Lake Ridge rallies for playoff win over Trinity

By Bob Kowalski

Mansfield Record

Lake Ridge’s defense stepped up in the second half, and the offense took advantage as the Eagles came back for a 47-38 victory over Euless Trinity in a first-round Class 6A playoff game Friday night at Vernon Newsom Stadium.

The Eagles (9-2) trailed by 14 points with just over a minute to play in the first half, but outscored Trinity (8-3) 30-7 from that point. Lake Ridge started the comeback with a defensive stand late in the first half. With Trinity facing a third-and-21 on their own 20-yard line, the Eagles stopped John Meredith for no gain, forcing a punt with 1 ½ minutes left.

Quarterback Deshawn Edwards’ 34-yard pass to Jayden Evans put the Eagles at Trinity’s 13-yard line with just over a minute left. Edwards again found Evans on the next play, a 13-yard touchdown strike to bring Lake Ridge within seven at halftime, 31-24.

Trinity went three-and-out to start the second half, giving Lake Ridge the ball at midfield. Edwards and Jaiden Cotton combined for all of the runs on the six-play drive, including a 24-yard burst around end by Edwards to set up his 13-yard TD run that tied the game at 31-31 with a little over 8 ½ minutes left in the third quarter.

The Eagles forced another three-and-out, with Trinity punting from its own 24, giving the ball to Lake Ridge on its own 43. Cotton took the ball to Trinity’s 48 on back-to-back carries, and Edwards, cutting up the middle on a read, went 48 yards for the touchdown and 38-31 lead with 6:14 left in the third.

Trinity answered with a nine-play scoring drive, with running backs JT Harris and Jayden Hollins, and quarterback Mack Lineweaver sharing rushing duties. However, the big play on the drive was Lineweaver’s 28-yard pass to Graven Mohetau to put the ball at Lake Ridge’s 2-yard line. Lineweaver scored two plays later to tie the game at 38-38 with 2 ½ minutes left in the third quarter.

Lake Ridge went three-and-out, but a phenomenal 64-yard punt by Kyson Scott pinned the Trojans at their own 11. On that drive, the Trojans lost two yards, and the punt from their 9-yard line was blocked into the end zone for a safety and a 40-31 Lake Ridge lead.

After another Trinity three-and-out, Lake Ridge drove to the Trojans’ 9-yard line before Trinity’s Dontrell Johnson forced and recovered a fumble. On the next snap, Lake Ridge’s Mason Johnson returned the favor, forcing and recovering a fumble on the 2-yard line.

Cotton scored from there for a 47-38 lead with 5 ½ minutes to play in the game.

The teams traded possessions after that, but Lake Ridge’s Kaiden Anderson sacked Lineweaver for an 11-yard loss to the 5-yard line, and on fourth-and-eight, the Eagles’ Camron Wilson intercepted a pass to seal the victory.

Trinity had taken a 10-point lead in the first quarter on a 31-yard field goal by Jayden Boye and 30-year TD run by Harris. Lake Ridge made it 10-7 when Edwards passed to Evans for a 36-yard scored with more than 3 ½ minutes left in the first quarter.

On the Trojans’ first play after that, Keondre Dixon spun out of a tackle at the line and raced 69 yards for a TD and 17-7 lead. The Eagles moved the ball downfield quickly, with Edwards hitting Noel Butler for 36 yards, and Kamron Jackson for 26 and 10 yards to spot the ball at Trinity’s 3-yard line. Cotton surged in from there to make it 17-13 with 1:18 left in the first quarter.

Trinity’s Ricoh Sanchez recovered the onside kick to set up Meredith’s 59-yard touchdown run to put Trinity up 24-14 on the first play of the second quarter.

Six minutes later, Scott’s 33-yard field goal brought the Eagles within a touchdown at 24-17.

But Lineweaver found Tayshaun Eafon for a 47-yard TD pass to give Trinity a 31-17 lead with 4:20 left in the first half, setting the stage for Lake Ridge’s comeback.

In the other playoff games involving Mansfield ISD teams Friday night, Timberview (7-4) fell to Anna, 35-25, at R.L. Anderson Stadium; and Mansfield (5-6) lost to Byron Nelson, 42-14, on the road.

Lake Ridge advances to the second round against an opponent to be determined.

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