High School Football: Trotwood-Madison 4-0 after victory at Alter

The last three games were decided by a total of 13 points. This game would have been a 20-point Trotwood victory, but Alter broke up the shutout with a long touchdown pass on the last play of the game

“I didn’t like the slow start in the first half,” Graham said. “I think we came back out in the second half and established the run game. We had some injuries, guys cramping up because of the heat, but outside of that, I was overall pleased. We’ve still got to take care of things in the red zone. Our defense is playing lights out, giving us opportunities, so we’ve got to be able to capitalize.”

Alter is 2-2 for the fourth straight season. It was nearly shut out for the first time since Oct. 7, 2022, when it lost 10-0 to Bishop Fenwick.

“This is the kind of game we want,” Graham said. “I don’t look at it being a win-or-lose situation because the relationship I have with (Alter) Coach (Ed Domsitz) is tremendous. It’s just good that we can compete. We want to make sure our teams are prepared for later on down the road.”

“It was what we needed on the defensive side,” Graham said. “Our defense, the whole year, has been doing the things that keep us winning, and we’ve been talking about creating turnovers. Those guys watch a lot of film. They just study, study, study. He just reacted. Darius is one of those guys — you can coach him — but his reaction and knowing the game is just tremendous.“

Kam Martinez scored on a 3-yard run early in the third quarter.

Daylan Dennis, the twin brother of Darius, ran for a 29-yard touchdown early in the fourth to give Trotwood a 20-0 lead.

“We’re always talking about his size,” Graham said. “We were able to tell him, ‘Man, we just want you to run hard. We don’t want you to go out here and get concussions or anything ike that, but we want you to go out there, be smart, play the game and get crucial first downs.”