Defense, passing game propel Trojans in Week 1

A lot of teams sputter in their first game of the season. The Euless Trinity football team is no exception. The Trojans weathered an uneasy first half before taking control to ease to a 39-16 victory over Broken Arrow, Okla., last Friday night, fueled by defense and … the passing game?

The Tigers scored the first nine points of the game, aided by a Trojans offense that had to work through some jitters. Quarterback Malini Maile was making his first career varsity start, and coach Chris Jensen felt he was “trying to make every play work” early on. In addition, Courage Keihn, taking over in the backfield for Ja’Ron Wilson, admitted he was uptight and thinking too much.

Fortunately, as is often the case, Trinity could rely on its defense.

“Defensively, our guys played great from start to finish,” Jensen said.

When the final horn sounded, Broken Arrow had accumulated just 118 total yards of offense. Trinity, despite four turnovers and its early struggles, had amassed 447.

The key was getting to halftime and settling down.

“All right, we’ve got that first half under our belts,” Jensen said. “That’s always a tricky first quarter, first half. You always have some guys who are just pressing and trying too hard. Once we got in the locker room, we got them to relax and trust their instincts, to do their jobs the way they know to do them.”

“It’s always like that with Trinity football,” senior receiver Corde Burns said. “We just know we have to keep it close until halftime. All the boys in the locker room and even the coaches, we all know if it’s close at halftime, it’s Trinity’s ballgame.”

Burns was part of an offense that recalibrated and rejuvenated in the second half.

“We took a breath and relaxed a little bit,” Jensen said. “We came out and played a much better second half offensively.”

Keihn and Ja’Lon Wilson each had scoring runs in the third quarter before Maile went aerial for two scores in the fourth quarter, including a 52-yarder to Burns.

“I told him I was proud of him that he kept his head in the game,” Burns said.

Maile finished with just five completions, but those averaged more than 32 yards each. The Trojans are hoping to make the passing game a bit more prominent than in years past.

“Trinity is known to be a running school, so if we can get the passing down, people won’t know how to stop us,” Burns said.

He finished with three catches for 100 yards. He confessed that it was a good feeling to get that many touches.

“When you first come to Trinity it’s hard” to be a receiver, he said. “But in this family environment, you realize it’s not about us. I have no problem blocking and letting someone else get the glory as long as we’re winning, because that’s not the point. The linemen do that the whole game. But, when we finally do get the ball, it is pretty nice.”

While the defense was impressive, Jensen was most pleased with something off the field.

“I told the kids that I really appreciated their trust,” Jensen explained. “Trust in each other, trust in the coaches that we’re going to be fine and trust in the plan. That’s what I was pleased with, is how they held it together. The defense had every right to be ticked off at the offense. They probably were, but they trusted that the offense was going to get its act together. That impressed me. They showed a lot of maturity in that area.”

Trinity will hit the road this week to take on Spring Westfield.

This story was originally published August 29, 2016 at 11:23 AM with the headline "Defense, passing game propel Trojans in Week 1."