Campbell's Jackson Kanaley leads the way for Garrett Arnold on this sweep play Friday night against Trinity. The Pioneers took the battle of previously 3-0 teams, 14-0.

LITCHFIELD – Like a high school wrestler, dominating for the first two periods, Campbell High held Trinity’s shoulders precariously close to the mat in the first half. The Cougars, playing under portable lights Friday night on their home turf, just couldn’t put the Pioneers away.

And when Campbell miscues put the Pioneers in a second-half position to pounce, Trinity did just that, driving home the game’s only two touchdowns to capture this early-season clash of Division III football unbeatens, 14-0.

“At the end of the day, we made a lot of mistakes that if we want to beat a good team, we can’t afford to make,” said Campbell coach Glenn Costello.

“When you’re playing a good team, you can’t afford to make those mistakes.”

Coming in Costello, expected the first haymaker landed to be the difference-maker, and it was just that with Pioneer halfback Mark Nyoma dashing 13 yards around left end to paydirt, capping a 8-play, 55-yard TD march for a 6-0 lead with 2:07 left in the third quarter.

“We were throwing punches back and forth,” the coach said. “Whoever was able to hit the bigger punch got the advantage. My hat’s off to those guys.”

Trinity picked up the near-midfield start to the drive, thanks to an inside stuff on a fourth-and-4 Campbell attempt at a first down.

“It’s a game of inches, a game of seconds in terms of a referee’s whistle, and who knows what would have happened,” Costello said.

But the Cougars got a great chance to answer when the ensuing kickoff was botched, allowing Campbell to take over at its own 47. Again, the Cougars were stymied on four downs, and Trinity went for the kill.

The visitors, now 4-0 and one of three unbeaten teams in the division (Pelham is 4-0, Monadnock 3-0), rolled 53 yards on seven plays to making it 14-0. A pair of personal fouls on Campbell along the way made life a lot easier for Trinity.

“The second-half we kind of self-imploded, and they were able to take advantage of it,” said Costello. “It’s high school football. You get a penalty or two, and it’s difficult to sustain a drive. Statistically speaking one penalty kills a drive, and we demonstrated that a couple times.”

QB Jack Service scored the TD from 2 yards out, then tossed the 2-point pass with 9:26 to play, basically ending the night for the Cougars.

“Trinity is really good program. Coach (Rob) Cathcart does a great job of putting his kids in the right position,” said Costello. “We’re young in a lot of important spots. Hopefully, this is a great learning experience for those kids.”

Campbell ran 33 plays – in the first half alone – gaining 134 yards, compared to Trinity’s 56 yards on 12 plays, but the score was still deadlocked at 0-0 at the break.

The Pioneers shored things up at halftime, and things kind of unwound a bit for Campbell in the second. After halftime, the Cougars gained only 91 yards, with 29 of them coming in the final minute as Trinity sat back in prevent to allow the clock to run.

Nate Perry (14 carries, 63 yards) was the leading ground gainer for 3-1 Campbell, which gets back to work next Saturday night at winless Winnisquam.