Trinity takes down Greater Latrobe in the WPIAL first round

Tagged under: District 7, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs

Nathan Jones | November 7, 2026

In dominating fashion, the Trinity Hillers beat the Greater Latrobe Wildcats. For the second straight week, the Hiller defense did not give up a single point. This game was very defensive as only two offensive touchdowns were scored. Trinity did eventually take over though, and walked away with a 21-0 victory to move on in the playoffs.

To open up the game, both offenses fumbled the ball away to the other team. Unlike Latrobe, Trinity was able to use their defense’s gift as fuel for the offense. The Hillers immediately drove down the field and scored a touchdown. This touchdown was taken away because of holding, but Trinity did not let this get to them. QB Owen Samogala said, “We just had to keep going, push through mistakes and keep grinding away.” The following plays then led to a Daniel Glass touchdown from Samogala. The ensuing extra point was an odd play where it was almost converted for two. A botched hold got the ball into kicker Cooper Cincinnati’s hands and he found a receiver. The receiver made a few men miss but slipped in front of the goal line leading to no extra points. That was the last time the fans saw points in the first half. Both teams missed field goals in the second quarter but the halftime score was 6-0.

The two teams exchanged punts to start the second half, but Trinity took over with just over five minutes left in the third quarter. Samogala looked to pass but found a hole and took off down the sideline. The touchdown run from Trinity’s quarterback was seventy-two yards, and the two point try was completed to Ayvari Chandler. On the very next drive, the Wildcats fumbled on the first play and Trinity recovered. A longer field goal try was attempted by Trinity but was no good. A few plays later, and the third quarter was over with the score 14-0.

Two minutes into the final quarter, Latrobe’s quarterback lost control of the ball and the Hillers defense recovered it once again. This time the Hillers defense took matters into their own hands, and Teagan Barr returned the fumble for a touchdown. Those points were the final points of the game, but Trinity never had to worry about more points as their defense took over. Chase Kostelnik grabbed an interception for the Hillers and Latrobe never scored points. After a few runs to drain out the rest of the clock, THS was able to celebrate their win with the home crowd.

Trinity will face off against 1 seeded Pine Richland in the WPIAL 5A Quarterfinals next Friday.