Sep 11, 2015 4 min read

Two of the biggest offensive juggernauts in Class AAA football last year were Laurel Highlands and whoever played Laurel Highlands.

Last year, the Mustangs averaged 27 points per game but gave up 40. They were the only non-winless team in Class AAA to give up 40 points per game.

This season, the Mustangs’ offense can still make the scoreboard explode but LH is discovering that playing a little defense can pay big dividends.

Laurel Highlands forced five Trinity turnovers and used huge offensive games from quarterback Jimmy Pierce, wide receiver Chad Livingston and fullback Christian Jones to defeat Trinity 44-21 in a Big 10 Conference game Friday night at Hiller Field.

Pierce, Laurel Highlands’ lefty quarterback, completed 14 of 22 passes for 324 yards and four first-half touchdowns. The Mustangs scored 24 points in the final 8:10 of the first half to turn a 7-0 lead into a 31-7 advantage at intermission.

Three of Pierce’s touchdown passes went to Livingston, covering 48, 45 and 60 yards. Pierce, who is only 5-10 but adept at running the Mustangs’ spread option offense – think Navy and Air Force style of option attack – also rushed for 98 yards and scored on a 10-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter to give LH a 37-13 lead.

Jones slipped out of the backfield and caught a 26-yard TD pass that gave LH (2-0, 2-0) a 14-0 lead. He also burst up the middle for a 70-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter and finished with 92 rushing yards on eight carries. Jones also intercepted two Trinity passes in the second quarter, setting up 10 points for the Mustangs.

“We’ve played great defense for two weeks,” LH coach Zach Just said. “You look at the scoreboard and you might say that doesn’t look like good defense, but our defense set the tempo.”

The biggest defensive play for the Mustangs came in the first quarter, with the game scoreless, and was made on a 23-yard run by Trinity tailback Dajour Hull. When Hull burst up the middle, Livingston, a defensive back, caught him at the two-yard line and stripped the ball away. Livingston raced back upfield to the LH 42-yard line.

The Mustangs stole the momentum on that play and never gave it back.

“Momentum can be overrated sometimes,” said Trinity coach Jon Miller, who was trying for his first win with the Hillers. “That play was in the first quarter and there was a lot of game left. We needed to stop the run and defend the pass and we didn’t get the job done.”

LH took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter when Pierce connected with Livingston over the middle for a 48-yard score. The Pierce-to-Jones pass made it 14-0 with 8:10 left in the first half, but Trinity (0-2, 0-2) got a 22-yard TD pass from quarterback Garrett Brain to Tyler Denman to cut the gap to 14-7 with 5:25 left before halftime.

The rest of the half was a nightmare for Trinity. Three offensive plays after the Hillers’ score, Pierce hit Livingston on a fly pattern for a 45-yard touchdown. Jones’ first interception set up Cameron Lizaa’s 30-yard field goal, and another interception by Jones led to a 60-yard TD pass to Livingston on a crossing route with 18 seconds left in the half.

Pierce completed 11 of 16 passes for 274 yards in the first half.

“He might be my favorite athlete in this conference to watch,” Miller said.

The Trinity defense might have been watching Pierce too much.

“It’s difficult when you’re facing a triple-option team,” Miller said. “You have to be disciplined. I think sometimes our eyes were looking in the wrong places a few times and receivers ran past us.”

Dylan Kern entered the game at quarterback in the second half and pumped some life into the Hillers’ offense, completing eight of 12 passes for 143 yards and a 59-yard swing pass to Hull for a touchdown. Hull rushed for 79 yards on 18 carries that included a two-yard TD run off right tackle in the third quarter.

LH, however had too much Pierce and cut short Trinity’s comeback after the Hillers pulled to within 37-21.