Keller uses late goal line stand, strong defensive effort to hold off Euless Trinity
The Keller defense bent...and bent...and bent some more, but the Indians never broke.
After getting pounded again and again by Euless Trinity’s huge offensive line all night, Keller mustered one last goal-line stand with 2:07 left to hang on to a 17-10 win over the Trojans in a Class 6A Division 1 bi-district game on Friday night at Keller ISD Stadium.
“It’s hard to tell a kid that’s 175 pounds to keep doing it, get lower, and they did it every time,” said Keller coach Carl Stralow of his three down defensive linemen in Drew Driggers, Ethan Starr and Rodney Ondari. “I know it hurt and we’re going to be beat up and going to be sore, but the way they persevered through the adversity that took place in this game, I just couldn’t be more proud.”
The Indians (9-2) won their first playoff game since 2003. They advance to the area round to play Midland Legacy (7-4), which beat El Paso Franklin. The two teams will meet at 1 p.m. next Saturday Nov. 19 at Astound Broadbrand Stadium in Midland.
Keller looked to have the game sewn up after taking over five minutes off the clock late in the third and early in the fourth quarter. A 22-yard field goal by Garrett Martin gave the Indians a 17-10 lead with 7:02 left.
The Keller defense forced a Trinity punt on the Trojans’ next series and were looking to run out the clock, but facing a third-and-6 from their own 22, the Indians made a mistake. A pass by Keller quarterback Tre Guerra was picked off at the 37 by Isaiah Kneebuhl and returned 33 yards to the Keller 4.
On fourth down from the 1, everyone in the stadium knew that the Trojans were going to run a quarterback sneak to T.J. Tupou. It was a play that they had a lot of success with during the game, but instead they opted to hand the ball to workhorse Gary Maddox who was stopped just short of the goal line.
“I was telling Rodney (Ondari) that it’s going to be a QB sneak, get down under the center and get ready to dive between his legs and stop it,” said Driggers. “The second I saw him take off to the side I just stuffed the tackle, made sure he didn’t come up, (linebacker) Nate (Gamble) came over the top and we all came in and joined him to finish the job.”
The Trojans simply played keep away from Keller in the first half. Trinity ran 44 plays in the first two quarters to Keller’s 17 and dominated the time of possession 19:42 to 4:18.
The Trojans lost the ball on downs twice before the intermission, but did manage to build a brief 10-0 lead. Cort Laurence capped Trinity’s second drive with a 24-yard field goal.
An interception by Trinity’s Devin Ugbaja ended Keller’s ensuing series at the Trojans’ 28. Trinity (4-7) marched 72 yards in 15 plays, capped by a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Topou to put the Trojans up 10-0 with 4:27 left in the half.
Keller finally got on the board late in the second quarter. Guerra ran for 17 yards down to the Trinity 7 and two plays later Jayden Hart carried it in from the 3 to cut the lead to 10-7 at the 2:07 mark.
The Indians finally got the spark they needed after the half. On the opening drive of the third quarter Keller was facing a third and 15 at its own 49 when Guerra hit Amarion Henry between two defenders and right on the sideline for 19 yards and a first down.
“We have a really good chemistry, all the receivers,” said Guerra, who completed 6 of 12 passes for 52 yards. “If I scramble they know what to do and Amarion (Henry) has great hands and great vision and I saw him and just did what I do.”
Four plays later Hart darted in from the 8 to give Keller a 14-10 lead with 7:41 left in the third quarter. Hart finished with 113 rushing yards on 23 carries to lead Keller.
Trinity still does what Trinity does...line up and run, run, run. Maddox carried the ball 37 times for 126 tough yards (3.41 yards per carry) and the Trojans rushed for 202 yards on 54 totes and 255 total yards, but couldn’t score after the break.
“Being a defensive end at six foot and 220-ish pounds, everybody is bigger than you,” said Starr. “You just have to play low, get a low pad level and that’s what we’re taught.
“We said at the beginning of this year that our eyes were on a gold ball. It hasn’t happened in about 20 years and it just happened today. We broke that 20-year streak and we started a one-year streak.”
“Our kids aren’t the biggest, but they’ll fight you tooth and nail and never wavered,” added Stralow. “I’ve never seen a group of kids fight harder and they weren’t going to let it get away.”
This story was originally published November 12, 2022 at 12:50 AM.