By Brian Gosset
X – @gosset41
BEDFORD – The Euless Trinity and LD Bell rivalry dates back to the late 1960s and it’s a raucous crowd nearly every year when these two schools meet.
Despite their history being one-sided, Thursday night’s match-up was the biggest in the series in over 30 years.
Playing for the District 8-6A championship, Trinity shut out Bell in the second half and won 17-14 at Pennington Field. The Trojans will enter the playoffs with an 8-2 overall record and 7-0 in district play.
Trinity wins its first district title in five years and 19th during this century. Bell clinched a playoff berth last week in Week 10, its first playoff appearance since 2013.
The Trojans will host their first round game, against Plano East (6-4), in the 6A D1 bracket at 7:30 pm next Friday Nov. 13 from Pennington Field.
In front of a sold-out crowd, both teams scored on their opening possession. Senior QB Mack Lineweaver ran for a first down on third down and then connected with Brendon Cary near the red zone.
Lineweaver would hit Prince Ngandu on a touchdown pass to give the Trojans a 7-0 lead with 5:46 left in the first quarter – capping off a 6+ minute drive.
Bell (6-4, 5-2) answered Trinity on its first possession that included a fourth-down pass from QB Braylon Harris to Taysen Rutschman to end the opening period.
The Raiders also held the ball for over six minutes and scored when Harris connected with Rutschman that tied it at 7-7 with 11:15 left in the second quarter.
Bell took the lead late in the first half when Roland Taylay ran in a touchdown from inside the 5 that gave the Raiders a 14-7 edge with 1:37 on the clock.
The touchdown was set up by a 36-yard pass from Harris to Aiden Cannon that made it first-and-goal.
Bell got the ball to start the third quarter and got across the 50, but Trinity’s big D-line pressured Harris on third and fourth down as the Raiders couldn’t convert and turned it over on downs.
Lineweaver hit Kohen Fiefia on a long pass play during the ensuing Trinity drive and the Trojans pulled within 14-10 on a 33-yard field goal from Jayden Boye with 1:55 to go in the third.
The Raiders were forced to punt and Harris booted a 75-yarder that got a good bounce and was downed inside the 1. Trinity went three-and-out and punted from its own end zone and Bell got the ball back at the 50 with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Trying to go back up seven, Bell failed when the Raiders missed a 30-yard field goal, leaving it at 14-10 with seven minutes to play.
Percy Barber picked up a 32-yard run for Trinity to put the ball at the 3 and Barber punched it in for the go-ahead score, 17-14 with 3:25 to go. Barber led all players with 63 yards on the ground.
Harris found Gavin Wilson on fourth-and-3 to keep Bell alive at the 1:30 mark, but the Raiders faced another fourth down at the Trinity 35 under a minute left before Harris scrambled and was forced out to give the Trojans the ball back.
Taylay had a team-high 54 yards rushing for Bell while Harris threw for 145.
Bell, the #1 seed in D2, will get either Berkner or Plano – with those two playing games on Friday – in bi-district. The Raiders could host the game or play at a neutral site depending on the final standings in 7-6A.
It was the first time Trinity and Bell played for a district title in the final game of the regular season since 1994. Trinity won that game. Bell was looking to win its first district title since going back-to-back in 1991 and 1992.
The Trojans have won 23 district titles since Bell last won one. They have posted a 28-1 record over their rival in the last 29 meetings, dating back to 1998. Bell won 24-21 in 2023 that snapped a 25-game skid in the series.
