It all started about four years ago. First one standout football player enrolled at Trinity Episcopal School.

Then another ... and another ...

“Like dominoes,” said Titans Coach Sam Mickens. “They kept falling into place ... buddies, siblings, cousins.”

Those long-ago freshmen, Mario Thompson Jr. included, kept getting bigger, faster and stronger – plus more confident and aggressive.

The end results are stunning – back-to-back Virginia Independent Schools Division I titles and a whole slew of scholarships.

They play mighty good football on the south slope of the James River, down serpentine Cherokee Road.

“When a lot of us came here, I think Trinity was known mostly as a basketball school,” said Thompson. “We tried to change that.”

While Titans’ hoops remain strong, the football team has been untouchable under a mostly Black coaching staff, including Coach Mickens, offensive coordinator Malcolm Bell (ex-North Carolina Central quarterback), and former NFL player Wali Rainer, and an imposing assemblage of talent on the field.

En route to an 11-0 season, Trinity defeated Potomac 35-0 in the state semifinals and then Benedictine 35-0 for all the marbles.

Overall, Trinity outscored its victims by a punishing 435-96.

Thompson, a muscled 6-foot, 207-pound linebacker/running back, dazzled on both sides of the ball, earning VIS Player of Year accolades.

He will be suiting up for Old Dominion University of the Sun Belt Conference on a full ride.

“Mario, who we call Rio, is one of the better all-round players I’ve ever coached,” said Coach Mickens. “His statistics are crazy.”

Crazy?

Thompson, the son of Mario Sr. (former Elon football player) and LynQuita Thompson, only touched the ball 13 times on offense and scored nine touchdowns.

Defensively he added three more TDs, two on pick sixes and another on a fumble recovery.

Many of the Titans came to Trinity from the Falcons and Hurricanes programs of the American Youth Football program. Coach Rainer coached the Hurricanes that included Thompson and his son, Elijah.

Coach Mickens went out to see the travel teams when they were in the U-13 division.

“I went away thinking they could play for us NOW,” said Coach Mickens, adding that alumni Louis Jones Sr. and Andy Jowdy were instrumental in building the juggernaut.

The Titans had been in a bit of a rut. Trinity went 3-16 in 2016, 4-5 in 2017 and 3-6 in 2018.

In 2019, with help from some of the new arrivals, the Titans improved to 6-5. There was no 2020 season due to the pandemic.

In 2021, the Titans put the pedal to the metal for an 8-3 record and their first VIA title. There was no letting up on the gas this past season.

“It’s a special group,” said Coach Rainer, who played at University of Virginia before going to the NFL. “We put on a show in the 804.”

Don’t look for the “Show” to be discontinued.

The gifted class of rising seniors features another talented Rainer, Zahir, who already has offers from Duke and U.Va.

Many Richmond sports fans have never set foot on Trinity’s leafy layout, overlooking the James River.

Jokingly, over the decades, Trinity athletes and coaches sometimes referred to their 39-acre layout as “the secret school.” The private school was founded in 1972.

But that was then, and this is now. The secret is out.