Trojans ready to go after unusual offseason

The Euless Trinity football team has been waiting a full nine months to get back on the field after last season’s upset loss to South Grand Prairie in the bi-district round. On Friday, the Trojans got their first — and last — taste of simulated competition before kicking things off for real this week.

Trinity took a trip up to Denton to take on Guyer in its lone allowed scrimmage. Teams that hold spring practice are permitted only one scrimmage prior to the regular season. The Trojans and Wildcats agreed to hold the scrimmage as a fairly close simulation of a real game, with a clock-controlled four quarters.

“I kind of liked that to get some game experience, especially the flow of a game,” Trinity coach Chris Jensen said. “Things like sideline discipline and what to do when you come off the field.”

The scrimmage almost didn’t happen, though. It’s not often that rain is your enemy in North Texas in mid-August, but a soaking storm delayed the game by about 90 minutes and looked at times like wiping it out altogether. But both teams schools knew the importance of it.

“We were really worried about not getting that in,” Jensen said. “We don’t want to spend the first few series of a real game figuring it out.”

Once the weather cleared and the scrimmage finally got underway, the air had been taken out a bit. It wasn’t quite the high-energy affair one might have anticipated. Still, Jensen said both clubs got down to business.

“Guyer got after us and we got after them a little bit,” he said.

Wide receiver Noah Wineteer was satisfied with what he saw from the offense.

“I was pleased with our performance,” he said. “I look at scrimmages as an organized practice against another team. It wasn’t the best, but I think we came out in a good position. I think we’re in a good position with where we’re at.”

A talking point for many Trinity fans this season is the quarterback position. With Tyler Natee moved on to Indiana, Malini Maile finally takes his turn after spending two seasons as understudy. Jensen admitted that Maile probably had some nerves early on but expects he’ll be fine as long as he doesn’t put too much pressure on himself.

Speaking of putting on pressure, the Trojans are used to having a strong defensive line, but Jensen saw his group in the trenches “humbled a little bit” early in the scrimmage. Guyer moved down the field on its opening possession and scored in six or seven plays. The coach saw a positive side to that, though.

“That’s good for us for several reasons,” he explained. “Our main goal was to have somebody besides ourselves going game speed and somebody that if you don’t do everything you’re supposed to do, they’ll hurt you.

“We got it together over the next series or two,” Jensen added. “Overall it was a great scrimmage and I’m so glad we got it in because we learned a lot about ourselves.”

Defensive end Sam Leota wasn’t overly thrilled with his team’s defensive effort and felt there was plenty to take back to the chalkboard.

“No matter how good or bad we did, there’s always room for improvement,” Leota said. “After the performance last Friday, we have a lot to work on before this coming Friday.”

Trinity hosts Broken Arrow, Okla., on Friday night at Pennington Field, and Jensen says facing a relatively unknown opponent can have its upside. Since you don’t have much to game-plan with, you put the magnifying glass on yourself.

“You’re not sure exactly what you’re going to get on either side of the ball [from the opponent],” Jensen said. “It’s been a longtime saying of ours to focus on us, not them. It also forces you to be very basic because you don’t have a lot of film to base anything on and say this is what we’ll get and how we’ll attack it. That helps you play fundamental football.”

Jensen also noted a major difference from last year’s season opener against Concord De La Salle, Calif., then the No. 1 team in the country.

“It was like we started with the Super Bowl,” he said.

Wineteer agreed this season isn’t the chaos it was a year ago.

“It’s kind of nice heading into this season because there isn’t all the media and pressure of playing the No. 1 team in the nation,” he said. “Not that Broken Arrow isn’t good, but it’s not playing for Texas football versus California.”

Jensen felt there was so much pressure at the start of last season that it affected the Trojans later. While they obviously want to win every game, the Trojans don’t necessarily have to carry the entirety of Texas high school football on their shoulders to begin this season.

“I just want our kids to enjoy it. That’s why we’re out here — it’s supposed to be fun,” Jensen said. “As long as they’re having fun and giving their best, we can live with whatever happens.”

This story was originally published August 22, 2016 at 11:23 AM with the headline "Trojans ready to go after unusual offseason."