CANTON, Ga. – Trinity captures two Athlete of the Week honors while Messer of Southwestern garners his first award of the season.
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Athletes of the Week
Offensive:
Case Messer | Southwestern | FR | Dallas, TX – The Pirates may have unlocked a star in the freshman Case Messer who has been on a tear recently. When the running game wasn't working on Saturday, Messer stepped up for 8 catches on 165 yards and 2 touchdowns. He stepped up in the biggest moments with a one-handed catch of the year on the final drive of the game to send it to overtime. Then, on the first play in overtime he caught a pass on the 10 and ran through three defenders to score what turned into the game-winning touchdown grab. Messer has 15 catches for 264 yards and 3 touchdowns in the past two games.
Defensive:
TJ Scannell | Trinity | SR | San Antonio, TX – Scannell led the #15/18 Trinity football team to a hard-fought 16-13 SAA road win at Centre on Saturday. He led all players with 13 total tackles, including 10 solo stops. Scannell also had 2.0 sacks for a loss of eight yards, forced a fumble for one of three turnovers forced by the defense, and also had a pass breakup. Scannell was instrumental in the fourth quarter for the Tigers, beginning with a fourth-down sack on Centre's opening drive of the final period, which led to a game-tying field goal. He then forced a fumble on the first play of Centre's next drive that gave Trinity the ball back immediately. Late in the game after Trinity had taken the lead in the final minute, he recorded a sack on another fourth down play to seal the win.
Special Teams:
Jackson Runyan | Trinity | JR | Frisco, TX – Runyan led #15/18 Trinity to a 16-13 SAA road win at Centre on Saturday, kicking three field goals in four attempts - including a game-winning 44-yard kick with less than a minute left in the game. Runyan's only miss came at the end of the first half from 49 yards out, but it was blocked. He scored all nine of Trinity's points in the second half to complete the comeback by the Tigers. His first came with under 90 seconds left in the third quarter and cut Centre's lead to 13-10. Runyan then tied the game with a 25-yard kick with under nine minutes to play, then his game-winning kick finished the scoring and gave Trinity the lead with just 55 seconds remaining.
Notable Performances
Offense
- Brennan Keim | Rhodes | SO | Mandeville, LA – Brennan Keim accounted for 380 yards of total offense and four touchdowns in Rhodes’ 39-37 win at Sewanee. He completed 19 passes for 267 yards and two touchdowns without an interception and rushed 10 times for 113 yards and two scores. His 43-yard touchdown run put Rhodes ahead in the fourth quarter. On the game-winning drive, Keim converted third-and-12 with a 17-yard completion to Sani Bartlett, then found Maxwell Owen for 15 yards to move the Lynx into field goal range.
- Barton Mixon | Sewanee | SO | Savannah, GA – Barton Mixon rushed for 177 yards and four touchdowns on 26 carries for the Tigers in Saturday’s game. The junior running back accounted for four of the Tigers’ five touchdowns, including a 13-yard score in the second quarter, a 14-yard touchdown in the third quarter, and a one-yard touchdown with 4:23 remaining in the fourth quarter that gave Sewanee a 37-36 lead. Mixon’s 177 rushing yards helped the Tigers total 471 yards of offense and keep the game within reach until the final seconds. His four-touchdown performance was a standout effort in the Tigers’ back-and-forth contest against the Lynx.
Defense
- Braeden Cundiff | Southwestern | JR | New Braunfels, TX – Cundiff was an absolute game-wrecker in Saturday's upset 24-17 win over Maryville College as the Pirates held the Scots scoreless in the final 26 minutes. Cundiff was massive piece in the win with 9 tackles for a season high. The junior added 2 sacks and 3.5 tackles for a loss. He also caused a forced fumble as he completely changed the game.
Special Teams
- Connor Babin | Millsaps | JR | Fulshear, TX – Millsaps football junior kicker Connor Babin made both of his PATs, and sent five kickoffs for 311 yards (62.2-yard average). A trio of those kickoffs went for touchbacks, with one out of bounds, helping control field possession in a 30-29 win over Berry on Saturday.
- Grady Jones | Rhodes | JR | Brookhaven, GA – Grady Jones made a 35-yard field goal as time expired to lift Rhodes to a 39-37 win at Sewanee. His game-winner capped a 10-play, 49-yard drive after the Lynx took possession trailing by one with 4:16 remaining. Jones also went 4-for-4 on extra points to finish with seven points. He added a 36-yard punt that Sewanee fair-caught at its own 39-yard line.
2026 Football Report Archive (Offense/Defense/Special Teams)
Week One - Sept. 8: (Camerone Coleman, Berry/Myles Johnson, Millsaps/Jackson Runyan, Trinity)
Week Two - Sept. 14: (Barton Mixon, Sewanee/Zabian Boutan, Millsaps/Judson Crockett, Trinity)
Week Three - Sept. 21: (Barton Mixon, Sewanee/Diego Davila, Trinity/Miles Hamby, Berry)
Week Four - Sept. 28: (Jaxon Dabrowski, Maryville/Kylan Hall, Maryville/Grady Jones, Rhodes)
Week Five - Oct. 5: (Mushaba Zulu, Maryville/TJ Scannell, Trinity/Judson Crockett, Trinity)
Week Six - Oct. 12: (Carl Reed Jr., Millsaps/Delvin Gantt, Trinity/Brennon Saylor, Maryville)
Week Seven - Oct. 19: (Mason Trimble, Centre/Jacquese Abner, Maryville/Jaxson Rutledge, Maryville)
Week Eight - Oct. 26: (Mason Trimble, Centre/Jameer Martin, Southwestern/Judson Crockett, Trinity)
Week Nine - Nov. 2: (Grant Bizjack, Millsaps/Mario Brewer Jr., Centre/Brody Aylor, Centre)
Week Ten - Nov. 9: (Case Messer, Southwestern/TJ Scannell, Trinity/Jackson Runyan, Trinity)
Week Eleven - Nov. 16 (
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