Euless Trinity 56, Midland Lee 49

December 19, 2020

Class 6A Division I Area Playoff

Globe Life Park, Arlington

Carrying the hopes of the Little Southwest Conference with them, Midland Lee made the 300-mile trek east to the DFW area to take on powerful Euless Trinity, who had less than a 15-minute drive to the stadium for this Saturday night thriller.

It was a game that saw a total of 15 touchdowns scored, over 1,000 yards of offense and some incredible momentum swings; and one that saw typically ground oriented Trinity unleash a passing attack that finished the night with 322 yards through the air.

Trinity started the game fast as less than two minutes into the game QB Valentino Foni found RB Ollie Gordon on a swing pass for a 44-yard touchdown and a quick 7-0 lead for the Trojans. Things would quickly swing the way of the Rebels, who would proceed to roll out 35 of the game’s next 42 points to take a shocking 35-14 lead on favored Trinity late in the second quarter.

The run started with an 11-yard scoring run from QB Mikey Serrano to tie the game up at 7-7. After a short punt, Midland Lee would grab the lead on a one-yard run from Serrano to make it 14-7. After an interception, Midland Lee would land another big shot as Serrano hooked up with Juju Rivas for a 36-yard scoring strike to give the Rebels a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter. Trinity would respond with 4:36 left in the second quarter as Gordon would score on a 60-yard run around the right side to cut the lead to 21-14.

The second quarter scoring blitz would continue as after benefitting from a facemask on Trinity on the kickoff to start near midfield Midland Lee would extend the lead back to two scores as Serrano scored again from 11 yards out to make it 28-14. Midland Lee’s defense would force Trinity to punt on their next drive and on the punt, there was a bad snap, and the Trinity punter would get tackled on the 20-yard line, setting the Rebels up with another chance to score right before halftime. Midland Lee would quickly take advantage with 47 seconds left in the quarter when Makhilyn Young scored from four-yards out to give Midland Lee a 35-14 lead; all the momentum heading into the locker room appeared to be with Lee. BUT… the Rebels left Trinity just a little too much time as the Trojans would get a HUGE 66-yard touchdown pass from Foni to Pofele Ashlock to give Trinity a major lift going into the locker room down just 35-21.

With momentum coming out of the locker room, Trinity would cut the Midland Lee lead to just a touchdown as with 7:50 remaining in the third quarter when Gordon would score on a 30-yard run to make it 35-28. Midland Lee appeared to have an answer on the next drive, but a touchdown pass from Serrano to Shemar Davis was called back; just two plays later Trinity got a big break when Jacob Shaffer recorded an INT.

The Trojans marched 11 plays and 80 yards on the next series to tie the game at 35-35 as Foni scored on a 23-yard run; the Trinity sideline was alive with energy seeing their team rattle off 21-straight points.

The Euless Trinity onslaught would continue as after forcing a Midland Lee punt, the Trojans would grab their first lead since early in the game as Foni would connect with Xzavior Kautai for a touchdown pass to put Trinity up 42-35. Midland Lee’s offense would respond in kind with a clutch drive, capped off by a 14-yard run from Serrano to tie the game 42-42 with 5:57 remaining in the game. Trinity would answer with a clutch drive of their own that was capped off by a one-yard TD run from Foni on a QB sneak to make it 49-42 Trinity with 1:45 remaining in the game. Midland Lee would have a response once again as all game long they had been running a reverse return on Trinity’s kickoffs and this time the Rebels fooled Trinity, faking the reverse on the kickoff and Makhilyn Young would house it from 88-yards out to tie the game up at 49-49 with 1:31 remaining in the game.

Trinity, however had two timeouts left and the way the Trojans had been throwing the football there was no doubt Chris Jensen’s squad would threaten. Trinity quickly moved into Midland Lee territory and with 0:15 left in the game instead of running the ball and lining things up for their kicker, the Trojans pulled out the halfback pass as Gordon tossed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Kautai to give Trinity the winning margin and the trip to the regional semifinals.