Trinity football starts the season 2-0 for the first time since 2022 after a decisive home win over the Belhaven University Blazers 49-0 on Saturday, Sept. 13. Belhaven looked to earn their first ever win against Trinity. The Tigers, however, overwhelmed Belhaven in their first loss of the season, bringing their record to 1-1.

The Tigers offense marched down the field with ease in the first half. Trinity scored a touchdown on their four three drives of the game and only punted once in the entire first half.

Sophomore starting quarterback Hondo Franklin threw for 155 yards and three touchdowns. His three touchdown passes are the most he has thrown since being named the starting quarterback.

Senior center Caleb Bayer praised Franklin’s performance so far this season, saying how he is a leader and is very detail-oriented.

“There’s not a lot of immaturity when it comes to that guy,” Bayer said. “So I view him as much of an equal as I think that there is.”

Wide receiver Alejandro Tavarez led the offense in received passes for 60 yards Saturday night. One of his five receptions were a touchdown, mirroring his outing in week one against Texas Lutheran University (TLU).

“My work ethic is pretty much the same,” Tavarez said regarding his consistency. “It stays consistent. I practice without gloves. I don’t know if it’s a mental thing for me, but I only wear gloves during the games to train my eyes and my hands a little bit better.”

On the defensive side, Trinity shut down Belhaven’s offense, allowing only 104 yards through the entire game. The Tiger defense also forced three turnovers in the first half. First-year defensive back Kody Brown logged two interceptions, one of which was a pick-six in the second quarter, capping off Trinity’s 42-point first half avalanche.

Trinity found themselves in penalty trouble late in the game, committing seven penalties for 50 yards in the second half, stalling their progress on the field.

Penalties have also hindered the Blazers’ ability to gain momentum throughout the game, tallying ten penalties for 115 yards. Belhaven’s defense improved in the second half, holding Trinity to only seven points in the fourth quarter.

Trinity’s 49-0 win is their first shutout victory since 2023 in a 63-0 rout against Millsaps College. Junior defensive lineman Steele Herndon attributed the team’s mentality going into the game against Belhaven for the shut out.

“That’s just our hard work showing,” Herndon said. “That’s all that is. That’s us showing up here every single day, putting in the work, putting in the effort, the blood, sweat and tears and everything we can to be successful. This is just a product of that.”

Bayer also said that the win was a “season-establishing kind of win.”

“Coach [Urban] always says the most improvement a team makes is between weeks one and week two,” Bayer said, “and I think we just ironed out a lot of the little things; stupid mistakes, mental errors, things like that that we had in week one, and we’ve cleaned up a lot of those this week. And that’s about it. We found our groove. A bunch of guys were clicking. We communicated, and all 11 guys were executing on either side of the ball on every play. I attribute our success to that, the guys being really locked in.”

The Tigers will head into week three on the road against Pacific Lutheran University in Parkland, WA on Saturday, Sept. 20 where they look to extend their winning streak.