Monster ground game from Gordon, late interception leads Euless Trinity past Allen
Euless Trinity and Allen have had a few playoff classics along the way.
With a historic performance from Trinity’s Ollie Gordon, Saturday night was no different.
Gordon, a junior running back, rushed 50 times for 460 yards and six touchdowns as the Trojans knocked out state power Allen, 49-45, in a Class 6A Division 1 thriller at Globe Life Park.
You read that right.
Trinity (11-1), ranked No. 23 in the 6A D1 state rankings, advances to the Region 1 final/state quarterfinals to face No. 19 Southlake Carroll (10-1), at 11 a.m. Saturday back at GLP.
Carroll beat Arlington Martin, 30-26, on Thursday.
The teams traded five lead changes in the second half, including on Allen’s 4-yard TD catch by Bryson Green (Oklahoma State signee) from General Booty and a 1-yard QB sneak by Trinity’s Valentino Foni that gave the Trojans a 42-38 midway through the fourth quarter.
Allen (10-1), ranked No. 4 in the state, regained the lead on the next play when Hawaii bound Jordan Johnson returned the kickoff 101 yards to push the Eagles ahead 45-42 just 14 seconds later.
The final lead change came on Gordon’s 2-yard scoring run to make it 49-45 with 3:33 left.
Allen was backed up to a third-and-14 at its own 25 when Jacob Schaeffer came up with the interception of his life that gave Trinity the ball back. The Trojans got to the Allen 24 and on a fourth-and-4, Gordon pushed his way across the down marker to help Trinity run out the clock.
Trinity had 530 of its 552 yards on the ground. Foni rushed for 43 yards with a TD on eight attempts.
Trailing 24-13 at intermission, Trinity came out in the second half with touchdowns on its first five possessions.
The first was a 29-yard TD run by Gordon and after Foni punched in the 2-point conversion, the Trojans pulled within 24-21 with 8:47 left in the third quarter.
Allen responded with a 26-yard TD strike from Booty to Blaine Green (Oklahoma State) to give the Eagles a 10-point edge midway through the period.
Gordon scored from the 4 to make it 31-28 and Sateki Wolfgramm picked off an Allen pass attempt on the ensuing drive. Trinity then grabbed its first lead at 35-31 on the next play as Gordon scampered in from the 23 with 1:25 to go in the third.
The Eagles managed the 24-13 halftime lead when they came out on fire to open the game. A 9-yard TD run by Johnson capped off a 13-play, 75-yard drive that ate up over four minutes.
Trinity tied it at 7 on a 2-yard run by Gordon less than two minutes later.
Booty, who threw for 291 yards and four TDs, connected on a 5-yard score with Bryson Green to give Allen a 14-7 advantage with 4:49 to play in the first quarter.
Allen increased the lead to 17-7 on a Haden Showalter 36-yard field to open the second quarter.
Gordon scored from 37 yards out to make it 17-13 on the next drive, but after both teams traded punts, Allen got on the board one last time before the break with Booty’s 34-yard TD to Blaine Green.
Blaine Green made six catches for 81 yards and two TDs. Bryson added eight for 51 and two TDs. Johnson had 58 rushing and 44 receiving and Booty ran for a team-high 71 yards on 11 carries. Allen gained 431 yards of total offense.
Trinity heads to the quarterfinal round for the first time since 2017. Allen had gone seven of the past eight years.
This story was originally published December 26, 2020 at 11:06 PM.
