Kentucky’s gold standard for high school football resides on Shelbyville Road in St. Matthews – Trinity High School. The Shamrocks have won a record 28 Kentucky state titles.
The 6A favorite this season? Also Trinity.
In his fourth season as head coach, Jay Cobb guided the Shamrocks to a title last December, beating Lexington Bryan Station in the championship. Cobb began as an assistant in 2014, helping legendary coach Bob Beatty.
Was it a relief for Cobb to coach the team to a title? “I’ve been asked that question a million times,” he said. “When Bob left, we had graduated 44 seniors. Because of those factors, we knew it would be a tough job. We knew we had a good group coming. We told everybody who would listen – I said the third year is going to be that year that we would get back on top of that mountain again.”
Former coaches Jim Kennedy, Dave Moore, Roger Gruneisen, Dennis Lampley, and Beatty set the bar high. Beatty won 15 titles in 21 years. His teams lost twice in the championship game.
Trinity has long been admired and disliked by the state’s opposing coaches. The Shamrocks have played classic games, winning at Boone County in overtime in the semifinals and stopping the Rebels inside the one-yard line in the ’90s.
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There was the classic win over Male in 2002 at Old Cardinal Stadium 59-56, when the Shamrocks intercepted a Michael Bush pass in the end zone late in the fourth quarter. Then-Courier-Journal high school editor Jody Demling called it “the greatest game in Kentucky high school football history.”
The 2011 Trinity team (15-0) was voted number-one in the nation by USA TODAY.
When opponents come to Marshall Stadium they can be intimidated. On the scoreboard at Father Harry Jansing Field reads “Trinity For Ever.” They play on turf and the stadium can hold large crowds. Their games are broadcast live on the radio and streamed on TV.
The Rocks play in Class 6A, Kentucky’s highest class. They are in District Four with Ballard, Eastern and Oldham County.
So what makes this school so attractive to so many good athletes? “I think it’s the character of our kids rather than just the talent,” said Cobb. “Bryan Station had seven Division I players last year and we beat them twice. We had one kid, Nate Tronzo, who went to [Southern Illinois University] in Division I. Right now we have one Division I kid. What gets overlooked here is the work ethic of our kids, and the time they put in is what makes Trinity football special.”
Wins and losses are important, but they aren’t the barometer. “I’m a caretaker of this program, and want to make sure that I do it justice and elevate the character and faith of these kids,” Cobb said.
Former Trinity quarterback Jeff Brohm is now the head coach at the University of Louisville, and brothers Greg and Brian, who are on his staff, also played at Trinity. His father, Oscar, is the Shamrock’s quarterbacks coach.
“I think the city is a big Catholic community a lot of Catholic grade-school kids grow up in,” said Brohm. “One of the things is Trinity is a great school, great education, discipline, and a place to set up their academic goals. The sports programs are talented. They’ve won a lot in the past. You get the perfect combination of, ‘Hey, I’m going to have to work in school.’ Students have an organized plan to get to college. The structure, the organization, the history and tradition, all those things add up.”
The Shamrocks have a younger team this year. Sophomore quarterback Zane Johnson is one of the few to start as a freshman. Kaleb Warner is a top receiver. Cobb has coached defense since 2014 when he came from Texas. This year’s defense is solid.
Some starters returned from last year’s team in JC Wilson and lineman Bailey Vance, who Cobb calls the “hallmark anchor.”
Senior cornerback Allen Evans has college offers from Kentucky and Louisville. Sekou Kamara and Elijah Burns-Crump are standouts.
Chances are St. Matthews is where the state championship will reside once again.
Trinity football’s complete schedule is available at trinityrocks.com/page/football.
