LASKER – Apparently, Trinity Christian School wanted to send a message.

It was heard, loud and clear, but it wasn’t well received.

The top-ranked, unbeaten and defending NCISAA 8-man football champs scored early, often and even a surprising score at the end as Trinity routed Northeast Academy, 67-0, here last night (Friday).

After stopping the Eagles at the visitor’s 17 yardline with less than two minutes left in the game, Trinity, with its starters still in the game, appeared to be content to run out the clock. However, on a 4th down snap, a sweep around the right side by Jay Brown resulted in a 68-yard TD run with 38 seconds left in the game.

That left a sour taste in the mouths of the Northeast faithful who were bidding farewell to four hard-working seniors – Russ Flythe, Zach Mize, Caleb Newsome and Jud Smith – who had played key roles in the success of the Eagles during the Coach Collin Sneed era in Lasker.

Trinity got off to a quick start, scoring three times in the first seven and one-half minutes en route to a 22-0 lead. Damien Steadman (29 yards), Chris Zavala (77 yards) and Chris Clayton (36 yards) accounted for those scoring runs.

Northeast did have one good drive in the opening period where a Davis Harrell to Jud Smith pass play that covered 31 yards had the Eagles at the Trinity 40 yardline. However, the drive ended four plays later at the 23 yardline on an interception.

Any hopes of a Northeast comeback were dashed in the second quarter where Trinity scored 31 points to seize a commanding 53-0 halftime lead. Touchdown runs by Brown (16 and 8 yards) and Michael Mathis (1 yard) plus a fumble recovery in the endzone by Steve Johnson accounted for Trinity’s second quarter scoring blitz.

Northeast fell to 3-5 with the loss while Trinity improved to 8-0.