Staff writer Kevin Manning wrote up a report for the upcoming Bellevue-Trinity football game set for Thursday in a matchup of nationally-ranked teams:

In a tradition to kick off the season, two national football powerhouses will collide when Bellevue High battles Trinity High of Texas under the Seattle Memorial Stadium lights on Thursday.

The Bellevue Wolverines look to start the season off on a high note in their attempt to win their fifth straight class 3A state championship. The well-coached Wolverines, headed by coach Butch Goncharoff, come into the season nationally ranked No. 7 in the most recent ESPN.com HS power rankings.

With one of the nation’s very best defenses backed by standouts Myles Jack, Sean Constantine and Michael Carlson, the Wolverine’s will look to show why they are a favorite to repeat. Both Jack and Constantine were named to The News Tribune’s pre-season all-state team. With Carlson manning the safety with Jack and Constantine at linebacker, Trinity will be hard-pressed to produce anything up the middle on offense.

The Trinity Trojans is a program, like Bellevue, that knows how to win. The Trojans are led by coach Steve Lineweaver who has won three state titles under his time at Trinity. Lineweaver is looking to take his Trojans back to the 5A division 1 championship game but it will be a tough test after losing much of the team’s talent from last season.

The Trojans do have returning standouts Sam Tevi (Utah commit) on defense and Jason Reese (Arizona State commit) on offense. Tevi, the 6-7 near 300 pound defensive lineman, will be a good test for the Wolverines Wing-T offense. Reese is a big tight end (6-5) that should match up well against the Wolverine trio on defense.

Game time starts at 6 p.m. at Seattle;s Memorial Stadium.

For a link of Trinity’s acclaimed Maori war dance, click here.

And game tickets available here.