The showdown in Shannon Friday night saw two winless teams battle each other for a shot at capturing victory.

With a quick start benefiting their cause, the Trion Bulldogs outlasted Region 7-AA squad Model 14-7 and got to put a strike in the win column.

“These kids have got a whole lot of pride about themselves and that’s what I like about them,” Trion coach David Humphreys said. “We’re learning how to win … and this was a step in the right direction.”

The Region 6-A Bulldogs (1-2) got out to a 7-0 lead in the opening two minutes of the game as Ryan Wilson blasted through the Model defense for a 58-yard gain to put Trion inside the 10.

A Blue Devil penalty set Wilson up for a four-yard touchdown run and kicker Craig Caron made the extra point with 10:20 still to go in the first quarter.

Wilson finished with 113 yards on 21 carries as Trion had over 200 yards of total offense compared to Model’s 58.

“I didn’t feel like they would be able to stop us offensively like they did,” Model coach Randy Surrett said. “I knew they were pretty productive on offense … and that might have cause us some problems.”

It wasn’t until a personal foul by Trion in the fourth quarter that the host Blue Devils (0-3) earned their first first down of the game.

“That’s a credit to their defense and their coaches for preparing them,” Surrett said.

Both teams traded punts and turnovers for more than two and a half quarters following Wilson’s touchdown run.

Trion fumbled away the ball three times and quarterback Hayden Tucker threw an interception to Model’s Chris Hill before the half while Model had a total of eight punts in the first three quarters.

“It’s one of those nights where you look and you feel everything you’re doing is working but the one thing you’re not doing is controlling the football,” Humphreys said.

“We have a policy that we don’t make excuses but we’ve just got to get more consistent on what we’re doing,” Surrett said.

“Seems like we’d have a good first down play and then have something happen that would put us in a second or third-and-long situation.”

Trion ended the drought with an eight-play, 35-yard drive that ended with a one-yard run by Tucker with 9:58 to go in the game.

That’s when Model picked up their momentum following the Bulldogs’ penalty and marched 66 yards to get on the board with a three-yard touchdown pass from Dustin Fincher to Craig Calhoun.

Trion lost a fumble on a bad snap to end the ensuing drive and, on fourth-and-18, Fincher tried to find an open man downfield until Tanner Heyer jumped up for the interception with 34.8 seconds remaining.

Model travels across Floyd County next Friday to play Armuchee while Trion hosts Gordon Central.