Playoff Rewind

5A Trinity In mid-September, Trinity football coach Steve Lineweaver didn't expect to be standing where he was on Dec. 22 - dripping with ice water and accepting the 5A Division I state champions trophy. Shortly after his team took a knee to run out the final seconds, players doused Lineweaver with a jug full of ice water to celebrate the Trojans' 13-10 victory over Converse Judson at the Alamodome in San Antonio. It was the Trojans' second win over Judson in a state title game in three years, and the victory culminated a 15-1 season - a season that didn't get off to such an auspicious start. After an opening week 21-10 win against Tyler Lee, Trinity traveled to Odessa to face legendary program Odessa Permian in a nationally televised contest. The Panthers dominated the Trojans, sending Trinity back to Euless stinging from a 30-3 defeat. At the time, Lineweaver wasn't thinking state title. "We were young," Lineweaver said still smiling during the postgame celebration. "I thought we would be pretty good on defense, but I didn't know if our offense would come around at the skill positions, but the kids kept working and got better." No skill position came further and proved more important than senior running back Samir Baker. The Trojans' horse through the playoffs carried the ball 40 times in the championship game, totaling 229 yards en route to Offensive MVP honors. Baker, running behind his big offensive line, simply wore down the Rockets in the fourth quarter. Trinity possessed the ball for more than 10 minutes in the final quarter, allowing Judson little opportunity for a comeback. It was almost the opposite story in the first quarter, as Judson used the first eight minutes of the game to travel the length of the field, but had to settle for a field goal after the Trojan defense stiffened in the red zone. Trinity responded with a one-yard sneak by quarterback Denarius McGhee to take a 6-3 lead. The 27-yard drive was set up by a Dustin Emery 40-yard punt return. Judson, though, would retake the lead a few minutes later on a 2-yard Mitchell Swan touchdown run. However, with time winding down in the first half, McGhee found Justin Runningdeer on a 17-yard TD pass to move in front 13-10. The Trojan defense and a methodical offensive would keep Judson from threatening the second half. "The defense has been solid - more than solid all year," Lineweaver said. A pillar of that unit, linebacker Elikena Fieilo, was named Defensive MVP of the state title game. One week prior to playing Judson in the Alamodome, the Trojans were taken to the limit by Plano. It took two overtimes to decide that affair, with Trinity's Pery Negreiros punching through a field goal in double overtime to give the Trojans a 30-27 win. The week earlier, Trinity was tested by Arlington Bowie, though finally prevailing 21-14. The Trojans came into that game having avenged its early-season loss to Permian with a 38-14 thumping of the Panthers. But, it was a September game that really stuck out to Lineweaver as a turning point for the season. "South Grand Prairie, our first district game, I thought we might be all right," Lineweaver said. "Of course, I still don't ever think about going this far, but I thought we could be a playoff team." Not only was Trinity a playoff team, it was the last playoff team standing. - Shawn Smajstrla Southlake Carroll Southlake Carroll's early departure from the playoffs was among the more shocking headlines from the 2007 football season, and many have begun to question whether the Dragons dynasty is at an end. Carroll had won a 5A state championship four of the last five seasons heading into this year's regional match-up against Abilene, but a Carroll turnover in the waning seconds inside the Eagles' 5-yard line brought an end to the Dragons' run. A closer look at Carroll's season reveals that costly injuries to key players, including a dislocated shoulder to quarterback Riley Dodge in the game against Abilene, may have impacted the team's playoff destiny. "There were a lot of adversities this season," coach Hal Wasson said. "The injury bug bit us, but we're not going to make excuses. Abilene came in and did a great job and beat us. They coached hard and played hard and won the football game." Carroll lost starting running back Tre Newton, standout receiver Blake Cantu, and linebacker Derek Tomlin at different points in the season. The Dragons finished the season with a record of 11-2 and went undefeated in district play, and in spite of the loss in the regional round, Wasson said he is pleased with the season as a whole. "It was an extremely rewarding season for us as coaches and for our players," Wasson said. "I'm so proud of the way they conducted themselves and represented this program. I told our players that I didn't know of any group that fought any harder to protect a tradition than they did." Wasson said after the team meeting on Monday following the loss to Abilene, the weight room was full of players already preparing for next football season. "Life doesn't always end in a fairy tale," Wasson said. "I told our team that we control how we feel about the season. It was obviously a huge disappointment to lose that football game...but there are a lot of positives to take away from this season, and we are choosing to focus on the great things; the district championship, and the opportunity to play three playoff games...We have a saying—tradition never graduates, and I think we will still be one of the teams to beat next season." Arlington Bowie Arlington Bowie advanced to the state quarterfinals, the furthest the team has ever been in school history, before losing 21-14 to Euless Trinity. The team defeated L.D. Bell, Flower Mound Marcus and Lubbock Coronado in the post-season to get to the fourth round, and coach Kenneth Perry said it is the best team he has coached at Bowie. "I am satisfied by how far our program has come," Perry said. "I really felt this team had a chance to win a state championship." The 2007 campaign was only the second time in school history the Volunteers have made the playoffs, with last year's team losing in the bi-district round to South Grand Prairie. The 14 points against the Trojans was the lowest