HCA Athlete Signs with University of Northwestern

If you had told Mike Sellers three years ago that his son, Trenton, would sign with the University of Northwestern, he would not have believed you. It was not that he felt his son was incapable of it, far from it. It was simply that Trenton had not yet found his passion. After breakout junior and senior seasons with Hernando Christian Academy, the student-athlete with a 4.0+ GPA is now set to play as a running back for the Minnesota-based college.

The multi-sport athlete played “pretty much all the sports” according to his father, including pewee football, baseball, basketball, and cross country. However, the athlete did not “find his niche” until he went to high school, Mike continued. A critical piece of him discovering his love for football was the camaraderie of the sport. “He loves being around his buddies,” his father said.

It began with a strong connection with one of his coaches in the weight room. During his sophomore year, Trenton fell in love with working out with the help of Coach Lance Schwan. The athlete appreciated how Schwan challenged him to get better, and the coach has been “an instrumental part in [Trenton’s] ability to grow in sports,” Mike said. Despite this, his debut season as a sophomore was a humble one.

Due to the Lions having a six-man football squad and his lack of size at the time, Trenton did not get to see the field often. Things changed going into his junior year. “Over the summer […] he turned into another kid.” His focus and work ethic blossomed. “I didn’t know who he was anymore,” his father marveled. Gaining 20-25 pounds over the course of the break, the then 16-year-old transformed his physique and turned heads with his performance that year. He became a starter and a captain of the defense in addition to playing both sides of the ball.

During his junior campaign, he amassed 400 yards of offense with 9 touchdowns across 6 games enroute to being named to the all-conference team. He would help his squad go undefeated during the regular season before falling 55-54 to Gainesville Christian Community in the FCAPPS Championship Game. For his part, the junior contributed 157 yards and 3 touchdowns on just 10 carries in the loss. Trenton and company took the defeat to heart, so much so that he developed a “positive chip” on his shoulder going into his senior year.

During his final go around on the gridiron, Trenton compiled 800 yards of offense, again scoring 9 touchdowns across 10 games before making the All-American Senior Bowl. While he would continue to show out, the team was unable to sustain the same level of success due to switching conferences last minute in the transition from six to eight-man football. This resulted in their closest opponent being roughly three hours away, Mike noted, but the team still finished a respectable 8-3.

With all the late nights caused by the less-than-ideal schedule, Mike asked his son if it might be best to shelve cross country. With Trenton’s ascension in football and his cross country meets occurring on Saturday mornings, the thought process made sense, but the athlete was determined. Trenton persevered and navigated the tight schedule because, as he put it, “cross country keeps me conditioned.” Like his father said, he is a different kid.

According to Mike, there are two moments that really define the kind of player that his son is. In the Lion’s matchup versus Geneva Classical Academy during his senior season, he suggested to the coaching staff that they should use him as a decoy to help open up the offense. Geneva continued to key in on Trenton despite this adjustment, and his selflessness allowed the running backs to score a total of eight touchdowns enroute to a 56-26 victory.

Geneva continued to key in on him because he can take over a game on both sides of the ball much like he did against the Academy at the Lakes in the postseason. After initially giving up big plays to the Wildcats’ best receiver, the coaches made the change to put Trenton on him, and Sellers locked the receiver down for the rest of the game. This was in addition to Trenton finding paydirt multiple times on offense. It was a monster game for the senior.

Trenton’s appearance at the senior bowl in February would prove critical in his choice of college. At the Zephyrhills-based event, he met players, coaches, and scouts from across the nation. After showing his skills and heart at the competition, he met with coaches who invited him to attend a college fair in Orlando. At this exhibition, Mike noted that “smaller schools that maybe don’t get as much recognition” can get their players in front of more scouts.

This is where Trenton met with scouts from a variety of colleges including Northwestern “who rolled out the red carpet” for him during a visit in April. The Minnesota-based university loved his resilience, integrity, and reputation for being responsible, but the Sellers family had their own priorities, too. They emphasized to the colleges that their faith was very important before subsequently narrowing their list of potential schools to three. After lots of prayer, the school from St. Paul was the one.