Trinity survives late push from Canon-McMillan for a 29-24 win

Tagged under: District 7, News, pfn, Scoreboard

Nathan Jones | September 5, 2026

The Trinity Hillers grabbed their second win of the 2026 season against the Canon-McMillan Big Macs. The Hillers came out to a quick start grabbing a 17-0 by the beginning of the second quarter. Canon-Mac fought back to make it 17-10 but after another run by the Hillers, the Big Macs found themselves in a 29-10 deficit. The home team gave another late push but it wasn’t enough and they ultimately lost 29-24.

The Hillers received the opening kickoff and immediately exposed the Big Mac defense. A short pass from Owen Samogala went into the hands of Braden Berdar who weaved through the secondary down and nearly scored had it not been for a touchdown saving tackle at the four from Canon-Mac’s Matthew Hirsch. Trinity back Owen Gardner quickly punched it in for the score the next play and put the Hillers up 7-0 early. The Big Macs were unable to do anything with their first drive and the Hillers received the punt at their own thirty-two. After an eighteen yard rush by Samogala, Gardner broke free for a fifty yard touchdown rush to open up an early 14-0 lead.

Canon-Mac started their next drive at their own thirteen and could once again do nothing on offense, and suffered a quick three and out. With excellent field position at the thirty-three, Trinity looked to pull away early, but couldn’t capitalize. Canon-McMillan’s Jordan Schulenberg recovered a Hiller fumble to give the Big Mac’s hope, which was short lived followed up with another three and out. The first play of the next series was another breakout run, this time by Daniel Glass, but Hirsch saved another touchdown with a clutch tackle. This time the save was crucial as Trinity was unable to score. After a series of quick plays and a quarter turn, Coach Dan Knause and the Hillers settled for three.

The next Big Mac drive made it all the way to the Trinity twenty-six before a turnover on downs. After a quick three and out by the Hillers, Canon-Mac drove their way down the field, and with less than second left on the clock, QB Ty Jansma threw a thirteen yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Roman Cimarolli to take a score of 17-7 into the locker room at halftime.

The Big Macs started the second half at their thirty-five after the kickoff flew out of bounds. Canon-Mac once again drove down the field to put points on the board. The drive, highlighted by a large passing play that found Jansma connecting with tight end Luke Sohya, was capped off by a Rhys Maentz field goal to put the Big Macs back within a score. Trinity’s next drive was a quick three and out, and The Big Macs drove down the field once again and it looked as though the game was about to be tied, but the Hillers defense stood tall and forced a Jansma fumble that was recovered by Brandon Kowcheck. The next drive by the Hillers took a chuck of clock out and did not end until 10:56 left in the fourth quarter. The drive was capped off by a 43 yard touchdown run by Glass. The extra point was unsuccessful to make the score 23-10. After one first down the Big Mac’s had a series of incomplete passes and a high snap. A long punt return and a penalty by Canon-Mac, the Hillers only had ten yards to put behind them. The playsheet called for two quick runs and the second one was punched in by Samogala. Another unsuccessful extra point made the score 29-10.

The Big Macs did their best to fight back. A forty-nine yard touchdown pass to Bryan Schmeltz and a two point conversion run by Jansma put Canon-Mac down by eleven. After an onside kick recovered by the kicker, Maentz, Canon-McMillan drove down the whole field again and running back Braelon Wingfield took in a four yard touchdown run. This time, the two point try was no good and the Big Macs found themselves down by 5. They would never see the ball again as the Hillers drained out the clock with a series of first downs. Samogala connected with WR Chase Kostelnik down the field with just minutes left, and then Gardner ran out the clock with two first downs.

Trinity (2-0) will square off at Hempfield next Friday, and Canon-McMillan (1-1) will look to get back in the win column when they visit Upper Saint Clair.