A second-half surge powered Trinity Knights football to a homecoming victory on Saturday.  Trinity routed the visiting Temecula Prep Patriots, 40-7, after trailing for a majority of the first half, leading to the Knights’ eighth straight victory.  The Knights (8-0, 3-0) fired off 34 unanswered points in the second half as suddenly everything started to click on offense and defense.  Leading the charge on both sides of the ball was senior John Carlson, who added 113 total yards, a pair of touchdowns, a critical third-down sack and a fumble recovery.  Trinity linebacker John Carlson (8) tackles Temecula Prep’s Josh Maamo (12) during the first quarter of Saturday’s game at College of the Canyons on Oct. 19. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal “We started playing more physical. We wanted it,” Carlson said. “We came out soft, flat, we weren’t physical. We turned it around, we started doing our thing, we executed and the scoreboard shows that.”  The Trinity defense shut out Temecula Prep (6-2, 2-1) for the final three quarters. Carlson was one of four Knights to register sacks alongside Chase Backman, John Cuomo and Hudson Sweitzer, who added 1.5 sacks and forced a safety.   Sweitzer also added an 11-yard rushing touchdown to ice the game.  “We just got back to what we do,” said Knights coach Mike Parrinello. “We’ve been practicing building on being a disciplined football team that sticks to our game plan. Play four quarters, and they kind of just let it go in the second quarter, and they got it back to why we preached four quarters. Nobody cares what the halftime score is. Nobody cares what the first quarter score is. And the boys really believed in that.”  Knights quarterback Noah Visconti led a heavy pass attack in the second half, where the Knights didn’t throw the ball until their third drive. Visconti connected with John and his brother Andrew Carlson for passing touchdowns, to help extend the lead.  Trinity didn’t make its normal barrage of highlight plays in the first half. In fact, the Knights had just one throw of more than 13 yards until the third quarter.  Consistent runs by senior back Sweitzer and Aiden Visconti powered the team on its opening drive before the latter punched a 1-yard rushing touchdown.   The Patriots responded on their ensuing drive with big runs and throws down the field.   Patriots running back James Brown consistently made something out of nothing, with risky but effective cutbacks on nearly half of his runs, which typically ended in solid results. Brown put the Patriots ahead late in the first quarter with an 8-yard rushing touchdown.   Neither team could find points for the remainder of the first half.   The teams exchanged fumbles on consecutive drives toward the end of the second quarter.   Temecula Prep started gaining momentum following the turnover and quickly found itself in the red zone.   The younger Carlson made one of the key defensive plays of the first half with a touchdown-saving tackle of a scrambling Patriots quarterback as time expired in the second quarter.   Andrew, a sophomore, also added a pick and two fumble recoveries.   Both Carlsons are baseball players first and foremost, and were learning how to play 11-man tackle football less than two years ago.  “Hard work, weight room, dedication …” John said on his and his brother’s growth as football players. “I’m grateful for the genetics and things like that, but that’s only part of it. The other part is hard work, wanting to hit the weight room, wanting to do the things that are going to translate onto the field. I took that to heart.”  Trinity linebacker John Carlson (8) tackles Temecula Prep wide receiver Aiden Hoover (21) during the first quarter of Saturday’s game at College of the Canyons on Oct. 19. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal On the topic of multi-sports athletes, Trinity inducted its first-ever class to the school’s athletic hall of fame. Trinity alumni James Brooks, Kaeli Massetto and Dakota Prochnow were inducted about 10 years after their outstanding sports careers. Massetto shined year-round in volleyball, soccer and softball while Parrinello coached the dual-sport athlete Brooks and Prochnow years ago.  “I was lucky enough to coach both James Brooks and Dakota Prochnow, when I was an assistant coach years ago, back in the eight-man days,” Parrinello said. “It’s good to see how the program’s developed and those guys that are part of that first Hall of Fame class, they were the groundwork. They were the foundation of this program. Their success built us to get more players out here and allowed us to go from the eight-man to 11 man.”  Parrinello believes his 2024 team will likely have some players eventually selected into the school’s hall of fame, as most of his standouts play at least one more sport.  Trinity quarterback Noah Visconti (2) hands off the ball to John Carlson (8) during the second quarter of Saturday’s game against Temecula Prep at College of the Canyons on Oct. 19. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal “There’s definitely some guys on this team that are probably going to be future Trinity Hall of Famers,” Parrinello said. “There is no doubt. Now these guys are carrying the torch. Almost everybody on this team plays another sport, and for some of them this is their second sport, but they still come out here and shine. That’s a good problem to have. Andrew Carlson, like John, is probably even a better baseball player than football player. But then they come out here and dominate because they’re just good athletes with good attitudes.”  Trinity has two games left to complete its first undefeated regular season in 11-man football and the program’s first since 2011.  The Knights will head to Silver Valley in search of their ninth straight win on Friday at 7 p.m.  John knows it won’t be easy but believes the team can continue their magic and make 10-0 happen with a few checked boxes.   “Physicality, ability to execute and wanting it,” said the senior Carlson. “I think we’re totally capable of doing it. We’ve got Silver Valley next week and then Riverside Prep and we’ve never beaten Riverside Prep. That’s gonna be a fun one.”   Trinity wide receiver Corey Moberg (33) runs the ball during the second quarter of Saturday’s game against Temecula Prep at College of the Canyons on Oct. 19. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal Trinity wide receiver Adam Hirsch (11) runs the ball against Temecula Prep cornerback Josh Maamo (12) during the second quarter of Saturday’s game at College of the Canyons on Oct. 19. Habeba Mostafa/ The Signal The post Trinity football stays hot, beats Temecula Prep  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.