Clutch kick carries McKeesport past Trinity

By: Jeremy Tepper
Friday, September 25, 2020 | 11:00 PM

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The story of McKeesport’s unlikely hero on Friday started in Matt Miller’s homeroom. In search of a kicker for this season, Miller convinced Milton Campos to give it a try.

Campos, a sophomore on the soccer team, never played football before, but Miller knew he had a big leg. The early practice results were bad. But week by week and month by month, Campos got better.

That improvement paid off big time for the Tigers, as Campos drilled a 22-yard field goal with seven minutes left to give McKeesport a 10-7 win over Trinity.

“What a job by our kicker,” Miller said. “He hit seven extra points last week and now he hits a clutch field goal. It’s tough when you’re playing soccer all week and then you come out here and you’re kicking in front of all these fans, and the game is on the line. What a gutsy kick.”

As the score indicated, it was a sloppy, defensive struggle all game long. McKeesport turned the ball over five times, all on fumbles. Trinity (1-2, 1-2) fumbled once and threw an interception. Both defenses were stout, while the offenses sputtered and slogged.

McKeesport (2-1, 1-1) scored all of its points in the second half, first getting on the board a minute into the third quarter when a Trinity defender tipped a deep pass that fell right into Devontae Hampton’s hands for a 46-yard touchdown.

McKeesport grinded it out from there, not scoring outside of the field goal, but effectively playing keepaway from Trinity, dominating the time of possession with short runs by quarterback Terrance Glenn, who ended up with 83 yards on 22 carries.

“They can grind it out. That’s what they do,” said Trinity coach Jon Miller. “They did enough to keep the ball. It’s hard to win football games when you only have the ball on offense three times in the second half.”

Trinity began the game with the football and immediately took the lead, putting together a swift, effective three-minute drive that was finished off with a 13-yard touchdown run by Micah Finley. Jon Miller said he thought his team was able to shock McKeesport with that drive. Matt Miller agreed that it served as a wake-up call of sorts.

“I think we weren’t really ready to play. I think we were really flat,” said Matt Miller. “I was getting on them from the beginning that we weren’t really ready to go, and I can’t believe it because we only have seven games.”

The rest of the first half was back and forth, in the sense that each team was quickly giving up possession to the other. McKeesport fumbled on three straight possessions, including once at Trinity’s 1-yard line. Trinity was picked by Hampton in the second quarter and otherwise struggled to move the ball.

Jon Miller said the Hillers usually play good defense against option teams and Friday’s game was no exception. Matt Miller, too, was quite pleased with his defense.

“The defense is playing outstanding. They’re carrying us right now, which is good,” Matt Miller said. “You don’t want to get into scoring matches with people. Our defensive coaches do an outstanding job preparing the kids.”

The wheels started in motion on Campos’ game-winner when McKeesport fumbled at Trinity’s 13 yard-line. The turnover stung, but the Tigers forced a three and out, regained possession at the Hillers’ 48 and got down the field for the field goal. The Tigers defense continued to dominate and put pressure on Hillers quarterback Connor Roberts and eventually came away with the win. And because of that end result, Miller can swallow Friday’s mistakes a little easier.

“We have a lot of injuries, a lot of first time starters, and it showed. We really have to get cleaner,” Matt Miller said. “But I’m just happy to get a win.”

Watch an archived broadcast of this game at Trib HSSN.

Tags: McKeesport, Trinity