SAN ANTONIO – Centre College football traveled to Texas to face Southern Athletic Association foe Trinity Saturday, and came away with a 27-21 victory at Trinity Football Stadium.

The Colonels improve to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in-conference, while handing the Tigers (4-2, 3-1) their first SAA loss of the season.

Centre employed a well-balanced offensive attack – totaling 206 yards through the air and 195 on the ground – and committed just one penalty throughout the entire victory.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Colonels got on the board with a touchdown on their first possession: a 10-play, 85-yard drive. Senior Devin Hayes (Bowling Green, Ky.) returned to his starting role and hit junior Jaylon Hibbs (Louisville, Ky.) for a 22-yard score. The ensuing PAT was blocked by the Tigers.

After being forced to punt on its first two possessions, Trinity finally hit pay dirt with a long drive of its own. Wyatt Messex plunged into the endzone near the start of the second quarter after an 11-play drive, and the made PAT gave the Tigers their first lead of the game at 7-6.

Momentum swung back in Centre's favor on the next possession, another lengthy drive that resulted in junior Trevor Carnell's (Shepherdsville, Ky.) one-yard touchdown run. Senior Ben Logsdon (Louisville, Ky.) converted the point after to give the Colonels a 13-7 advantage.

Trinity had its chances to answer before the halftime horn sounded, but it came up empty on a pair of field goal attempts to leave the score at 13-7 at the break. Junior Cody Estep (Pikeville, Ky.) picked up his second blocked kick of the season on the first try.

Centre scored touchdowns on two of its first three drives in the third quarter to make it 21 unanswered points.

Hayes hit fellow senior Austin Hayes (Hendersonville, Tenn.) for a six-yard touchdown pass, and Carnell followed with his second goal-to-go touchdown run that took the Colonels' lead to 27-7 after the PAT.

The Tigers capitalized on the first turnover of the game – a Devin Hayes fumble in the fourth quarter – to pull within 27-14 on Messex's second touchdown run.

Following a Centre punt, the Tigers took over again with less than four minutes remaining, and Evan McDowell eventually broke off a 45-yard touchdown scamper to pull the hosts within one score, 27-21.

Trinity's ensuing onside attempt went out of bounds, and a late hit personal foul from the Tigers as Centre tried to chew the clock helped seal the victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Junior Colin Burnam (Bowling Green, Ky.) led Centre with 113 rushing yards on 20 carries, and Carnell finished with 101 yards on 15 attempts. Carnell's two TDs pushed him up to eight for the season.

Hayes went 17 for 24 in his return as Centre's signal-caller, throwing for 195 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Centre's nine penalty yards were the fewest since its last game in San Antonio – a 20-14 loss against Trinity back on Nov. 5, 2011 in which the Colonels had no penalty yards.

Junior Alec Fontaine (Kettering, Ohio) led Centre with 11 total tackles, while sophomore John Wilson (Brandenburg, Ky.) paced the Colonels with seven solo stops.

Freshman punter Jake Holloway (Franklin, Tenn.) continued to impress, finishing with a 42.4 yard average on five punts, including a long of 52 yards.

UP NEXT

Centre returns to Farris Stadium next Saturday for Homecoming. The Colonels face Rhodes at 2:30 p.m. ET.