ESPN RISE

The sun had almost set behind Trinity High School (Euless, Texas) last Thursday afternoon, still reflecting off the jumbo jets landing at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport just east of town.

With a north wind gusting at almost 40 mph delivering a wind chill in the 30s, no one would have blamed Trinity football coach Steve Lineweaver for ending practice a little early. But that's not how he has built a two-time Texas state champion that was ranked first in the season's final Class 5A poll and is No. 1 in the latest ESPN RISE FAB 50.

So there was time for a few more drills -- the fake punt and the field-goal team. Senior Isaac Arellano is both punter and kicker, a wisp of a player at 5-foot-9 and 157 pounds. He dutifully acted like the punt snap sailed over his head a few times and, a few minutes later with the help of the gale, nailed a kick through the uprights from 60 yards out. "An H.E.B. record!" screamed Lineweaver, referring to the Hurst-Euless-Bedford school district. Players standing and sitting on the sideline yelled, too, and shivered.

The fake punt came in handy two days later, when Trinity faced Plano, ranked eighth in 5A, in the second round of the Division I playoffs at Texas Stadium -- a rematch of Trinity's heart-stopping, double-overtime victory en route to last year's title. Arellano performed his punting pirouette on the Trojans' fourth play from scrimmage -- on their 27-yard line, no less. Senior Jack Detvongsa took the snap and zipped through the middle of the Plano defense for a first down at midfield. Four plays later, Trinity was in the end zone.

Turns out the Trojans' field goal team was never needed, but Arellano was on the sideline rehearsing a winning kick in the final minute of the heavyweight battle that was tied 35-35. Lineweaver was ready to call upon Arellano once the Trojans reached the 30-yard line in the final 30 seconds. But there was time for at least one shot at the end zone. Senior quarterback Denarius McGhee lofted a pass to wideout Tyree Tucker for a 26-yard touchdown with 15 seconds to play and a 42-35 final.

The Trinity-Plano sequel was as exciting as last year's original. The biggest difference in Trinity's approach was Lineweaver's decision to pass like the Trojans never had in winning their first 11 games this season. McGhee threw for 302 yards on 21 attempts after breaking the 200-yard mark only three times this year. The Trojans' 35 rushing attempts were three off their low for the season.

Why? "Because we thought they'd be all up there [stacked in the box]," Lineweaver said after the game. "When we have a lot of grass and they're all up there, we trust our receivers and our quarterback. We work harder on the pass than people realize."

Not that Arlington coach Scott Peach needed something else to ponder as his Colts head into the Division I Region 1 final against Trinity on Saturday night back at Texas Stadium. Arlington is 8-4, having finished the season in a three-way tie for second place in District 4.

Notes from other Texas playoff games

• The third round of football playoffs in Texas has usually been where schools from the Rio Grande Valley make their exits in the larger classifications. Region honors usually go to schools in San Antonio, Austin or Corpus Christi. But the Valley is taking aim at a rare Region 4 title winner in 5A Division I from both barrels in games at the Alamodome.

Harlingen and Mission Sharyland have each recorded playoff wins against opponents in the neighborhood. Harlingen's Cardinals beat Weslaco before defeating Laredo United. Now the Big Red (9-3) will face Austin Westlake (8-4) Saturday afternoon. On the other side of the bracket is Sharyland, 10-2 after eliminating Del Rio and Pharr-San Juan-Alamo. Sharyland's Rattlers will face San Antonio Clark (11-1) on Friday afternoon.

• The Allen Eagles finished the regular season ranked No. 5 in Class 5A, their only loss coming at home against Trinity by 10 points in September. Allen advanced with a 56-28 victory over Coppell late Saturday night at Texas Stadium. But junior quarterback Matt Baker left in the second quarter with an apparent injury to his left shoulder or collarbone area and didn't return.

Baker has passed for 1,973 yards and also leads the Eagles in rushing with 1,125 yards. Allen will play fourth-ranked Odessa Permian (12-0) on Friday afternoon at Texas Stadium.

• You might recall when Nebraska's Tom Osborne finally beat Oklahoma in 1978 and won the Big Eight Conference's berth to the Orange Bowl for the first time in four years & only to have the folks in Miami invite the Sooners to play the Huskers again! (OU, 31-24). Or when the Sugar Bowl matched Florida and Florida State right after their annual grudge match in 1994.

A similar scenario will play out this week in Texas Six-Man play when Strawn and Gordon, district rivals from Palo Pinto County, meet in the Division I playoffs. Both teams are 11-1, Gordon ranked fourth in the state and Strawn fifth. Strawn opened the playoffs with an 83-72 thriller over Richland Springs, eliminating the two-time defending Division I champion.

When the rivals met in Gordon on Halloween night, the host Longhorns defeated the visiting Greyhounds 60-30. They'll face each other again Saturday in Mineral Wells.

Jeff Miller is a freelance writer and can be reached at miller.jeff55@gmail.com.