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Male's students lined the east end zone late in the fourth quarter, then rushed the field after Davis Mattingly knelt one final time with the seconds ticking off the clock in the Bulldogs' 24-14 victory over Trinity on Friday night.

When you haven't beaten a rival school in nearly 13 years, it's OK to be a little premature with the celebration.

"I've been waiting for two years to beat (Saint) X and Trinity," said Mattingly, the junior quarterback. "It's great. We got some great support. It's fun to be the talk of the school."

That talk will surely continue with Male facing arch*rival Manual next week with a chance to wrap up the District 4 title in Class 6-A. The Bulldogs (8-0, 2-0) found ways to capitalize on Trinity miscues, and the Shamrocks (4-4, 2-1) never recovered.

Male used its ground game early to take a 14-point lead, then used Mattingly's arm to keep the Rocks at bay.

It started on the game's first series, a nine-play, 80-yard drive. The Bulldogs ran on the last seven plays, culminated by a 7-yard touchdown run by Tyrone Wilkerson.

After Manual burned his secondary for 417 passing yards last week, Trinity coach Bob Beatty decided to only keep six defenders in the box.

"They were good enough to take care of the ball," Beatty said. "They took advantage of that, and we didn't handle it very well."

Trinity had a chance to score in the second quarter, but a 14-play, 67-yard drive ended with Andrew Deye missing a 29-yard field goal attempt. Two plays later, Ellis Cain (21 carries, 160 yards) swept left for 71 yards and made it 14-0.

Male also took advantage of a Trinity penalty late in the first half. A defensive pass interference call in the end zone put the ball at the Rocks' 16, where Caleb Bayse hit a 33-yard field goal with 2.6 seconds left for a 17-7 lead Bulldogs lead.

Male took advantage of another Trinity when it recovered Donald Brooks' fumble at the Rocks' 22 on the second play of the half. Three plays later, Mattingly hit Keion Wakefield for a 16-yard touchdown and a 17-point lead.

"That was a critical series," Male coach Chris Wolfe said. "Some people think the series at the end of the first half and the beginning of the second are the most important of the game. We had to get points there. You have to convert off turnovers."

Mattingly said Wakefield called for an audible on the play as he was lined up against a cornerback without a safety backing him up. Mattingly threw for the far corner and hit the sophomore in stride.

"I saw him beat the guy and (Wakefield) just made the play," Mattingly said.

While Male made plays, Trinity didn't. Quarterback Reggie Bonnafon struggled all night, completing just 12 of 33 pass attempts for 109 yards and a touchdown while running 14 times for 72 yards and another score. He had at least five passes dropped, but also overthrew a few receivers.

The victory is Male's first over Trinity since it won the 2000 Class 4-A championship at old Cardinals Stadium on Dec. 2, 2000. It also marked the first time a Jefferson County Public School beat the Shamrocks since Seneca on Sept. 19, 2003.

Not that any of that mattered to Beatty:

"The bottom line is, they were the better football team tonight."

Trinity 0 7 7 0 - 14
Male 7 10 7 0 - 24

Male - Tyrone Wilkerson 7 run (Jonah White kick); Male - Ellis Cain 71 run (White kick); Trinity - Reggie Bonnafon 7 run (Andrew Deye kick); Male - Caleb Bayse 33 FG; Male - Keion Wakefield 16 pass from Davis Mattingly (White kick); Trinity - Rodjay Burns 25 pass from Bonnafon (Deye kick).

T M
Total yards 231 342
First downs 13 16
Rushes-yds. 28-122 35-203
Comp-Att-Int 12-33-0 13-20-0
Passing yards 109 139
Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-0
Penalties-yds. 11-74 4-50
Punts-avg. 4-39 4-34

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