High School Football: No. 3 Trenton Emerges Late Past No. 4 Newberry, 19-18

NEWBERRY, Fla. — In a rivalry district game that had pride at stake, Trenton came back in the fourth quarter to defeat Newberry, 19-18.

Trenton, the third-ranked team in the Class 1A rankings, had to take on an undefeated fourth-ranked team in “Panther Country.” Needless to say, this game has been highly anticipated all week long—actually, since last season.

With a total of 307  yards on the ground, Newberry showed why they are the area’s top rushing team. Their front-runner in this match-up was Junior Jakhai Mitchem, who piled on 137 total yards after carrying the ball nine times. This turned out to be a game-high for the Junior and Senior Jacquez Jernigan was not far behind, with a total of 91 rushing  yards.

Trenton may have come up short in the run-game competition after putting 244 on the Panthers’ home field, but they came up big in the fourth quarter. In final minutes, the defending state champions orchestrated a game-plan that could go down in Trenton Football history. Michael Smith’s 82-yard touchdown run followed up by Montrez Jackson adding on another touchdown, after going 76 yards, was enough to come back against Newberry.

A victory was in the eye of these Tigers

The Panthers were handed their first loss of the season and now sport a 6-1 record. This Newberry team i still poised and motivated. Next week, they travel to face Dixie County for another district game. On the other side, Trenton is on a five-game win streak and holding a 5-1 record. The Tigers are headed back home next week to go up against Williston—District Title could be clinched with a win.