Texas' Euless Trinity dominates, promotes Madden NFL 11
The Euless Trinity (Texas) Trojans are a terrifyingly good high school football team, and not just because they're ranked No. 2 in the new RivalsHigh 100. How good are they? Good enough to beat another nationally ranked team by nearly 60 points. Good enough to get national attention and a spot on ESPN's "SportsCenter" top plays. Good enough to do the Haka dance during pregame warm ups and look almost as intimidating as the New Zealand All Blacks. Good enough that everyone, even Madden NFL 11, wants a piece of the Trojans.
If you haven't seen the best of Trinity's 80-26 pasting of Shiloh Christian, one of the top teams in Arkansas, you're missing out. Trinity scored seven touchdowns in the first half. Three Trojans ran for more than 100 yards, despite the fact that some of the team's starters were held back when the game devolved into a crushing blowout.
If you want more proof of Trinity's brilliance, just check out the two highlights below. In the first, the Trojans run a reverse halfback pass to perfection. It was so efficient that Shiloh could barely recover to keep senior wide receiver Garland Rader out of the end zone.
As good as that reverse pass was, it wasn't even the best play of the game. That was turned in by senior defensive back Q'Niko Thomas, who pulled down a deflected pass for an interception, then returned that pick for a touchdown while dragging Shiloh running back Garrett Harper for more than 20 yards.
Yes, Euless Trinity really is that good. In fact, when EA Sports was looking for a high school team to help promote it's Madden NFL 11 release, it jumped on the Trojan bandwagon. As the Dallas Morning News pointed out, the videogame maker sent Ray Lewis to a taping session with Trinity and the Trojans' fiercest rival, Hurst L.D. Bell High School. The online commercial that emerged featured the All-Pro linebacker firing up teams of Trinity and L.D. Bell alumni, since active high school players aren't allowed to appear in promotional commercials.
Of course, Trinity players already knew they wouldn't be featured in the Madden ad because this wasn't even the program's first brush with commercial promotion. In 2007, Gatorade filmed a commercial with the Trinity program. That ad, which featured voiceover work and a promo from Bill Parcells, first aired during the 2007 Orange Bowl and was later used throughout the NFL playoffs.
Are the Trojans just non-stop highlight reels and commercial hype? Their schedule is tough enough to test that theory. Trinity has yet to play a district game. The Trojans start their District 6-5A campaign on Saturday at Richland High School, the first of eight tough games that include the aforementioned rivalry matchup against L.D. Bell. Then, if it can survive that gauntlet, Trinity will have the 5A state playoffs, possibly the toughest postseason in high school football.
Despite all those obstacles, it's hard not to like Trinity's chances after Monday's rout. Regardless of final results, it seems safe to assume that every team the Trojans play will be plenty intimidated before kickoff.
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