Davis Penn, 3, celebrates a touchdown with his fellow Dragons.
Ripped to shreds
KELLER – No one expected lowly Keller Timber Creek to put
up much of a fight last night when they hosted the undefeated Southlake Carroll
Dragons, ranked No. 1 in the state since the season began.
And the bedraggled Falcons didn’t, creeping into
halftime trailing 49-0, their defense ripped to shreds by Dragon quarterback
Angelo Renda and the rampaging Carroll offense. At the same time, Carroll’s
starting defensive squad choked what life remained out of the Timber Creek
offense, which sputtered and wheezed until the second half, when it faced
Carroll’s backup warriors.
Renda completed 68 percent of his passes (15 of 22)
for 241 yards and four touchdowns. Two went to Blake Gunter, last night’s
leading receiver with seven catches for 88 yards. Brock Boyd (4 catches for 74
yards) and Brody Knowles (2-66) accounted for one each.
Senior running back Davis Penn, showing some of his
old form before he tore an ACL last season during the playoffs, ran for two
more TDs. The first was a 4-yard scamper that kicked off Dragon scoring 3
minutes into the game. He followed that halfway through the second period with a
2-yard bolt across the line, giving the Dragons a 28-0 lead.
Even the Dragon D got into the scoring frenzy. Less
than a minute after Penn scored his second TD, senior defensive back Taevin
Kunz stepped in front of a pass by Falcon QB Lane Brinkley, then sprinted half
the length of field for his first-ever pick-6.
Only bright spot
The only bright spot for the Falcons in the first half
– and it emitted pretty low wattage, if truth be told – occurred when Falcon linebacker
Joshua Rakestraw turned around on the left sideline to find a Renda pass aimed
directly at his midsection. He had no choice but to catch the damned thing!
Alas for Timber Creek, that gift went unappreciated
when the Falcons stumbled to a 3-and-out and punted it back to the Dragons.
Three plays later, Renda lofted an arc to Knowles, who rolled 40 yards to the
end zone for Carroll’s second score.
For style points, the trophy probably has to go to Brock
Boyd. With only seconds left in the 1st quarter, the Dragons
recovered a fumbled snap on yet another Falcon punt. From their own 39, Renda
fired a shot to Boyd for 8 yards. Then he lofted a 53-yard missile to a
speeding Boyd headed for the end zone. The ball fell into the senior receiver’s
arms at the 10 and he zoomed in to send the Dragons ahead by three scores.
But it was Gunter, a junior, who provided the last
hurrahs for the Dragon starters, grabbing TD throws of 19 and 25 yards as the
half wound down. Head coach Riley Dodge benched his stars for the entire 2nd
half. In fact, he started substituting Dragon defenders halfway through the 2nd
quarter.
Coach Riley Dodge congratulates his quarterback, Angelo Renda, for a job well done.
Gunter and Renda enjoy a special rapport, and Gunter has become the quarterback’s go-to guy when things get dicey.
Shut out in the first half, the Falcons fared better
against Carroll’s second teams, capitalizing on Dragon missteps to score twice.
Brinkley, the Creek signal caller, connected with
Blaine Everage in the end zone after Dragon backup QB Preston Perazzo was
intercepted at the Falcon 25. On the next play, Brinkley connected with Blaine
Everage in the end zone.
Deceptive handoff
Perazzo redeemed himself as the final period opened by
staging a deceptive handoff to senior Emerson Ziadie and then darting 6 yards
to bring the Dragons their final zone, although the PAT failed.
Ziadie, by the way, was the evening’s leading rusher,
gaining 95 yards on 8 carries. He’s a stubborn, hard-nosed runner who is
getting some good game time as Carroll continues its purposeful stride through
District 4-6A.
The backups, who have played extremely well in
previous Dragon blowouts this season, were plagued last night by sloppy
execution and bad timing. For instance, as the game drew mercifully to a close,
the Dragons fielded a Creek punt at their 44. Two plays later, the snap sailed
over Perazzo’s head, but he managed to cover the ball at the 25.
Dropping back, Perazzo connected with a receiver, but the
ball ricocheted off his chest and into the hands of a Falcon defender. Several
plays later, Falcon QB Landon Druyvesteyn zipped a 6-yard TD pass to Tyshon
Ellerbe. The PAT failed. Game final: 55-13.
Despite the letdown in the 2nd half last night, the Dragon
D has allowed an average of only 5.8 points a game so far this season, at a
time when the offense is averaging 47. (Hat tip to the Star-T for that
delicious stat!)
High praise
In post-game interviews, Dodge had high praise for his
defensive charges.
“It's just a relentless group and a really talented
group,” he told Darren Lauber of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “There's
a lot of veterans over there, and they've played a lot of football. But they're
just playing with a fanatical effort that we haven't seen in a long time.”
Carroll linebacker William Leins, who recovered a
Falcon fumble on Creek’s first possession, told Lauber that experience is a
great teacher.
“We're so much better than we were last year because
we've been through the fight playing in 16 games,” he said, a reference to the Dragons’
appearance in the state championship game last season. “It's like a brother
love out there. I know that the other 10 are going to do their jobs, which
gives me confidence to do mine.
“We're relentless,” Leins added. “The mentality is that
if they're up, we're going to punch the ball out, and we're going to get them
down as a team with everyone tackling them. No one is selfish, and we just love
each other. It's so fun playing with these guys.”
Dodge told Lauber he is most impressed with how hard his
defensive unit works to prepare each week. By game time, they’re ready.
“They're able to fly around on Thursday and Friday
nights and just have some fun,” he said.
Another week, another Keller school. Carroll hosts the
Keller Indians next Friday for Homecoming. All over Southlake, moms are sweating
bullets to get the mums ready. I’m a hard guy to impress, but the Homecoming
mums in Southlake will make your eyes pop out. I kid you not!
Go, Dragons!
Brody Knowles, who caught two passes for 66 yards, hauls in his TD catch.
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