Trinity Catholic to close; Players to watch

The St. Louis Archdiocese announced this week that Trinity Catholic High School, which had become one of the state’s top small school football programs in recent years, will close at the conclusion of the 2020-21 school year . Trinity emerged as one of the state’s top programs in the past five years. The Titans went 12-1 in 2016, losing to Lamar in the Class 2 state championship game, and 9-1 in 2017, then went 13-2 in 2018, when they defeated Cardinal Ritter for the Missouri Class 3 championship. Trinity went 9-4 in 2019, losing to Cassville in the state semifinals, before going 1-4 in the abbreviated 2020 season. Trinity has produced several Division I prospects during its successful run, including Isaiah Williams (Illinois), Marcus Washington (Texas), Larry Boyd (Illinois), Mookie Cooper (Missouri), [player_tooltip player_id="37159" first="Tyler" last="Hibbler"] (Missouri), [player_tooltip player_id="37164" first="Demetrius" last="Cannon"] (Louisville) and others. The announcement of Trinity’s closure means the current crop of talented Titans will now have to seek new schools for the 2021-22 school year and beyond. There were three Trinity players ranked the among the top 60 prospects in Missouri in <a href="https://prepredzone.com/missouri/rankings/2023-rankings/">PrepRedzone’s most recent rankings for the Class of 2023</a>. Here is a quick look at those players... <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="37686" first="Demetrion" last="Cannon"], 6-0, 180, WR-DE</strong> Ranked as the sixth-best wide receiver and No. 34 prospect in the Class of 2023, Cannon looks like a Division I prospect like his older brother, Demetrius, who is headed to Louisville in the fall. The younger Cannon was Trinity’s second-best receiver (behind his older brother) this past season when he caught 10 passes for 220 yards in five games. He also recorded 18 tackles and four sacks from his defensive end spot. <iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/12400580/5fa829b3d225c1075cfe9955" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="37660" first="Christian" last="Cotton"], 5-11, 170, QB </strong> Cotton is ranked as the fifth-best quarterback and No. 35 prospect (right behind Cannon) in the Class of 2023 rankings. Cotton is already a two-year starter at the varsity level. As a freshman, in 2019, he completed 58 percent of his passes for 1,655 yards, with 16 touchdowns against nine interceptions, and ran for 168 yards and three touchdowns. During the five-game 2020 season, Cotton completed 71 percent of his passes for 730 yards, with one touchdown against two interceptions, and ran for 317 yards and four scores. <iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/12643118/5fa96a8438638d0b08f40815" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="101710" first="Keshawn" last="Ford"], 5-11, 180, RB</strong> Ranked as the ninth-best running back and No. 60 overall player in the Class of 2023, Ford sat out his sophomore season after transferring from Pattonville and now will be faced with a transfer to a third different high school in three years. Ford showed as a freshman at Pattonville that he was a player to keep an eye on. He rushed for 611 yards on 106 carries, an average of 5.8 yards per, and scored four touchdowns. He also caught nine passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. Ford is a strong, physical runner with good speed and, like Cannon and Cotton, could be a starter at whatever school he ends up at for the 2021-22 school year. <iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/13176223/5dbf96f04797f701c0b66277" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe> Another Class of 2023 player to watch... <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="37673" first="Chandler" last="Brown"], 6-2, 280, OL-DL</strong> Brown isn’t ranked in PrepRedzone’s list yet, but this big and strong two-way interior lineman looks like a guy who will make an impact wherever he ends up. <iframe src="//www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/12898633/60209154688f1317f8b60c64" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>