SEATTLE – Steve Lineweaver wouldn’t change anything about his football team’s trip to the Pacific Northwest.
Well, one thing.
In his opinion, Euless Trinity performed about as admirably as he could expect in its 31-24 loss to Bellevue (Washington) to open the 2012 season Thursday night.
Trailing the entire game, Euless Trinity scored a touchdown with just under 5 minutes to play and converted the two-point conversion to force overtime.
Bellevue, ranked No. 8 in the country by Rivals and No. 5 by MaxPreps, scored first in overtime then sealed the victory with an interception on Euless Trinity’s scoring try.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,’ Lineweaver said. “Well, I wished we would have won. To come back and be behind the whole game and to tie it up with a two-point conversion like that is encouraging. We think we can build on this.”
Making its first such road trip, Euless Trinity made a 2,000-mile cross-country trip to face a program that has shown a knack for coming up big against out-of-state opponents.
Larger and more powerful than Bellevue, Euless Trinity had trouble matching the Wolverines’ speed and found itself facing a 14-3 deficit after the first quarter.
Things continued to get dire in the third quarter when UCLA commit Myles Jack bolted for a 66-yard touchdown run.
But then Euless Trinity dug down deep, stuck to its methodical power game and slowly wore down the smaller Wolverines.
“When we went to play Katy (in 2009) I didn’t believe in the Friday Night Lights and all that,” Bellevue coach Butch Goncharoff said. “It’s real. We’re kind of like the little brother here in the Northwest. It’s cool to beat them. But credit goes to them. They never quit.”
Euless Trinity, 5A Division I state champions three times since 2005, faced a 24-16 deficit after Ryan Bordner kicked a 28-yard field goal with 9:05 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Trojans, behind senior quarterback Matt Hawkins, kept their poise, driving 72 yards and scoring on Remel Newton’s 4-yard touchdown run with 4:35 to go.
Samiuela Teva then snagged a one-handed pass for the two-point conversion to tie the game.
But one of the biggest blows delivered to Euless Trinity came before the overtime. Jack, who also plays linebacker, blitzed Hawkins and delivered a crushing hit that knocked him out of the game.
“It made him a little dizzy,” Lineweaver said.
Budda Baker, a 5-foot-11, 175-pound junior recruited by major colleges, gave the Trojans fits when he touched the ball and scored on a 14-yard touchdown run on Bellevue’s first try in overtime.
Christian Hammack, a junior who played a series in the first half, re-entered the game in the overtime and was intercepted by linebacker Nathan Derider to end the game.
“Obviously going home with a loss doesn’t feel too good,” Trojans senior receiver Raymond Bolden said. “But the whole experience was amazing. We got to see things here that we don’t see back home in Texas.”