ARLINGTON, Texas – If, as many project, Bingham’s Harvey Langi is the top junior running back in the land, the question begs: Where does Tevin Williams rank?
The strong, upright, 6-foot-1, 180-pound tailback from Trinity (Euless, Texas) made his case rushing 22 times for 210 yards and three touchdowns as the Trojans romped 42-21 over Langi and his South Jordan, Utah teammates in the first and premier contest of the all-day Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Football Series at the new Cowboys Stadium Monday morning.
Trinity's Bobby Brown scores one of his two TDs.
Photo by Todd Shurtleff
Trinity (1-0) piled up 412 yards overall while knocking off the nation’s No. 19 team before approximately 20,000 fans and a national television audience.
“The whole summer I had a lot of chips on my shoulder,” Williams said. “I didn’t think I was getting as much respect as I thought I should of. I wanted to show everyone what I could do.”
Langi, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound load, is being recruited by everyone including USC and Notre Dame.
But a big and fast Trinity defense limited him to just 52 yards on 13 carries and two catches for 16 yards (and a touchdown).{VIDEO_53f135bf-a033-4c40-b499-0778bd897571,floatLeftWithBar}
Meanwhile, Williams, the Dallas Morning News Sophomore of the Year, ran wild most of the day, almost matching Langi’s total on a 50-yard TD jaunt on the game’s first drive.
He added third-quarter touchdown runs of 7 and 4 yards and combined with big efforts from senior quarterback Willie Hubbard (10 of 12, 157 yards, TD run, TD pass) and receiver Bobby Brown (two touchdowns), the Trojans won this battle between respective state powers.
So where does Williams belong among the nation’s elite?
“I’ll let other people decide that,” Williams said. “But right now I feel real good. For me, for our team, for the state of Texas.”
Some said this was the biggest game in Utah state history, considering the setting and playing in Texas, a place generally regarded as the hub of high school football.
But Bingham (2-1), despite playing two more games than Trinity, was sluggish, committing 10 penalties and turning the ball over twice.
The Miners never gave in and got numerous big plays including a 67-yard yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Stefan Cantwell and a 29-yarder by starter Ty Hannay.
But overall, they couldn’t quite compete with the combined physicality and speed of the Trojans, who aren't ranked nationally this year after being at the top of most polls last season.
“I’m proud of our effort but I thought we’d play better than we did,” Bingham coach David Peck said. “The combination of their speed and playing college rules (Texas is one of two states that allow cut blocking) had a definite effect on the game. But they basically came out and took it to us. No excuses.”
It didn’t take Trinity long to strike.
The Trojans went 86 yards in just four plays, capped on a 50-yard scamper over the left side by Williams.
He was sprung on a beautiful block by junior guard Justin Martin and was barely touched before being tackled in the end zone, making it 7-0 with 10:09 remaining in the first.
Trinity coach Steve Lineweaver had a hunch that Trinity, which returned just two starters from last year’s 13-1 squad, was ready to play.
The bright lights and shimmering New Texas Stadium atmosphere didn’t effect the Trojans.
“What I saw in their eyes was not too much ‘golly,’ “ Lineweaver said. “I was pleased what I sensed before the game.”
Trinity’s defensive line pretty much manhandled Bingham early as Xavier Slack, Paul Olie and Siaosi Finau all recorded sacks in the Miners’ first two drives.
Bingham, however, hung tough and tied the score at 7-7 on a well-designed 29-yard scoring pass from senior quarterback Hannay to Brady Measom on a third-and-four call.
After a timeout by coach Peck, Hannay lofted a pretty pass to a streaking Measom who easily beat the secondary, tying the score with 7:33 left until halftime.
“I thought we battled through the bad start and was ready to take over the game,” Langi said. “But we couldn’t keep it up. We knew they were a great team. They proved it.”
Trinity came right back, going 77 yards in six plays finished off with a 16-yard touchdown sweep by Brown. Once again, some terrific blocking sprung Brown, a 5-6, 147-pound receiver who was never touched.
Halfback Damien Hart crushed a Bingham linebacker and receiver Brandon Carter added a fine seal block, making it 14-7 with 5:08 left in the half. Carter set up the touchdown with a fantastic 41-yard reception, turning twice before making the grab.
Peck said those blocks were effective and though his team was aware cut blocks were legal, it was a tough adjustment.
“We just weren’t used to (the cut blocks),” Peck said. “We were like ‘we got ‘em, we got ‘em,’ and the next thing we were down.”
After a deflected interception by Frank Agbemaple at midfield, the Trojans took control when on 3rd-and-10, Hubbard rolled left and against his body found Brown in the back left corner of the end zone, making it 21-7 with 26 seconds left in the half.
“I like to move around back there,” Hubbard said. “I just found a little time and found (Brown) in the end zone.”
Williams scored his second and third touchdowns on runs of 7 and 5 yards, sandwiching a 67-yard touchdown pass from Bingham backup quarterback Cantwell to Josh Smith.
The Bingham touchdown cut the lead to 28-14 and after interception by Jake Bright, the Miners looked in business. But on the very next play, Sete Maile sacked Hannay, Sam Gautsche recovered at the Bingham 24 and four plays later, Williams put the Trojans back in complete control, up 35-14 with 31 seconds in the third.
Once again, Bingham didn’t go away quietly, this time going 78 yards in six plays, capped by a 15-yard TD pass from Hannay to Langi, who broke a tackle at the 7 and zipped around left end, making it 35-21 with 9:39 remaining in the game.
A 36-yard double pass from Cantwell to Measom (3 catches, 77 yards) set up the score.
But Trinity always had an answer, once again it was Williams, he scampered for 52 yards, setting up a 7-yard touchdown run by Hubbard with 4:30 to go to put it away.
Hubbard faked on outside pitch right to Williams, then raced to the left pylon.
“We feel Texas football is the best of the best,” Hubbard said. “We weren’t going to come up short.”
Trinity 42, Bingham 21
Bingham 0 7 7 7 - 21
Trinity 7 14 14 7 – 42
First quarter
T – Tevin Willaims 50 run (Tony Perez kick), 10:09
Second quarter
B – Brady Measom 29 pass from Ty Hannay (Braeden Loveles kick), 7:33
T – Bobby Brown 16 run (Perez kick), 5:08
T – Brown 25 pass from Willie Hubbard (Perez kick), 0:26
Third quarter
T – Williams 7 run (Perez kick), 8:01
B – Josh Smith 67 pass from Stefan Cantwell (Loveles kick), 6:59
T – Williams 4 run (Perez kick), 0:31
Fourth quarter
B – Harvey Langi 15 pass from Ty Hannay (Loveless kick), 9:32
T – Hubbard 7 run (Perez kick), 4:30
Team statistics
First downs: Bingham 14, Trinity 21
Rushes-yards: Bingham 29-50, Trinity 39-255
Passing: Bingham 11-18-1-209, Trinity 10-12-0-157
Total yards: Bingham 259, Trinity 412
Turnovers: Bingham 2, Trinity 1
Penalties: Bingham 10-95, Trinity 7-50.
Individual statistics
Rushing: B - Langi 13-52, Cantwell 3-6, Smith 1-3. T - Williams 22-210, Brown 3-38, Hart 6-34.
Passing: B - Hannay 8-15-1-105, Cantwell 3-3-0-104. T - Hubbard 10-12-1-157.
Receiving: B - Measom 3-77, Hall 3-27, Smith 2-77. T - Brown 4-56, Carter 2-46, Hart 2-29.