Trinity off to 1-0 start in crucial 2-game stretch

Even after all the hype surrounding the season opener against Concord (Calif.) De La Salle and the parade of name matchups in the non-district schedule, Euless Trinity now finds itself smack in the middle of the two-game swing that will go a long way to defining the direction of the season.

After Friday’s 37-35 win over Southlake Carroll at Pennington Field all but assured Trinity (8-0, 4-0 in District 7-6A) of a playoff spot, a Trojan win Friday at Coppell (4-3, 2-1) would give Trinity the district title. Only Trinity and the winner of this week’s matchup between Carroll and Colleyville Heritage would then be able to reach five district wins, and the Trojans have already beat the other two teams head-to-head.

“When we saw the game draws for the district, we knew it was going to get pretty serious toward the end with that stretch of Bell, Carroll, Coppell and Richland to finish,” Trojans head coach Chris Jensen said.

This is the time of year when Trinity needs all hands on deck, and Jensen is glad he’ll have his full complement of runners in the backfield Friday after quarterback Tyler Natee was forced from the game after taking a hit to the right leg on a drive early in the fourth quarter agaisnt Carroll. He missed just one full series before coming back on with just under three minutes to play.

Backup quarterback Malini Maile, who is also the team’s deep snapper, came on and actually threw the block that gave running back Ja’Ron Wilson a lane down the middle of the field to the end zone as he zigged and zagged on the 16-yard touchdown run that gave Trinity a 31-21 advantage midway through the fourth quarter.

“There’s no stat for that,” Jensen said. “But you don’t win without that guy.”

Fortunately, Natee did not have to test the injury when he got back on the field, as running back De’Jaun Garrett took the first play of Natee’s first drive back 59 yards on a field-reversing highlight run for the touchdown that put Trinity up 37-28 with 2:44 to play. Natee was in a walking boot over the weekend but was scheduled to have it removed Monday and expressed confidence that he’d be ready to go against Coppell.

“Right now we’re just taking it slow. I won’t be able to make any cuts on it yet,” Natee said. “But I think I’ll be fine for Friday and Coppell.”

Natee finished the Carroll game with 157 rushing yards on 10 carries and is the Trojans’ second-leading rusher on the year with 712 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 85 carries. That’s an average of 8.4 yards per carry.

The senior hit a monstrous stride right before he had to exit with the injury. Jensen said he “got that look in his eye,” and Natee put his head down and rumbled downhill on five consecutive plays to eat up 69 yards of field position in less than two minutes and carry Trinity down to Carroll’s two-yard line with under a minute to go in the third.

Two dead-ball penalties forced the Trojans to settle for a 22-yard field goal instead of a touchdown, but the series further proved Natee’s value as a runner, playing thunder to the lightning in the steps of fellow seniors Garrett and Wilson, who gashed the Carroll defense for an eye-popping 339 yards and three touchdowns.

That performance gives Wilson 587 yards and six touchdowns, a season’s production for some running backs, in the last two weeks. The 339 yards by Wilson was the most given up by Carroll in a single game going back at least 13 years.

“To do that against Southlake, that’s special. When we look back on this season, that’s something, to do something like that against that caliber of team,” Jensen said. “He was smart about when to break it to the outside and when not to. A team like Southlake, they pursue the ball like madmen, and when he cut it back, there wasn’t anybody left.”

Wison’s second touchdown run capped a four-play, 69-yard drive that took just 1:55 as halftime approached. Jensen said he told offensive coordinator Jeryl Brixey he was OK with taking the 14-14 tie into halftime as the Trojans started their fourth drive with 2:13 left in the half, but Natee’s 45-yard keeper on third-and-seven set Trinity up at Carroll’s 21-yard line, and Wilson did the rest, bouncing the next run out to the left for the 21-yard touchdown with just 13 seconds left before the break.

For all of Trinity’s exploits on the ground against Carroll, Coppell is the biggest obstacle left in the way of the Trojans’ 7-6A march. The Cowboys beat the only other team left on Trinity’s regular season schedule, Richland (3-5, 2-2), 46-27 last week at Birdville Athletic Complex.

Coppell dropped a heartbreaker, 38-37, at home to Carroll in double overtime when the Dragons stopped a two-point try in double overtime. Jensen said fans would be wise to expect another close one on Friday at Buddy Echols Stadium.

“We don’t anticipate any lopsided outcomes the rest of the way,” Jensen said. “You’ve got to prepare for it to go down to the wire.”

This story was originally published October 19, 2015 at 10:23 AM with the headline "Trinity off to 1-0 start in crucial 2-game stretch."