and Freddie Pittman did not gain much.
Trinity Catholic tried a deep pass on the final play of the first half but came up short and took a 10-7 lead to halftime.
John Carroll started the third quarter with the ball but Trinity Catholic linebackers Tyler Simms and Omaryon Leslie notched sacks on back-to-back plays, which led to a fourth consecutive punt.
Beard and the offense ran into trouble on their first drive of the third quarter as he lost a fumble on second down. John Carroll’s momentum was short lived as Colebrook and quarterback Dawson Maehl had issues with a handoff and fumbled the ball back to Trinity Catholic.
Trinity Catholic had the momentum back on their side following a six-yard reception by John Hayes but Beard would lose his second fumble of the night at the end of an 11-yard run.
John Carroll took advantage of the ball security issues by Beard and drove down to the 8-yard line before settling for an 18-yard field goal to tie the game at 10 with three minutes left in the third quarter.
The offensive struggles for Trinity Catholic put pressure on the defense to make stop after stop and Beard was grateful for the group’s perseverance.
“I just thank my teammates so much after what happened tonight, they had my back tonight. They went out and fought for me when adversity came up.” Beard said.
Trinity Catholic would start the following drive at their own 21-yard line and junior wide receiver Cedric McFadden made the first big play of the possession with a 14-yard reception on third-and-6.
A holding call put the coaches into a precarious position of deciding to go for the first down on fourth-and-3 at the 50-yard line. Fortunately, Trinity Catholic was able to draw John Carroll offsides and gain the first down.
Beard would get four more carries on the drive before a pass on third-and-goal from the 2-yard line fell incomplete and forced Arroyo to notch an 18-yard field goal to give Trinity Catholic a 13-10 lead with six minutes left to go.
John Carroll could not take advantage of a 45-yard kickoff return by Singleton as Trinity Catholic safety Devontae Grant came up with a beautiful pass breakup on fourth down to give the ball back to his offense with 4:20 left in the game.
Beard would begin the next drive with an 18-yard run but his next two carries went for seven yards and backup running back JaMarkus Starkes was stuffed on third down to force a punt.
Arroyo would come through with his biggest play of the game with a perfectly placed 26-yard punt that pinned John Carroll at their own 11-yard line.
Arroyo has been a force on special teams all season and came through when needed most on Friday night with two field goals and two extra points.
“It’s an ecstatic feeling knowing I played a role in this game and it’s great to help out the team.” Arroyo said.
The biggest play of the night on defense followed the punt as cornerback Courtney Patterson blitzed from the left side to make a devastating hit for a sack on Maehl and force a fumble in the endzone. A scramble for the ball ensued before John Carroll recovered the ball but the damage was done as Trinity Catholic notched a safety to extend the lead to 15-10 with two minutes left in the game.
John Carroll tried to make an onside kick recovery on the kickoff but to no avail as Trinity Catholic recovered and Beard put the nail in the coffin on the next play as the defense left the middle wide open and the senior sprinted to an easy 34-yard touchdown with 1:42 left to go.
Beard was an unstoppable machine on Friday night as he gained (unofficially) 209 yards on 34 carries to go with the two touchdowns.
“I was focused on the endzone, I had to make up for what I did earlier, and I knew I had to put the cherry on top.” Beard said.
Now trailing by 12, John Carroll gave one last gasp with an onside kick attempt but could not recover the ball. Trinity Catholic could not gain a first down and had to punt.
Following the punt, Trinity Catholic cornerback Jeremiah Rhem came up with an interception to put the finishing touches on the 22-10 win and a chance at a state championship next Saturday.
Trinity Catholic faced a bevy of adversity and pressure against John Carroll in comparison to their previous two playoff matchups. Wright, a sophomore, showed great perspective after the game when talking about those moments of pressure and doubt.
“We just had to stay calm, this was our game to win from the beginning and we knew we had a great game script by the coaches. We each knew what we had to do and I’m proud of everybody for fighting through adversity, I love it.” Wright said.
Alongside Beard’s monster night on the ground, the Trinity Catholic defense was stingy from start to finish by giving up just three points in the final three quarters.
“We work hard, I am extremely excited by how our defense played and like I said before, as long as we execute by doing what needs to be done Monday through Thursday, it makes Friday easy.” Lecorn said.
Trinity Catholic head coach John Brantley II gave a rousing speech after the victory and was proud of the resiliency of his team.
“I’m proud of the way our team played but were still making too many mistakes. If we’re going to win a state championship, we have got to clean things up. I’ve been saying that week in and week out and it will come back to bite us, but we fought through it tonight.” Brantley said.
He continued: “We just have to be a smarter football team and if we do that, we can control what we do. That’s the good thing about this team, if we just clean up the little things, we have a chance to bring back a championship to Trinity Catholic.”
This will be the fifth state championship game appearance and third as the head coach for Brantley at Trinity Catholic, his first two came as an assistant coach. Having the experience of winning and losing in the state championship game has given Brantley insight on how to approach the game mentally.
“Nobody remembers the runner-up and that’s why we need to go up there and take care of business. These kids have improved throughout the year and have proven they are deserving of this opportunity so let’s go see what happens.” Brantley said.
Beard was over-the-moon excited after the game and realized the opportunity him and the team have in front of them.
“We’re going to be focused because we are not done yet and we have to get that ring.” he said.
Trinity Catholic will face First Baptist Academy (Naples) next Saturday at 1 p.m. in Tallahassee at Gene Cox Stadium for the 1-Suburban State Championship.