PLYMOUTH — Mighty Plymouth Regional looks poised to make a run at the 19th high school football championship in the program's storied history.

The Bobcats in Week 3 blasted the current king, and made it look easy.

“We hadn't beaten them once. We were 0-3 against them,” said senior captain Brandon Goodale, whose 88 rushing yards and 11-yard touchdown grab paced Plymouth to a lopsided 36-14 Division IV rout against Trinity of Manchester Saturday at Zoulias Field. “It feels great to get the win.”

Plymouth (3-0 Div. IV) built a 29-0 lead in, essentially, one quarter of hard-hitting action. The teams played to a scoreless stalemate until John Thomas capped an 11-play march with a 4-yard TD.

The 65-yard drive ended with 66 seconds left in the first quarter. The second quarter was pure Plymouth — the Bobcats at their best.

Thomas intercepted quarterback Carmen Giampetruzzi just shy of the Bobcats' red zone, and raced in the other direction for six points. QB Collin Sullivan (73 rushing yards, two rushing TDs) converted the two-point play.

“When we got fired up, we kept rolling,” said Kyle Reisert, Plymouth's 6-foot 4-inch, 195-pound havoc-wreaking defensive end.

Trinity (2-1 Div. IV) was in trouble.

Plymouth — remembering last year's demoralizing 12-7 head-to-head home loss and the 30-14 thrashing in the final — didn't let up.

Jared Kuehl forced a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. The turnover, the second of four for the Pioneers, led to Sullivan's 13-yard scoring run through the heart of the defense. Goodale added the two-pointer, and soon connected with his QB for the offense's final strike before the break.

“They came out and punched us in the mouth,” first-year Trinity head coach Steve Burns said. “We turned the ball over and they handed us a big loss.”

The lone bright spot for the Pioneers was their two-play TD drive in the half's final minute. Aided greatly by Ryan Carrier's monster kick-return, the offense needed two pass plays to hit paydirt.

Giampetruzzi fired a 15-yarder to Austin Chambers, then lofted a 24-yard TD to Tristan Theroux. The Pioneers pulled within three TDs on Carrier's conversion.

Sullivan and Trinity's Romeo Masuku traded second-half touchdowns. But the final 24 minutes were a formality.

“Pride, tradition, effort and attitude go a long way,” Plymouth head coach Chuck Lenahan said after earning his 337th career win. “We've got a good group.”

- - - - - - - -

Marc Thaler may be reached at mthaler@unionleader.com.