BY ALLEN LAMOUNTAIN

STAR CORRESPONDENT

A home school team that plays like a travel ball squad will be on Warrior Hill on Friday night when Trinity Academy takes on Happy Valley.

Trinity (4-4) has faced opponents from Tennessee (Boyd Buchanan, Gatlinburg-Pittman, Grace Christian and HV), North Carolina (Mitchell, Cherokee, Asheville) and South Carolina (Camden) and will take on Sugar Hill (Georgia) in its season finale.

The Knights have absorbed some lopsided beatings this season including last week’s 47-20 loss to Grace, but has also recorded some huge wins outside Tennessee, including 53-0 over Cherokee (NC) and Gladiator Sports Academy (NC) 61-0, so it is difficult to get a clear picture of who this team is.

“They are very athletic and have guys that can score from anywhere on the field,” Happy Valley head coach Jason Jarrett said. “They have weapons all over the field. Their quarterback runs their offense well and they have all kinds of skill kids.”

The Warriors (6-2 overall) come off a disappointing 24-14 loss to Mountain East Conference rival Sullivan North and are looking to rebound on Senior Night.

“We have said all year that if you turn the ball over you will likely lose,” Jarrett said. “Last week was the first that I recall that we lost fumbles and we lost two in that game and had a couple of interceptions.

“Two of our turnovers were in the red zone and that is back-breaking. If you lose the turnover battle you will lose the ball game.

“Even though we were able to get some turnovers last week we were unable to capitalize on them as we should have.”

HV gave up a season-high 287 ground yards to the Raiders and will look to shore that up in their clash with the Knights.

Yancy Dolen had 133 yards on the ground for North and clinched the game with a 40-yard smash up the gut that gave the Raiders a 22-14 lead.

Senior night could tend to be a distraction but coach Jarrett said, “I think it’s good to give our seniors their appreciation and recognition for their accomplishments. This is a special group of young men – most of them have been with the program for four years and they deserve to be recognized.”

This senior group includes WR Will Tittle, RB Jordan Campbell, TE Ty Pierce, OL Cameron Slone, OL Peyton Blevins, DE Marquise Cole, OL Trayvor Hyatt, and OL Raymond Kempton – all contributors to the success the Warriors have enjoyed this season.

Trinity head coach Scott Allgood has led his squad to a 4-4 mark this season and has an overall winning record of 100-45 with his 100^th victory recorded this season and he has coached his team to upset wins over the likes of Hampton who Trinity defeated 28-6 last season, so HV must play well to avoid an upset.

The game time is 7:30 pm on Warrior Hill.