point total to which Bowie was held all season, and Perry said the problems, as with many of Trinity's opponents, started in the trenches. "The main factor versus Trinity was not getting manhandled up front," Perry said. "Trinity does a very good job of keeping you from getting the big plays as well." Bowie finished the season with a 12-2 record and won the district 8-5A title, and while the Volunteers will have a high turnover for the 2008 season, quarterback Christian Matthews, who passed for nearly 2,800 yards and rushed for over 600 more, will be back. "We start with one of the best quarterbacks around," Perry said. "We must fill 16 other spots, so we will have to develop some players in the off-season." Mansfield Timberview In spite of getting off to a 1-3 start this season, the Mansfield Timberview football team advanced to the regional round of the playoffs in only its second season in class 5A. The Wolves lost their district opener to Mansfield Summit, but then rattled off six wins in a row to finish second in district 4-5A, and won its first two playoff games before losing to Hebron in the regional round of the playoffs. "To go three rounds into the playoffs after only two years in 5A, I am very proud of that accomplishment," coach Terry Cron said. "Our kids continued to improve throughout the season, making a run of eight wins in a row, and a lot of history was made for us since we're only four years old." Timberview actually jumped out to a lead in the Hebron game on a 1-yard run from Antoine Hicks, but the Hawks scored 21 unanswered points and took a 21-14 lead into the break. The Wolves tied it up again on a 41-yard Hicks run, and the teams exchanged scores, with Hebron coming out on top 35-28. "We had four interceptions in the game, and we still only lost by one touchdown," Cron said. "We've won games throughout the season because we've won the turnover ratio, and you can't typically win when you make those kinds of mistakes. "We were the underdog, and I think we did better than a lot of people anticipated." Timberview finished the season with a 9-4 mark and will return eight starters on defense and eight starters on offense. 4A Everman The 2007 season will likely be a bittersweet memory for the Bulldogs. The team galloped out to a 14-0 record before falling in the Division II state semifinal to Highland Park, 42-13. The Scots were the No. 1 ranked team in the state entering the game and proved worthy of that ranking, but it was mistakes and early miscues that doomed Everman on that cold and blustery December afternoon. "We had not had a bad snap [on a punt] all year. We'd not mishandled a punt all year, and then to do that and to give them a short field in the first quarter certainly put us in a situation that we didn't want to be in because they're much too good a football team to make those kind of mistakes and then be able to win," Everman head coach Dan Keeling said. "I think we just got off to a bad start and it just kind of kept getting worse. We dug ourselves into a hole and nothing went well." The Bulldogs were held to season low yardage and point totals against Highland Park. Their vaunted rushing attack managed only 67 yards and the team produced only 166 total yards. A team known for its comebacks, there would be no miracle finish for the Dogs this time. Still, Keeling feels his boys have nothing to be ashamed of. "I think they way overachieved," Keeling said. "We came into the season not knowing anything about our defense. We needed to fill eight positions on defense. So, we were completely in the dark about how we would respond on defense. To win 14 games coming in [picked to finish third in district] was certainly an overachievement, I think, for this group." As the coach, Keeling was left to console his team following the defeat, and offered them some big-picture insight. "I told our kids after the game that it's hard right now, but this group of kids won 14 games. That's an unbelievable season for anyone," he said. "When you don't win the last one, it's tough and disappointing, but these kids have the best 4A record in school history and to win 14 games in a season is phenomenal, so I think they're going to be proud of that after about a week or so." One of the highlights of the Bulldogs' season was a thrilling overtime victory over Stephenville to win the District 8-4A championship. The Yellow Jackets were the top-ranked team in the state at the time and Keeling looks back on that Friday as a defining moment for this group. "I think the tenth week of the season, when we beat Stephenville in overtime to win the district championship...you know, when you have as many talented teams as we do in this district, to come out the district champion, that was a big feat in itself. To come out and go 10-0 in this district was a huge success." Aledo Aledo opened district with back-to-back losses to Stephenville and Everman, but rebounded to win its next five regular season games and claim the third and final playoff spot in district 8-4A. The Bearcats advanced all the way to the state semi-finals before falling 15-9 to Copperas Cove. Coach Tim Buchanan said he was impressed with the way his team hung in there and really turned it on in the post-season. "Anytime you are playing and winning football games in the month of December, you have had a successful football season," Buchanan said. Aledo jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the Copperas Cove game, scoring on a 58-yard touchdown run by quarterback Cole Loftin and a 22-yard field goal from Chase Rutherford, but the Bulldogs rallied from a 9-7 half-time deficit to advance to the championship game against Lamar Consolidated. "The biggest problem was our special teams," Buchanan said. "Cove returned two kick-offs to our 40-yard line. We also had a problem in the red zone. We scored only three points and had the ball in the red zone three times. We had four possessions that started on or inside our own 20-yard line that we either scored on or drove the ball inside their 10, but came up empty twice." Aledo will return six defensive starters in 2008, along with two others that had significant playing time, as well as six on offense, including wideout Tanner