Euless Trinity, facing the possibility of not making the playoffs after 18 consecutive years, was able to bear down Thursday night in Pennington Field as they defeated Flower Mound Marcus 35-17 to clinch a playoff berth in the Class 6A Division 1 playoffs.
With both teams realizing what was at stake, both defenses buckled up and neutralized the opposing offenses as the first quarter ended with the scoreboard showing a scoreless affair.
Trinity would crank up the volume on offense as they exploded for 21 points in the second quarter as their ground game came to life. Running back Greg Garner would produce the first big play of the night as he trotted his way to the end zone on an 80-yard touchdown run to put Trinity on the board first at the beginning of the second quarter. Charles Carpenter would then provide an encore as he scored on a 69-yard touchdown run to have Trinity up 14-0 at the 6:54 mark.
“The one thing we did learn is that we don’t win games by just putting the Trinity `T` on our helmet,” said head coach Chris Jensen. “It comes down a lot of the time to the playoffs which basically what this was. The team that cares about each other the most and wants to continue the most is usually the one that comes out on top.”
Trinity seemed poised to come out on top at the half with a score of 21-3 following another Greg Garner run, this one from 57 yards out and a field goal by Marcus before the first half expired. Marcus would not go down quietly however as they tried to muster a comeback in the second half as receiver Blake Covin had two touchdown receptions with the latter of the two coming at the 9:12 mark to have Marcus down by a score of 35-17 in the fourth quarter with that being the final at the whistle.
Jensen throughout the week managed to help his players prepare for this crucial win-and- in matchup even with the possibility of losing the 18 consecutive year playoff streak lurking in the background.
“It’s there and it is human nature to worry about things but you can only control what you can control. Control what we can is what we said. The thing that we wanted to focus on is playing our best game and if it’s not enough we can live knowing that we played our best game,” said Jensen.
“They have big hearts and they really do care about each other and they care about living up to the standard that has been set. It’s ok to care about it, you just can’t worry about it. I think they worry about letting people down and letting the program down and things of that nature but it’s the same here! All we got to do is play the best you can and it is what it is. At some point you might not make the playoffs but it’s not this year!”
Trinity finished with 430 yards on offense with Greg Garner rushing for 177 yards and two touchdowns and Simeon Ellsworth accounting for 76 rushing yards and a touchdown of his own. Noah Wineteer also scored on a 3-yard run.
Trinity will now face Allen in Eagle Stadium in the 6A Division I bi-district round on Nov. 11 with kick-off slated for 7:30 p.m.
Brought to you by:
