Football: Permian's season ends at Trinity's hands

ABILENE There’s a saying about paybacks.

The Permian Panthers found out the hard way Saturday.

Euless Trinity’s Samir Baker rushed for 254 yards while Denarius McGhee threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third as the No. 7 Trojans rolled past the No. 5 Panthers 38-14 in a Class 5A Division I regional playoff at Shotwell Stadium.

Trinity was a totally different team from the one that lost 30-3 to Permian on Sept. 15 in Odessa, gaining 482 total yards while holding the Panthers to a season-low 275.

“We were very young and discombobulated in the offensive line,” Trinity coach Steve Lineweaver said of the first meeting. “Permian gave us some good lessons and that really helped us. It was extremely painful, but we learned from that.”

The Trojans (12-1) advanced to the quarterfinals against No. 10 Arlington Bowie, a 37-14 winner over Lubbock Coronado, at 4 p.m. Dec. 8 at Irving’s Texas Stadium.

Permian (12-1) saw its season end in the regional round for the second year in a row. Trinity became just the second team to beat the Panthers in the playoffs after losing a regular-season game to the Panthers.

“I don’t think they were playing harder than us, but they were playing better than us on this day,” Permian coach Darren Allman said. “They made the plays when they had to and they took care of the football."

Trinity was turnover-free after losing the ball five times in the earlier game.

Permian had scored at least one touchdown off turnovers in every game before Saturday.

“They didn’t throw interceptions and they didn’t fumble,” Allman said. “We’ve been living off that all year. The fact that we weren’t able to create any turnovers kept us from grabbing the momentum that we’re used to having.

“It’s hard to do anything but give Trinity a lot of credit. They played well in all phases of the game.”

Baker popped a 72-yard gain on the first play of the game and went on to have the best rushing day ever by a Permian playoff opponent.

The senior bettered the 242 yards gained by Blake McCarthy of San Angelo Central in last year’s area round.

“This game we realized that we could finish,” Baker said. “Coach Lineweaver made sure we understood that if we finished the play, then we will win. We came out here humble and finished the play.”

Permian quarterback Taylor Byrd had touchdowns rushing and passing, but was kept under wraps most of the day.

Byrd finished 11-of-27 passing for 126 yards, breaking the single-season yardage mark Tate Smith set last year, with 49 rushing yards on 15 carries. Byrd ended the season with 2,449 passing yards.

“They just came to play,” Byrd said of the Trojans. “We came to play, too, but we just couldn’t get the job done.

“They were containing and spying on me all day. It wasn’t until late in the fourth quarter that I could get outside and try to make some stuff happen.”

Permian, which had two victories over state-ranked opponents this season, closed the scoring when Byrd hit Joseph Knighten for a 28-yard touchdown midway through the fourth quarter.

Melvis Pride had seven receptions for 76 yards with Knighten getting two catches for 37 yards. Jamison Berryhill was Permian’s leading rusher with 52 yards on seven carries.

Trinity settled for the first of three field goals by Pery Negreiros (19, 30 and 33 yards) after Baker’s big run to the Permian 8, and the Panthers went ahead on Byrd’s 1-yard sneak with 45 seconds left in the first quarter.

After that, it was all Trinity.

McGhee raced 52 yards to score early in the second quarter to put the Trojans in front to stay and Mao Leota added a 2-yard touchdown for a 17-7 lead. Negreiros hit his second field goal on the final play of the half.

McGhee, who finished 8-of-16 passing for 150 yards, threw touchdowns of 12 yards to Justin Runningdeer and 54 yards to Tyree Tucker about two minutes apart in the third quarter to put the game away.

The Trojans had five plays go for more than 25 yards in the game.

“Coach Allman told us during the week that things aren’t always going to go our way,” Permian linebacker Alex Lujan said. “That’s just how football is and we had to not let it affect us.

“We got a little momentum — we scored a touchdown — but they had a great game. They played great football and had the momentum.”