JACKSON, Miss. – In the Southern Athletic Association (SAA) football opener for both teams, Trinity University jumped out to an early two touchdown lead and then held off Millsaps College, 28-26, to claim the win. The Majors had a chance at the end, but a 49-yard field goal attempt on the last play of the game was wide left, leaving the Tigers with the victory.
 
After holding Millsaps (1-2, 0-1 SAA) on its first drive of the game, Trinity (1-1, 1-0 SAA) took its first possession and drove 80 yards in nine plays to take an early 7-0 lead on a seven-yard run by Charles Davis. The Tigers forced another punt by the Majors, and on their second play Davis broke through the defense for a 52-yard score and a 14-0 lead at the 5:08 mark.
 
On its next possession Millsaps got its offense going, driving down to the Trinity 24 before stalling. The Majors' field goal attempt was blocked, but a penalty on Trinity gave Millsaps new life and on the next play junior quarterback Chance Clowers (Monroe, La.) saw junior Ty Durham (Geronimo, Texas) cutting across the end zone and rifled a pass in that Durham made an outstanding catch on from 12 yards out to put the Majors on the board two minutes into the second quarter.
 
Midway through the quarter Millsaps took advantage of a short punt and took over at midfield. A 29-yard run by junior Andrew Warren (Ocean Springs, Miss.) put the Majors deep in Trinity's end of the field before Clowers connected with junior Kain Mitchell (Slidell, La.) for a 16-yard score to tie the game up.
 
Trinity answered on the third play of the next drive when Rhodes Legg got behind the Millsaps defense and quarterback Austin Grauer found him for a 44-yard scoring to put the Tigers back on top.
 
Millsaps cut the lead to four on a 32-yard field goal by freshman Andrew Byrd (Yazoo City, Miss.) in the third, which were the only points scored in the quarter. Early in the fourth quarter the Majors inched closer, with a 26-yard field goal off the foot of sophomore Hunter Sellen (Covington, La.) making it a one-point game at 21-20.
 
Millsaps came up with a big goal-line stand on the ensuing Trinity possession when sophomore Reid Evans (Spring, Texas) came up with a stop on a fourth-and-goal at the two. The Majors could not move the ball, however, and Trinity got the ball back on the Millsaps 24 after a 24-yard punt return. The Tigers turned the good field position into points, with Grauer connecting with Cort Cowart for a 31-yard scoring play with 5:52 left that made it 28-20.
 
A 55-yard run by senior Isaiah Talton (Dallas, Texas) on the first play of the next Millsaps drive put the Majors on the Trinity side of the field. They took advantage six plays later when freshman Fritz Walker III (Madisonville, La.) took it over from the one. The two-point conversion was missed, however, leaving the Majors two points short at 28-26.
 
After the Millsaps defense held Trinity to just five yards on its next drive, the Majors took over on its own 38 with less than a minute left. They managed to get to the Trinity 32, only to see their field goal attempt go wide on the last play.
 
Millsaps will be back at home next weekend, hosting Sewanee at Harper Davis Field for a SAA contest starting at 1:00 p.m.