Did Lee Just Provide the Blueprint for Beating Trinity???

Trinity( Westside)- What was simply a preseason scrimmage between to area teams in preparation for the regular season, quickly turned into something more when one of those teams showed everyone in attendance that they could play with the champs. The Lee Generals, and head coach OJ Smalls took on Verlon Dorminey and the Trinity Christian Conquerors in a preseason scrimmage billed as simply a referee clinic. Yet it turned out that the refs weren’t the only ones in a clinic Satruday evening, as the Generals put on a defensive clinic against arguably the best offense in Florida.

Lee would display hard hitting and pressure early in the contest matching a strong defensive effort from Trinity as well. Trevor James recovered a Trinity fumble after Rasheed Martin lost a handle on the ball stretching for extra yards. The Generals would also get a sack. Some would say that Trinity just started slow, but it was obvious that Lee impressed the large crowd on hand with their play.

Lee’s offense moved the ball on big plays and found themselves in the redzone once on the 5 yard line, and another on the 6, but failed to come away with points. A missed field goal kept it 0-0 after the 1st quarter. Trinity’s defense kept the game tied with hard hitting from many of their start studded players.

Trinity’s offense had some nice plays including a 45 yard run by RB Rasheed Martin, but Lee controlled the tempo of the game. They would get into the redzone two more times in the first half and on their fifth trip Derrick Jones would find Cam Wakefield for a 10 yard touchdown pass to put the Generals up 7-0.

The second half was more of Lee. Cam Wakefield ran a 8 yard touch down to put Lee up 14-0. Lee’s Dorian Bowden would intercept DJ Mathews in the third setting up a Derrick Jones five yard touchdown run to make the score 20-0.

Trinity would get a touchdown on Marcus Crowley’s 6 yard keeper before the JV added a safety to end the game 20-9 Lee.

So how did Lee do it? Well start with talent at skill positions and in the trenches. O-Lineman Demetrius Harris and company paved the way for Wakefield to run the ball and gave Jones time to complete passes and also use his legs. Linebacker Keirston Johnson and the General defense held Trinity to just 43 yards of total offense after three quarters when the starters exited.

Solid tackling and turnovers set up the General offense in key momentum swings in the contest. The swings allowed Lee’s offense to control the clock. Though Trinity’s big time defense turned them away from points four times, Lee missed a field goal on one of those instances.

All in all it was an effective blue print on how to beat a team that has dominated all of the local teams it’s faced in our area for the last few years. The question is, who will have the talent and personnel to accomplish what the Generals did tonight? The answer…… Not many!

[ABTM id=23843]

About the author

Andre' Ellis, Founder/ Lead Writer DuvalSports.com Florida Times Union All-City 1998,LB, Sandalwood Florida A&M Unv, BA , MBA