Campbell football dominates possession to beat Trinity in D3 championship game (video)

AMHERST - The Trinity High School football team put up points as well as any other team in the state throughout the season.

That included 36 points when the Pioneers beat Campbell during the regular season. While no defense was able to slow down Trinity's offense, the Cougars tried a different approach and held on to the ball.

No. 3 Campbell dominated time of possession, holding the ball for almost 40 minutes, and the Cougars got two touchdowns and two two-point conversions from Scott Hershberger to knock off No. 1 Trinity 16-14 in Saturday's Division III championship game at Souhegan High School. It's the program's third championship and first since 2017.

"We’re a grinding team," Hershberger said. "They’re a big-play type of team. It was a grind-it game, so we just came out on top."

The sophomore did most of that grinding for Campbell (9-2), as he carried 45 times for 208 yards, with touchdown runs of 38 and 2 yards, respectively. That helped the Cougars hold on to the ball for 39 minutes, 6 seconds, as they ran 69 plays to just 28 for the Pioneers (10-1).

Campbell outgained Trinity 279-152, with 97 of the Pioneers' yards coming on two plays.

"They did the same thing (Saturday) that they did earlier in the season," Trinity coach Rob Cathcart said. "We had a little bit of a hard time stopping it then and we had a little bit of a hard time stopping it now. We were just fortunate enough earlier in the season to make some plays with our opportunities. (Saturday) we weren’t able to execute as well when we had our opportunities so we left points on the table."

Trinity went into the game averaging 38.8 points, including a 36-22 win over Campbell back on Sept. 30. The Cougars lost their next game, too, against Monadnock, but since then, have hit their stride.

"Football is so long," Campbell coach Glen Costello said. "We started in August. For them to sustain greatness all year is super difficult. We had a little hiccup, they learned from it, they grew, and they didn’t make the same mistake."

Logan Daigle added 52 yards on 13 carries for Campbell and Jackson Kanaley had 10 yards. Trinity got 73 yards rushing from Anthony DiGiantommaso, including a 54-yard touchdown run, and the freshman also completed his one pass to DeVohn Ellis for 43 yards to set up the Pioneers' other touchdown.

But aside from those plays, Trinity gained just 55 yards.

"They got a big play on a trick play," Costello said. "I was confident in my defense that we weren’t going to lose on trick plays. They weren’t moving the ball against us. The second you rely on trick plays, it becomes a long game."

Campbell started the scoring on its second drive, capping a 15-play, 91-yard possession with Hershberger's 38-yard scoring run. The two-point conversion made it 8-0 with 8:13 remaining in the second quarter.

Trinity went to the air to try to draw even on its next possession, but after picking up nine yards on first down, the Pioneers threw incomplete on second down and Jack Service was picked off by Chris Corbett to give the Cougars the ball back. It looked like Campbell might be able to run out the half, but instead, it turned the ball over on downs at Trinity's 40-yard line with 40.7 seconds left.

Two plays later, DiGiantomasso hit Ellis for a 43-yard gain to the Campbell 14, and after a 9-yard completion from Service to Paul Thibault, the Trinity quarterback ran in from 5 yards out with 8.4 left in the half. Ellis ran in the conversion to tie the game at 8 going into halftime.

The Pioneers got the ball to start the second half, but the momentum didn't carry over, as they went three-and-out. Taking over at its own 39, Campbell went back to work, needing 13 plays to find the end zone on a 2-yard run by Hershberger, and another two-pointer made it 16-8 Cougars with 2:45 left in the third.

"We knew that if the stars aligned, no body could hang with us in the division," Costello said. "Our offensive line is the best in the division, and then you add all those things, in November, despite being 70 degrees, it’s important to be able to run the football. I don’t think there’s a ton of teams that rely on passing the ball in November. We schematically were able to do a bunch of things and take advantage of people, so it’s all execution."

Trinity picked up its first first down of the second half on the ensuing drive, but faced fourth-and-1 at its owns 46. After the Pioneers took a timeout, DiGiantomasso broke free for a 54-yard touchdown run, scoring with no time left in the third quarter, but Service was stopped short of the end zone on the conversion, keeping it a 16-14 Cougars' lead going to the fourth.

Campbell put together another 13-play drive, but this time, Trinity forced the ball over on downs at its 15-yard line with 3:49 left to play.

The Pioneers picked up a first down, getting a 7-yard run by DiGiantomasso on fourth-and-1, but on the next play, Service rolled to his right, looking to pass, and was sacked by Kanaley. The ball came free and Nick Hershberger recovered, giving Campbell possession at the Trinity 25 with 2:42 remaining and the Cougars were able to run out the clock.

"I felt like we had a shot to score," Cathcart said. "We had enough time to get it done but that didn’t happen. Sometimes it’s just a matter of executing and doing what you need to do in moments of pressure. That’s not always easy."

For Campbell, it was a revenge tour to get to the championship. Not only did the Cougars reverse a loss to the Huskies in the regular season with their semifinal win, they also avenged a loss in the 2018 D3 championship game, which was Costello's first year as head coach.

They finished it off with their first win over Trinity in four years.

"We were on the right track and we peaked at the right time," Scott Hershberger said. "We’ve been getting better all season. When we played them before, our intensity wasn’t there. I thought it was us and Trinity, and it was."