Euless Trinity rallies in the fourth quarter to down upset minded Odessa Permian

When two tradition rich schools like Euless Trinity and Odessa Permian meet in the second round of the playoffs you would expect sparks to fly.

Expectations were more than met as Trinity reeled off 21 fourth-quarter points and shut out the Panthers in the second half to down Permian 28-17 in a Class 6A Division 1 area round game on Saturday afternoon at Shotwell Stadium.

Trinity (11-1), No. 14 in the final 6A state rankings, lost a flip and will play Allen (10-2) at Eagle Stadium at 2 p.m. on Saturday in the regional semifinals.

Things looked bleak for Trinity after the Trojans drove from their own 4 to the Permian 6 taking 6:17 off the third quarter clock. Trailing 17-7 at the time, Trinity missed on a 23-yard field goal attempt with 2:23 left in the third, but the Trojans got new life in the final quarter.

Ollie Gordon started Trinity’s next possession with a 54-yard run to the Permian 26. Four plays later the Trojans cut the lead to 17-14 when quarterback Cade Barthelemess perfectly executed a play-action pass to Buddy Leota for an 8-yard score with 10:36 left in the game.

The Trinity defense, that struggled to stop Permian in the first half, came up big after the Panthers took over after the kickoff.

Facing a third-and-7 at its own 28, Permian quarterback Rodney Hall dropped back to pass, but Trinity linebacker David Langi drilled Hall and knocked the ball free. Jacob Schaeffer picked it up and raced 13 yards to the end zone to give Trinity its first lead, 21-17, with 9:08 left.

“I was coming off the edge and I saw that it was a fumble so I just scooped it and scored,” said Schaeffer. “We really needed that because our energy was down and that brought our momentum back.”

“Oh my God, it was huge,” said Gordon of the defensive touchdown. “Not only did it give us the lead, it gave us a momentum swing too. The whole Permian side was hanging their heads and we were all lit and happy.”

Trinity’s adjustments on defense at halftime played a key role. The Trojans had allowed 250 total yards to Permian in the first half, 27 rushes for 161 yards and Hall went 9 of 9 for 89 more. But the Panthers were 15 for minus-5 yards rushing after intermission and completed only one pass for 17 yards.

“Defensively we looked like two different teams,” said Trinity coach Chris Jensen. “Our defensive coaches did a great job of making some adjustments, but I think one of the biggest things was just us flying around in the second half.

“We looked like we were sleep walking and Permian’s going to be ready to play any time. Just hats off to our defense for sticking with it.”

Gordon, who rushed 25 times for 253 yards, had a productive, but difficult day running the ball. Gordon reeled off big plays at critical moments in the game, none more so than a 27-yard gain on a third-and-9 that led to his 1-yard scoring run with 1:29 left that iced the game.

Gordon had five carries for 197 yards on runs of 26, 65, 25, 54 and 27 yards while his other 20 carries netted 56.

Permian (8-4) controlled the game for most of the first half building a 17-7 lead. The Panthers took the opening kickoff and marched 75 yards in nine plays with running back Brian Mahaffey carrying it in from 11 yards out for a 7-0 lead with 6:55 left in the first quarter.

The Trinity defense had trouble with the Panther’s triple option in the first half. The Trojans stopped the dive all game long, but the third option, pitching the ball wide, gave Trinity fits early.

“They were taking it wide, taking it to the third option which they don’t do a whole lot,” said Jensen. “But that’s kind of what you want triple option teams to do, but they were just doing a really good job of it.”

Following a controversial punt on Trinity’s second possession that gave Permian the ball at the Trojans 35, Hall hit Ja’Quan Richardson with a slip screen and Richardson followed his blocking beautifully to cover the 35 yards to give Permian a 14-0 lead with 10:18 left in the second quarter.

Gordon gave Trinity a spark on the Trojans next snap taking a counter play off right tackle 65 yards to cut the lead to 14-7.

Trinity got the ball right back on a fumble recovery by Langi at the Trojans 49, but an interception by Permian’s Jadyn Pruitt killed the drive at the Panther’s 16.

Tate Terry nailed a 27-yard field goal for Permian as time expired in the first half.

This story was originally published November 21, 2021 at 3:05 AM.