Knights ready for a change
Prep football: Trinity looks to escape losing skid against St. Pius X-St.Matthias Academy
Looking to get out of a two-game losing slump, Trinity Classical Academy football faces off against St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy on Saturday at Salesian High School at 3 p.m.
Trinity (1-3) comes into the game averaging 258 yards passing per game with junior quarterback Rick Roberts contributing heavily to those numbers. But after Phineas Yi’s performance against SCCS, head coach Les Robinson is contemplating a change.
“When we play high-scoring games or games against championship-caliber teams, we need (Yi’s) mobility,” Robinson said. “Yi just has the knack for reading and reacting. We just need him to hone in on the offense and stop relying on his athleticism.”
Roberts has thrown seven touchdowns on the season while Yi sits in second on the teams with five. Yi threw three touchdowns against SCCS.
Carson Campuzano, AJ Horning and Kyle Fields are the Knights’ three leading receivers, combining for 12 touchdowns just four games into the season.
“All three of them are in the top 10 in the state in receptions and scoring,” Robinson said. “They each have their own deal. Horning reminds me of (former SCCS player) Jacob Moss, but is faster. Kyle can do anything and is a very skilled and multi-faceted athlete. Carson is very cerebral and really nasty with his sweet moves that can shake you out of your socks.”
St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy is coming off their first win of the season after a 3415 win against Cantrell-Sacred Heart of Mary and has played some run-of-the-mill opponents thus far.
Heavily relying on the ground game, the Warriors (1-3) have rushed 127 times on the season for 594 yards, compared to 65 pass attempts for 362 yards.
Running backs Daushin Wright and Domingo Ladson have carried the ball 59 times for 300 yards and two touchdowns, and 20 times for 154 yards and a touchdown.
“Their ground game is their pass game,” Robinson said. “Ninety percent of the time the ball goes to (Ladson) and (Wright). When they pass, they either pass to one of their running backs on screens or tailback screens. They are both very elusive and this team is probably the best running team that we will play all year. “Even their line can run.”
With just one more game before Academy League play picks up, the Knights will look to take the next two to head into league play with a .500 record of better.
“We have to get it going again,” Robinson said. “We played two great teams the last two weeks and both of them will be in the playoffs, but the next few games should be better. We need to get the engine hot and learn from both of those losses because if anything, they taught us a lot about of ourselves.”