McDonald, who will be switching to quarterback next season. "Tanner was 8 of 12 passing before he injured his shoulder in non-district," Buchanan said. "Tanner is having shoulder surgery this month, but should recover in time for spring football." The Bearcats finished the season with an 11-3 record. Keller Fossil Ridge The Keller Fossil Ridge football team had an unprecedented year in 2007, winning 10 consecutive games for the first time in school history and claiming its second consecutive outright district title. After defeating Denton Ryan 31-20 in bi-district, the Panthers advanced to the regional round of the Division I 4A playoffs, where they lost to perennial powerhouse Aledo. "Three fumbles and untimely penalties hurt us in the Aledo game," coach Tony Baccarini said. "Aledo has a very disciplined program with a long winning tradition. Coach Buchanan and his staff do great job coaching. They are very sound in all phases of the game and wait for you to make a mistake, and unfortunately we did." The Panthers actually tied the game up just before halftime on a 13-yard touchdown pass from John Killion to Aaron Fisher, but the Bearcats would tack on two more scores in the second half to win 21-7. Fossil Ridge finished the season with a 10-2 mark and won the 6-4A district championship, going undefeated in district play, as well as winning its bi-district game for the second straight year. Baccarini said he is pleased with the way his team competed this year, but admitted there is a slight tinge of disappointment. "As a whole, we were very proud of our team," Baccarini said. "We had a great group of seniors that were a pleasure to coach...but obviously, the only team fully satisfied is the one with the state championship." Baccarini added that, personnel wise, Fossil Ridge is in good shape heading into next season, but said there are some uncertainties as well. "Next year, we have seven returning starters on defense and six on offense," Baccarini said. "We are losing two standout players in defensive end R.J. Washington, who is going to the University of Oklahoma, and quarterback John Killion, who threw 65 touchdown passes and had 20 wins and four losses as a starter. Our sub-varsity teams were very competitive, and there is a good chance we will move back to 5A, so realignment will be interesting." TAPPS Division I The word nemesis may be in order. For the second consecutive year, Houston St. Pius X ended Nolan Catholic's season. Last year it was in the semifinals, this year in the TAPPS Division I championship game in Temple. The Vikings surrendered 24 points in the first quarter and couldn't overcome the early deficit, falling 38-14. Nolan's offense found success against the Panthers, totaling 408 yards and 22 first downs, but was intercepted three times and twice turned the ball over on downs. Robert Ratliff was 22-of-44 for 281 yards for the Vikings, and Joseph Alvarez led Nolan on the ground with 73 yards on ten carries. Though a frustrating end to a magical run, Nolan Catholic head coach Joe Prud'homme looked back on the season as a huge success. "I feel real good about our season," he said. "We went pretty far. Basically, this team overachieved. We had some talent and we knocked off the No. 1 team in the state, that was Beaumont Kelly at the time. We beat our district rival, Bishop Lynch pretty soundly and then ran into a good football team and just really didn't play well. All in all, I was very pleased with our season. "Once they got their chemistry together, they just got this attitude that they were supposed to win," Prud'homme added. "In their heart of hearts, they felt like they could overcome anything and anybody regardless of talent level, and they made a heck of a run at that." TAPPS Division III Grapevine Faith seemed to have everything just where it wanted. The Lions were in the state championship game facing a district opponent they had beaten just a few weeks earlier. But one thing about sports is that sometimes the unexpected happens. Faith lost its starting quarterback in the first quarter of the game and then lost its backup quarterback early in the second half. The Lions never really got on track and Waco Reicher took advantage, putting a 41-7 pasting on Faith, earning revenge and the state title. "There wasn't as much heartbreak as you might think because of the way it happened," said Faith head coach Kris Hogan. "There were some very strange circumstances connected with the game. "Losing our starting quarterback and starting free safety in the first quarter and then losing our second-string quarterback...you know, there's no team that loses their top two quarterbacks and then goes on and wins when you're playing in the state championship. The competition is too good." Faith defeated Reicher 28-6 in early November, but it was all Cougars the second time around. Quarterback Landon Anderson suffered a broken sternum with Faith already down 7-0. Reicher would tack on four more touchdowns before backup quarterback Peter Ashton crossed the goal line in the second quarter to make the halftime score 35-7. Ashton was then knocked from the game in the third quarter with a concussion. Greg Wright and Pierce Shivers filled in at quarterback for the remainder of the contest. "There was just simply no quit in this group - from any of them. It was unbelievable," Hogan said. "Even with tears in their eyes, the effort and speed - even full of hurt - it was amazing. I guarantee you this, it made their parents extremely proud." TAPPS Division IV Like other private schools from the Greater Tarrant County area, Forth Worth Calvary entered the state championship game with hopes of a title, only to walk off the field disappointed. The Conquerors were conquered by Hallettsville Sacred Heart, 39-8, in the TAPPS Division IV state championship game in Temple. Calvary head coach Keith Gober blamed coaching and a lack of preparation for the frustrating outcome of the game. Calvary managed only 75 yards rushing and 215 total yards while surrendering almost 400 yards of offense to Sacred Heart. Like its fellow TAPPS representatives, Calvary had a memorable season despite the loss. The Conquerors won ten games in a season for the first time ever.