SEGUIN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran quarterback Trenton White (Sachse/Sachse) threw for 294 yards and three touchdowns (two to Caleb Oliver) as the Bulldogs defeated the Trinity Tigers 34-27 Saturday in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
 
TLU improved to 7-1 overall and to 1-0 in the SCAC. Trinity dropped to 2-6 overall and to 0-1 in the SCAC.
 
The Bulldogs, the defending champions of the SCAC, won for the 16^th time in the last 18 games.
 
White connected with Oliver (Pearland/Lutheran South) on a pair of six-yard scoring tosses. Both plays came in the second quarter and gave TLU a 17-7 lead at the half.
 
"They packed the box, seven maybe eight guys at a time in the box," said Danny Padron, TLU's fifth-year head coach. "They forced us to throw the football. Trent did a great job of again taking what the defense is giving us."
 
Trinity seemed intent on stopping TLU's Marquis Barrolle (Ingleside/Ingleside), the leading rusher in all of NCAA Division III. Barrolle entered the game with 1,243 yards in seven games.
 
The Tigers held Barrolle to a season-low 84 yards on 21 carries. Barrolle scored on an eight-yard run in the third quarter. (He had a 16-yard TD run wiped out due to penalty in the first quarter). Barrolle also caught five passes for 17 yards.
 
With Trinity's focus on Barrolle, the Bulldogs were effective with play-action and with White on read-option keepers. White rushed for a career-high 75 yards on nine carries and threw to seven different receivers. He completed 26 of 36 attempts.
 
"They were trying to stop Quis," said White. "That opens the passing game, and we have to do that to be successful."
 
Oliver, a sophomore, registered career-highs for catches (eight) and receiving yards (112). He matched a career-best with two touchdowns in a single game.
 
Oliver has five consecutive games with a touchdown reception. He has seven total TD receptions in 2014 after not playing on the varsity in 2013.
 
TLU senior receiver Lewis Williams II (Houston/Klein Forest) added eight receptions for 85 yards.
 
Barrolle's TD in the third produced a 24-14 lead for the Bulldogs and momentarily stopped the Trinity momentum in the second half.
 
Early in the half, the Tigers executed a reverse, wide-receiver pass that had Matt Kennemer taking the reverse pitch and tossing the ball down the right sideline to a wide-open Mason Blaschke, the quarterback.
 
The play went for 46 yards and cut the TLU lead to 17-14 with 11:29 to play in the third quarter.
 
After Barrolle's touchdown run, the Bulldogs added a 19-yard TD pass from White to freshman tight end Conner Baird (Kyle/Lehman). The TD put the Bulldogs in front 31-14 with 12:21 remaining in the game.
 
Blaschke's 1-yard TD for Trinity cut the lead to 31-20 with nine minutes to play.
 
Tyler Brandenburg's 39-yard field goal put TLU back up two touchdowns, 34-20, with 5:35 showing on the clock.
 
The Tigers made it a seven-point game on their next possession, taking the ball 69 yards in six plays for the score. Blaschke hit Jayden Holden on an 18-yard pass.
 
TLU's Williams successfully fielded an onside kick on the Trinity kickoff, and the Bulldogs ran the clock down to 15 seconds remaining for one final, possible Trinity miracle.
 
Knowing that Trinity pulled off one of the more remarkable wins in college football history, with a 15-lateral play to beat Millsaps in 2007, the Bulldogs held Trinity to two 13-yard completions on the last two plays of the game.
 
On both plays, Trinity appeared ready to begin laterals. The clock hit all zeros after the final play put the Tigers at the Trinity 21.
 
"To Trinity's credit they played us hard, played us a great ball game," said Padron. "We were really proud of our guys for hanging in there, overcoming some adversity and some bad things. Overall, we were pleased with the victory."
 
TLU freshman cornerback Poodie Strong (Carthage/Carthage) made his first career start and recorded an interception, four pass break-ups and five total tackles.
 
"Poodie has so much athletic talent and has been working so hard," said Padron. "He's no longer a freshman. He is a good player. (It was a) tough situation for him, but he ended up doing some good things for us. Probably should have had two interceptions."
 
The Bulldogs intercepted Trinity three times. Drake Dowling (Katy/Katy), Cedric Whitaker Jr. (Houston/North Shore), and Strong came up with the interceptions.
 
Trinity quarterbacks were 9-for-26 with three interceptions, two touchdowns and 154 yards.
 
Dowling led TLU with 10 total tackles, eight solo. He also contributed on special teams with a pair of punt returns into Trinity territory.
 
Dowling's 16-yard punt return in the second quarter set up the Bulldogs at the Trinity 38. Four plays later, the Bulldogs were in the endzone on a White-to-Oliver connection.
 
TLU travels to Sherman, Texas to face Austin College next Saturday. Kickoff in Austin College's Apple Stadium is set for 1 p.m. TLU will have live video and live audio on tlubulldogs.com (video) and seguintoday.com (audio).
 
Austin College is 5-3 overall and 1-0 in SCAC play after a 47-29 home win Saturday over Southwestern.