Photo by Brian McLean/GM Sports Media
By Nolan Ruth
X – @RealNolanRuth
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WILLOW PARK— The second year of the Scott Campbell era got started off with an exceptional start for the Trinity Christian Eagles. In the first game under the new TAPPS schedule, the Eagles went into week zero against a familiar opponent, the Arlington Newman Warriors.
In one of the best all-round displays of discipline this team has had in a long time, TCA cruised to a dominating 56-0 victory. The defense was dominating, and the offense had its way with the opposing Warriors.
TCA will now move on to face Dallas Shelton in Week 1 next Friday, August 28 in Dallas.
“I thought our guys’ energy tonight was great,” Campbell said after the win. “We had some really good practices going back to August 3rd leading into tonight, and we were really chomping at the bit to get out here in front of our home fans and kick off the ‘26 season.”
The game was pure domination from start to finish, as the Eagle defense forced a quick three-and-out which quickly turned into a seven yard scoring run by quarterback Colt Brinkman two plays later.
Another quick stop on the ensuing drive then led to another seven yard touchdown run, this time from Pearson Kuykendall to make the score 14-0 early.
The next drive did not go so well, ending in a juggling interception. However, Noah Keyes continued his career day by coming up with a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown, bringing the score to 21-0 after one quarter of play.
Keyes ended the night with 1 catch for 26 yards and a touchdown, six extra-points, a tackle, and an interception return for a touchdown.
“Noah is a great addition,” Campbell commented. “First and foremost he’s a great team player. He battled all fall camp for the quarterback job and now he’s kind of finding a new role for our offense. As the weeks go well utilize him as a receiver, his leg is certainly a weapon as well and I think this is just the beginning for Noah Keyes…”
Keyes found himself scoring on the offensive side of the ball on the very next drive when Brinkman pulled off the play action and found his number one target over the middle from 26-yards out to extend the lead.
After another defensive stop, Brinkman made a flip pass to standout player Hank Nash on the end-around from 34-yards that resulted in a touchdown.
Once again, another defensive stop set up the TCA offense in prime position, and Kuykendall scored his second of the game on a 43-yard scamper to paydirt, extending the lead to 42-0 at halftime.
Per TAPPS rule, the second half involved a running clock. That did not stop the dominance from persisting. Hank Nash took the opening kickoff off of the hop and raced 70 yards to the end zone. After one last defensive stop, the Eagles started subbing in their reserves, and Marshall Hughes capped off the scoring with a 59-yard touchdown run just before the third quarter came to a close.
In the fourth quarter, both teams settled down and ran out the clock, ultimately ending in the 56-0 final score.
