DUBLIN — Bulloch Academy opened up its playbook in the second half to score 21 unanswered points and take a 28-0 victory over Trinity Christian School on Friday night at Cleve Warnock Field.
    A quick-hitting inside trap, coupled with the Gators’ option, kept the Crusaders’ defense off balance as Bulloch racked up 287 yards rushing. Senior tailback Harrison Averitt rambled for 192 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. He also caught a soft Loy Waters pass over the middle and raced 68 yards for another score.  
    Bulloch (4-0) wasn’t fooled by Trinity’s Wing-T offense as the Crusaders only mounted two serious second-half scoring threats. The Gator defense turned them away on a fourth-and-goal midway through the third quarter and on a fourth-and-3 situation at the BA 18 late in the fourth.
    The Gators took a 7-0 lead on their second possession of the first quarter.
    After a 40-yard punt by BA’s J.P. Padilla and a TCS fumble put the Crusaders at their own 7-yard line, Bulloch held on three consecutive plays and forced a short punt.
    BA then marched 54 yards on eight plays for the game’s first score. On a third-and-2 at the TCS 17, BA quarterback Loy Waters called his own number on the Gator option. He appeared stopped but kept driving and finally broke loose from a tackler, bounced outside and scrambled the remainder of the distance for the score with 3:25 left in the quarter.
    Bulloch’s defense crushed any first-half drives that the Crusaders (3-2) started. Senior Bailey Smith halted one with an interception, and tough play by the likes of Zach Sapp, Loy Waters, Dylan Stuckey, Jarret Humphries, Asa Johnson and Jake Hagan stopped the others.
    BA had another scoring opportunity before halftime as the Gators began using an inside trap play to exploit the Crusaders. Averitt broke free on a 32-yard jaunt late in the second half to put the Gators at the TCS 7-yard line with 40 seconds remaining. But a sack on Waters with less than 15 seconds left on the clock and no more timeouts forced the Gators to rush the field-goal unit onto the field. A hurried attempt ended in a muffed kick with 1.7 seconds left.
    Trinity opened the second half by playing ball-control football. The Crusaders got a 59-yard kickoff return from Stephon Johnson and started at the Gator 40. Bulloch’s defense bent as TCS used nine plays to get to a first-and-goal at the BA 8. But a penalty after a play backed TCS up to the 21. The Gators held three times to take over on downs.
    Five plays later, Waters hit Averitt in stride on a short pass, and the BA speedster raced to pay dirt for a 68-yard touchdown pass with 3:50 left in the quarter.
    In the fourth, it was BA’s turn to play ball control.
    The Gators used a 10-play drive to take a 21-0 lead. Fullback Matt Sheppard got loose and rambled 17 yards for the score with 8:27 left. After the stiff Gator defense held Trinity to another three-and-out, the BA trap worked again for Averitt as he broke through the TCS line, bounced outside and galloped 59 yards for the final touchdown.