By Jason Hickman
MaxPreps.com
Defending Champions Set to Collide in Texas
Last December, talk of a Euless Trinity-Southlake Carroll showdown was nothing more than coffee shop or cafeteria banter.
Euless Trinity bullied its way to a 14-1 record and a 5A Division I state title, while Southlake Carroll rolled to the 5A Division II title. With the schools just nine miles apart, talk of "What If?" was inevitable.
Friday night at Texas Stadium, the Trojans and Dragons will settle a debate that's been raging for a year or more, with a shot at another state title at stake.
Some are even asking if it's the biggest game in North Texas history. That notion alone should be telling evidence of how eagerly-anticipated this game has been.
Southlake Carroll owns the nation's fifth-longest winning streak at 43 games, and has won 74 of its last 75 games. The Dragons have demoralized opponents this season by an average score of 48-10.
Junior quarterback Riley Dodge - son of head coach Todd Dodge - has been the catalyst for the Dragon offense, cranking out over 3,900 yards and 52 touchdowns through the air and on the ground.
Euless Trinity will enter the showdown with 17-straight wins and a mark of 35-5 since 2004. Head coach Steve Lineweaver's is averaging nearly 40 points per game while giving up under 10.
The power-running Trojans have a productive 1-2 punch in the backfield with seniors Justise Campbell and Shannon Moore, who have combined for 2,153 yards and 23 touchdowns on the ground.
The winner will be the clear favorite for the 5A Division I state title, but won't be out of the woods in a loaded field by any means. Lufkin or Spring Westfield are looming as potential semifinal opponents out of Region 2, while unbeaten Houston-area juggernaut North Shore could emerge from the other side of the bracket.
Backing it Up
Byrnes' (S.C.) loss to Gaffney Oct. 19 ended a 33-game win streak for the Rebels.
Byrnes' second loss of the season to Gaffney - coming Friday in a second round playoff game - may have ended an era.
The Indians proved the first meeting was no fluke by beating South Carolina's four-time defending state champions again, ending the Rebels' hopes for an unprecedented fifth-straight state title.
"Everyone was doubting us this season, saying we couldn't go undefeated and make it back to state," Gaffney quarterback Malcolm Long told the Herald-Journal. "We're fixing to show those people what it's all about."
Long's 148-yard passing night helped end the legendary career of his Rebel counterpart, Willy Korn.
The Clemson-bound signal caller helped spur Byrnes' rise to national prominence as part of three state championship teams. During Korn's four-year run in Duncan, the Rebels compiled a 55-3 record. Korn threw for 3,485 yards and 39 touchdowns in 2006, bringing his career totals to 10,716 yards and 125 touchdowns.
"It's disappointing in the fact we couldn't make state history," Byrnes head coach Bobby Bentley told the Herald-Journal. "I'm proud of our players and our coaches and our community. We'll come back next year and try it again."
Gaffney will move on to face Stratford in the state's 4A semifinals.
Nationwide State Playoff Notes
Ohio had its own version of Euless Trinity-Southlake Carroll over the weekend when Colerain and St. Xavier - winners of the state's last two Division I titles - met Friday. No. 6 Colerain avenged a pair of 2005 losses to No. 12 St. Xavier by stifling the Bombers in a 24-7 win. The Cardinals, now an overwhelming favorite to win its second title in three years, have won 38 of their last 40 games.Utah's Bingham captured its first state title (5A) in 60 years a with a 21-19 win over Alta. It was a banner year for Utah high school football, as Beehive State teams scored a number of impressive out-of-state wins, falling the likes of Dorsey, Calif., Grand Junction, Colo., Las Vegas, Nev., Rainier Beach, Wash., and Valdosta, Ga.In Kentucky, MaxPreps' national No. 3 Male went down to fellow Louisville-area rival Trinity in 4A playoff action. Trinity was led by Nick Petrino - son of University of Louisville head coach Bobby Petrino - who threw for 393 yards in the win.The biggest stunner of the weekend came in Texas, where No. 26 Smithson Valley was knocked out of the 5A Division II proceedings in the first round by San Marcos. The Rattlers entered the playoffs with a 5-5 record, but churned out 413 yards on the ground against the usually stout Ranger defense to snag a 35-34 upset win.Smithson Valley wasn't the only powerhouse to have its season end unexpectedly over the weekend.Louisiana's defending 5A champion, West Monroe (No. 67), saw its 23-game win streak come to an end in a 21-14 loss to Sulphur. It was the earliest exit from the postseason for the Rebels in 12 years.In Pennsylvania there is never any shame in losing to Harrisburg's Bishop McDevitt. But after beating the Crusaders 29-7 in September, No. 74 Harrisburg - a team that harbored legitimate state championship aspirations - had to be disappointed to have its season ended in a 20-18 reversal of fortune. Senior running back Deries Hodge had a big day in the losing effort, piling up 187 yards on 27 carries.John McKissick of No. 76 Summerville, S.C., saw his 55th season as head coach of the Green Wave come to an end with a 35-21 loss to Dutch Fork. McKissick finished the season with 542 career wins, easily the most for any coach in high school football history.
Team of the Week: Bothell, Wash.
Football has been played on the site where Bothell High's historic Pop Keeney Stadium sits since the early 1900's, but it's unlikely the facility has hosted a game like the one that took place there Saturday night.
Homestanding Bothell outlasted perennial state power Pasco, 43-40, in a game that took nine overtime periods to decide, matching a national record. The state quarterfinal contest lasted over four hours, featured 17 punts in regulation, and 55 points in the extra sessions.
Tied at 14 at the end of four quarters, the teams traded field goals in the first, fourth, and fifth overtime sessions, and exchanged touchdowns in the seventh and eighth overtimes.
In the ninth overtime (17th and 18th additional possessions), Pasco connected on another field goal, but this time the Cougars were able to respond with a Luke Jones touchdown run from 10 yards out to end the epic.
"I'm 41 years old and I've played football since I was eight, and I've never seen a game like this," Bothell coach Tom Bainter told the Seattle Times. "I feel heartbroken for (Pasco) and so excited for our kids."
The win pits Bothell against unbeaten Edmonds-Woodway in the state 4A semifinals.
Max Performer of the Week: Ron Newcomb, Mount Carmel, Ill.
Big time players make big plays in big games.
Apparently, Mount Carmel's Ron Newcomb fits the bill, because he made several of them Saturday night in the biggest game of the weekend in Illinois.
Newcomb, a 6-3, 220-pound senior defensive end/tight end had a game he will be telling his grandkids about someday as the Caravan snapped Lincoln-Way East's 26-game win streak with a 14-12 win that will put them in the 8A championship game next weekend.
Newcomb recorded 14 tackles on defense, caught the game-winning touchdown pass with under four minutes remaining in the game, then sealed the victory by recovering an onside kick attempt with a minute left after Lincoln-Way East cut the lead to two points.
Newcomb and the Caravan will face Wheaton-Warrenville South - another undefeated power - Saturday at the University of Illinois.
Mount Carmel produced a pair of prominent NFL stars in Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb and Tampa Bay defensive end Simeon Rice.
Bulletin Board
- San Marcos, Texas, head coach Steve Van Nest to the San Marcos Record on his team's playoff upset of Lone Star State power Smithson Valley:
"We talked about being fearless and that's what it's all about. We never blinked and the guys didn't flinch. We stared them down in their own house and we played fearless ball."
Photo: Euless Trinity's Justise Campbell. (By Jeff Thomas)