The hole that Rhodes dug for itself was too deep to climb out of.

                Five fumbles-- two which led to 10 Trinity points in the first quarter--a defense that had to battle Trinity's 43 minutes of possession and a failure to close a deficit gap when it could, stymied Rhodes during a 40-19 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference loss to the Tigers on Saturday at Fargason Field.

                “There's nothing earth shattering. We talked about it coming into the game. We said we can't beat ourselves and we beat ourselves. We didn't protect the football and that was the giant number one key to the game,” said Rhodes coach Joe White. “We had opportunities to do some things if we had protected the ball. We had to execute better. That was the frustrating thing. We put the ball on the ground. We had opportunities to close the gap but we would go three and out or get a first down and didn't get a chance to get points on the board.”

                Playing a complete game for the first time this season, Trinity quarterback Patrick Dickinson, who came in for starter Robert Davidson in the first quarter who was injured with a high ankle sprain, completed 18 of 22 passes for 265 yards and three touchdowns while running back Chris Baer gained 123 of the Tigers' 200 rushing yards.

                “Every year we try to put ourselves into a position to win a (SCAC) championship,” said Trinity coach Steve Mohr, whose team has won 14 of the last 16 conference championships and were playing a rivalry game.   The Lynx (2-1, 0-1) had beaten Trinity (3-0, 1-0) two of the last three times in Memphis.

                “That was still fresh in our minds,” said Mohr.

                Trinity took a 10-0 lead after recovering a fumble on the Rhodes 41. Garrett Biel kicked a 33-yard field goal and after another fumble recovery, on the Rhodes 30, Al Furlow ran 2 yards for a touchdown with 7:17 left in the first quarter.

                “Last week (in a 22-21 win over Texas Lutheran), we waited too long to kick it into gear. We didn't want to do that this week,” said wide receiver Riley Curry, who had a game-high 101 yards and a touchdown.

                Recovering one of three lost Trinity fumbles, Rhodes' defensive end Kendral Ellison ran 73 yards for a touchdown with 4:03 left in the first and the Lynx were within 10-7.

                “Kendral made the big defensive play and we scored. We closed it up and that gave us a shot again to regroup ad get back in it. But instead of taking advantage of that we had a few more miscues and let get farther ahead. We fight back and they get farther ahead. We put our defense in a bad spot all day. They're a good football team and did a nice job. We had to execute better. There were plenty of plays to be made, ” said White.

               

The Lynx did make some big plays. Trinity was on the Rhodes 4 early in the second quarter when the Lynx' Andy Boucher recovered a fumble. Rhodes went 3 and out and Matt Gilbert was forced to kick one of his six punts.

                “We just messed up on both sides of the ball,” said Rhodes linebacker Austin Marcum, who had 12 tackles.

                Rhodes' defense did force Trinity to take a field goal, a 25-yarder by Biel, when linebacker Andrew Meier sacked Dickinson for a 10-yard loss at the Rhodes 18 in the second quarter.

                Meier had 14 tackles while teammates Chris Bell, Boucher and Matt Strok had 10 tackles each. Bell had 1.5 sacks for 14 yards.

                “Andrew Meier is probably one of the best defensive players in our league. He shows it every time we go out there, in practice, in a game. He is as intense a football player you'll find,” said White. “He is tough, tough, tough for opponents to handle.”

                The Lynx pulled within 27-13 on a 2-yard run by freshman running back Harrison Daniel. Quarterback Brett Stoots threw a 41-yard pass to Jacob Papermaster during the drive that put the Lynx on the 15-yard line. Stoots passed for 125 yards.

                With 3:16 left to play, Gilbert scored on a 1-yard run. He fueled the touchdown drive with a 26-yard pass reception from Stoots that got to the 1. Rhodes trailed 37-19.

                Earlier, Biel kicked a 47-yard field goal that gave the Tigers a 30-13 lead. It was Trinity's fourth longest field goal in school history.

                Daniel led Rhodes rushers with 52 yards. The Lynx are without their top three running backs. Josh McMurray, Chris Rose and Nico Lagueruela have each suffered knee injuries.

                 “We've been out three times, in a scrimmage and two games, and every game we have played so far, we have lost a running back,” said White.

                Jake Jackson had 128 return yards while Jack Lartigue had 80.

                Even after Curry caught a 11-yard pass from Dickinson to put Trinity on top 27-7 with 22 seconds left in the second quarter, White had hope.

                “We had plenty of time to come back and close the gap and didn't do it fast enough,” said White.           

                Said Dickinson, “This is the first conference game and we want to let everyone know we are a force to be reckoned with.”