Shades of blue and white will clash Friday night when the Blue Comets of Asheboro visit the Trinity Bulldogs. Previous meetings between these two rivals have proven Trinity to be the underdog as Asheboro has chalked up wins for the past three seasons.

But the tides have turned, because there’s a new ’Dog in town! The Comets, who are down 1-3 for the 2009 season, will face a much more unified, confident pack of ’Dogs. Trinity, after their victory over Surry Central last week, now stands 3-1.

Under rainy conditions and dark ominous skies, Trinity came on strong with the opening drive last Friday night as the ’Dogs rumbled past the Golden Eagles of Surry Central High School. Quarterback Rhyne Kivett rushed 74 yards on two carries and crossed easily into the end zone less than one minute into the game.

The kick by No. 22 Ron Griffin sailed through the uprights and the score was 7-0.

Kivett’s long pass to No. 7 Ryan Spencer, less than 4 minutes later, proved that Trinity meant business, as Spencer claimed another 6 points for the visiting team. No. 3 Adam Lacombe ran the ball in for two more points with the conversion.

But the home team proved they had staying power and with the ball on the 10-yard line, with just 24 seconds left in the first quarter, Surry Central found the end zone. The Golden Eagles continued to cut the deficit and later intercepted a pass from Rhyne Kivett with just a minute left to play in the half. As the final seconds ticked, Surry Central claimed another touchdown and an additional point with the extra kick.

“We let up a little bit after we scored early in the first quarter,” explained Trinity Coach Alex Mebane. “They whipped our offensive line, but we challenged our kids and in the second half they did better.”

The Bulldogs took Mebane’s challenge seriously and came on strong during the second half of play. Trinity racked up a total of 325 yards for the night, 195 of those during the last two quarters.

Midway into the third quarter, with the ball on the 33-yard line, Spencer snagged a beautiful long pass from Trinity’s Mario McInnis and hit pay dirt once again.

Less than three minutes later, No. 34 Kris Frazier took a handoff from Kivett and plowed through Surry’s Defense for another TD. The extra kick by No. 2 Scheynen Loeffler was good bringing the score to 28-13.

The ’Dogs recovered a Golden Eagles’ fumble on the 48, and continued to rack up the points. With 54 seconds left in the third quarter and the ball on the 43, Kivett, who had 12 carries for 172 rushing yards, came through with a quarterback keeper, effectively putting any hope of recovery out of the Golden Eagles’ grasp.

With two minutes left to play, McInnis ran in the pigskin from the 33 tacking on the last touchdown of the night. Griffin’s extra kick was good. The final score was 41-13.

Minutes after the victory, Mebane smiled and said,” They came through. I’m very proud of them.”

Victory came with a price, however.

At the conclusion of the game, two players needed medical attention. Surry Central’s Jason Esparza left the field earlier in the fourth quarter due to an apparent injury to the ankle. And Trinity’s Ron Griffin collapsed after the game due to a brutal collision with Golden Eagle’s Luke Harris in the final seconds of play. He was taken to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, where he was treated for a concussion and released. As of Monday, Griffin’s ability to play in Friday’s game had not been determined.