LEXINGTON — Behind a prolific running back, a steady freshman quarterback and a stout defense, the Trinity High School football team returned to the top of Class 6A football.

Clint Sansbury rushed for 155 yards and three touchdowns, Zane Johnson passed for 175 yards and a score and the defense dominated after the first quarter as the Shamrocks beat Bryan Station 41-20 on Saturday in the Class 6A championship at the University of Kentucky’s Kroger Field.

A rain-soaked crowd of 9,029 saw No. 2-ranked Trinity (12-3) win its record 28^th state title and first since 2020.

For Trinity’s seniors, it was redemption after missing the state final the past two seasons.

“They preach legacy at Trinity,” senior defensive end Nate Tronzo said. “The one thing we needed to have our legacy complete was this. We did it. We got here and came prepared and played well.”

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It also was the first title for Jay Cobb in his third season as Trinity’s head coach. Cobb has routinely said since he got the job that he knew the 2021 and 2022 seasons would be tough, even saying those teams ultimately overachieved.

In Year Three, Cobb and the Shamrocks are back on top.

“Trinity’s fan base just wants you to win,” said Cobb, who won five state titles as Trinity’s defensive coordinator from 2014-20. “They don’t care who you’re playing. They don’t care what kind of talent you have. They don’t care what your roster looks like. They just want to win. I get it. I understand it. As coaches, that’s all we want to do.”

No. 6 Bryan Station (11-4) was playing in a state final for the first time since 1999. The Defenders eliminated Trinity from the playoffs in the third round last year. Trinity beat Bryan Station 36-3 on Aug. 18 in the teams’ season opener.

“It’s a lot to keep up with Trinity over four quarters; I don’t think that’s a secret,” Bryan Station coach Phillip Hawkins said. “They just bring more guys at you and more guys at you. We’re trying to grow our program, and we’ve got ourselves pretty far. But we’re still short on guys, I believe.

“Inside, on the defensive front and offensive front, they just wore us down where we couldn’t manage the game the way we wanted to.”

Bryan Station’s Kalen Washington carried 20 times for 75 yards and three touchdowns.

His 2-yard touchdown run gave the Defenders a 14-3 lead with 4 seconds left in the first quarter, but Trinity scored the next 38 points.

Cobb said one key was Johnson, his freshman quarterback, settling down after some first-quarter jitters.

“He just was holding the ball a little too long,” Cobb said. “Any time you see a (quarterback) patting that football, you have a problem. And he was doing that a little bit early. Hadn’t done that in a long time. Every night when I lay that head on the pillow and think I have a 15-year-old starting in the 6A state championship game, it’s a little tough. … The good thing is he calmed down right away.”

With Trinity up 20-14, Sansbury made a key play early in the third quarter.

The Shamrocks lined up to punt on a fourth-and-2, but a direct snap to Sansbury led to a 48-yard run to the Bryan Station 13.

“We weren’t lined up right and had some guys out there that aren’t on our punt-return team,” Hawkins said. “We just got caught, and it was demoralizing to see them get that first down. You can’t give them an inch. It was a blow.”

Added Stansbury: “(Brady McEnaney) snapped it to me, and I saw nothing but green grass.”

After a penalty, Johnson connected with Luke Sasser for an 18-yard touchdown pass that gave the Shamrocks a 27-14 lead at the 9:35 mark of the third quarter.

It was all Trinity from there.

McEnaney, who played as a freshman on the 2020 championship game, was thrilled to see his fellow seniors go out as champions.

“I’ve been preaching to these guys the past three years, ‘You have to get to Kroger Field. You have to have the feeling of winning a state title,’” he said. “It’s the greatest feeling I’ve ever been through.”

BRYAN STATION              14          0            0            6 - 20

TRINITY                             3            17          14          7 - 41

First quarter

T – Carson Hilbert 30 FG

BS – Kalen Washington 2 run (Zachary Gentry kick)

BS – Washington 2 run (Gentry kick)

Second quarter

T – Clint Sansbury 1 run (Hilbert kick)

T – Hilbert 25 FG

T – Sansbury 1 run (Hilbert kick)

Third quarter

T – Luke Sasser 18 pass from Zane Johnson (Hilbert kick)

T – Sansbury 2 run (Hilbert kick)

Fourth quarter

T - Jamaurion Berry 11 run (Jeffrey Maddox kick)

BS – Washington 4 run (run failed)

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Trinity High tops Bryan Station, wins Kentucky Class 6A football title