Carrollwood Day rallies past Trinity Catholic

Playing a tough regular season schedule to prepare for the postseason is something that Trinity Catholic football coach John Brantley believes in.

Trinity Catholic, a perennial state playoff participant, continued its challenging schedule with a home game against Carrollwood Day High School on Friday night.

The Celtics jumped out to a quick lead thanks to a defensive touchdown and a short scoring run by sophomore running back James Pullings.

But the Patriots stormed back behind a lethal aerial attack and a punishing ground game to tie the score at 14.

Trinity Catholic took a 21-14 lead in the third quarter before Carrollwood Day (Tampa) showed why its unbeaten by scoring 14 unanswered points to take a hard-fought 28-21 win over the Celtics.

Trinity Catholic had one final chance to tie the score, but a fumbled snap with under 30 seconds left in the game ended the drive and the Celtics hopes for a comeback.

Class 1M Carrollwood Day, which racked up 454 yards of total offense and overcame four turnovers, one fumble and three interceptions, improved to 3-0 on the season.

The Patriots offense was led by a pair of junior quarterbacks in Jake Coniglio and Jordan Magwood. Coniglio completed 6 of 7 passes for 135 yards with one touchdown and an interception, while Magwood was 18 of 25 for 232 yards and two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.

The main target for their passes was senior wide receiver Bredell Richardson who had 11 receptions for 194 yards and a score. Senior wideout Izaiah Williams contributed six catches for 47 yards and a touchdown.

Carrollwood Day running back Anthony Carrie powered the running game by rushing 25 times for 127 yards. The elusive senior scored a rushing touchdown and caught a 20-yard scoring strike for the Patriots.

Class 1S Trinity Catholic had a total of 189 yards in the game. The Celtics passed for 110 yards and gained 79 on the ground against a stingy Carrollwood Day defense.

Trinity Catholic, which dropped to 1-2 overall, will look to rebound with a win and even its record on Friday night when the Celtics travel to Jacksonville to take on a talented Raines High School squad.

Despite having a losing record through its first three games, Trinity Catholic won’t panic under the steady hand of Brantley who knows what it takes to be successful on the gridiron.

He played quarterback and led Forest High School to a 13-0 record and the first state football championship in Marion County history in 1974. The Wildcats posted seven shutouts that season and the defense was led by middle linebacker and John’s brother, Scott Brantley, who went on to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

This is Brantley’s second stint at Trinity Catholic, He was head coach of the Celtics from 2008-2014 and helped establish Trinity Catholic as a football power. The Celtics earned state runner-up in 2008 and won the state championship in 2010.

Brantley, who returned to Trinity Catholic in 2020, guided the Celtics to an impressive 9-3 record last year. They lost in the FHSAA Class 1S state championship game to First Baptist Academy (Naples) by a score of 21-3.

Trinity Catholic is back home on Sept. 29 when the Celtics will host state powerhouse Florida State University High School.