Short but sweet: Southlake Carroll 35, Hebron 7

 

For the second week in a row, weather played a role under Friday night lights.

Lightning strikes twice

SOUTHLAKE – Nearby lightning strikes ended the Hebron Hawks’ agony early, but their looming threat only seemed to energize the Southlake Carroll Dragons, who easily overwhelmed the proud Hawks last night with a thundering offensive onslaught.

The game, delayed more than an hour by the threatening weather, was halted for good two minutes into the second half. When it became clear – as lightning lit up the northern sky and thunder boomed menacingly – that the game could not be resumed in a reasonable time, both Hebron and Carroll coaches called it a night.

It wasn’t a difficult choice. Even though the Dragons had just kicked their first punt of the season only moments before the game was halted, they led by four touchdowns.

More to the point, they had effectively caged Hebron quarterback Brady Brock and the Hawk offense, limiting Brock to a lonely TD throw to Tyler Hoke to counter a 21-0 Dragon lead.

Hebron frustration

Another 22 minutes of football wasn’t likely to change the outcome and probably only would have intensified Hebron’s frustration. So ended the Hawks’ attempt at redemption from two defeats at the hands of the Dragons last season.

Carroll lost no time in defusing the Hebron threat.

After halting the first Hawk drive deep in Hebron territory, Dragon quarterback Angelo Renda dropped back and launched a high pass to junior Brady Gunter, who darted 68 yards to the endzone, outracing a flock of Hawks in desperate pursuit.

“That first play was scripted all week,” Dodge told Fort Worth Star-Telegram sportswriter Mike Waters. “And it worked great.”

Gunter (3-134) had another great night. He exploded onto the scene last season as a wide-eyed sophomore with sure hands and quick feet. Last week, he scored two touchdowns, demonstrating both a nose for paydirt and – even more significantly – a trusting rapport with Renda.

As such, Gunter adds a potent punch to the Dragons’ aerial might, joining Brock Boyd (5-70), an Ohio State commit and one of the state’s most highly regarded receivers, in the top echelon of a talented receiving corps.

Most of the Dragons’ offensive heroics came in the air. Of their 371 total yards, an astounding 349 came from Renda passes, despite the much-anticipated return of stellar running back Davis Penn.

Hit who’s open

For his part, Renda (17-22, 2 TDs) was superb, zipping the ball to six different receivers on his first six passes of the night. He blithely dismissed the achievement, telling Waters in a post-game interview that he was just hitting whoever was open..

“These are great players, and they all make plays,” he said. “We were clicking in the first half.”

And indeed they were. Junior running back Brooks Biggers, a welcome addition to the Dragon lineup, scored the second Carroll TD when he capped a 9-play, 92-yard drive with a 1-yard dive into the endzone

Then the Carroll D, playing another excellent game, forced the Hawks to punt after linebacker William Chen broke up a 3-and-8 attempted pass. Two plays later, Renda lofted a 44-yard pass to a diving Boyd in the endzone, sending the Dragons into an insurmountable 21-0 lead as the 1^st quarter ended.

Angelo Renda, 2, shown in action last season, completed 17 of 21 passes for 349 yards last night.

At that point, Hebron put together its only effective drive of the game, doggedly marching 75 yards in 11 plays to set up Brock’s TD toss to Hoke.

For Dragonheads, some of the best news of the night – other than the win against a tough opponent, of course – was Penn’s return to the Dragon lineup.

Penn tore his ACL last season and missed most of the Dragon run to the state championship game. He was sorely missed. His absence – along with that of running mate Riley Wormsley, also felled with an ACL injury – probably spelled the difference in the state final against Austin Vandegriff.

Testing the waters

Head coach Riley Dodge held Penn out of the season opener against Midland and only used him gingerly last night as the senior tested the waters.

He was a big part of a 75-yard drive that showcased Southlake’s offensive might. It included a 65-yard pass to Gunter, a reverse run by wide receiver Brock Boyd, bruising runs by Biggers and Renda, and even a 5-yard toss to Penn.

And it culminated with Penn’s 7-yard dash to the endzone that extended the Dragon lead to 28-7.

Penn was still vibrating with pleasure when he spoke to the Star-T’s Waters after the game.

“It was amazing,” Penn said. “Just to finally get back out there. Incredible feeling. Now to build on that next week and rest of the season.”

Dodge spoke for Dragonheads everywhere when he said it was “great to have one of our team leaders out there.”

“I’m so proud of the way he has come back,” Dodge told Waters. “He is such a big part of this team.”

Biggers finished Dragon scoring just as the first half closed. After a Hawk drive stalled at the Dragon 20, Hebron failed to make a 37-yard field goal.

Taking control

Carroll then took control. Fueled by Renda passes of 11 yards to Gunter, 39 yards to Knowles and 18 yards to Boyd, the Dragons moved to the Hebron 7. From there, Biggers churned forward, leaped a defender at the goal line and tumbled into the endzone.

It was a humbled and dejected crew of Hawks who trudged into the locker room at half. Luckily for them, their night was nearly done.

The Dragons launch District 4-6A play next week against Byron Nelson on the road. The Bobcats, who have dedicated their season to former coach Travis Pride, who died suddenly in the off-season – challenged Carroll last season for the district championship.

The Dragons won that battle and are favored against the Bobcats. In a bit of a shocker, Byron Nelson fell to Lewisville this week, 38-21. Playing at home, it’ll be eager to redeem itself.

Once past the Bobcats, Carroll faces Euless Trinity, which likely will enter that matchup undefeated. It'll be eager to snatch the district crown from the reigning Dragons.

As noted here frequently, it’s almost always football magic when these two tradition-rich programs face each other. While the two school may be located only 10 miles apart, the communities of Euless and Southlake couldn’t be more different.

And yet, despite the socio-economic differences, the two fan bases regard each other with respect – and even admiration.

On the field, however, it’s another matter. Trojan-Dragon games are bruising, no-holds-barred affairs, chock-full of discipled emotion and well-coached physicality. Expect a great game on Sept. 19 in Dragon Stadium.

In the meantime, here’s hoping for clear skies and mild temps next week in Justin.

Go, Dragons!

The next two weeks promise Dragonheads plenty of action in contests against Byron Nelson and Euless Trinity.

A not-so-shocking beginning: Southlake Carroll 49, Midland 0

 

Will this be the season Carroll breaks a 14-year drought and wins its ninth state championship?

Who’s the boss?

Electricity filled the air last night as the Southlake Carroll Dragons administered a debilitating shock treatment to the overwhelmed Midland Bulldogs on their home turf.

And not all of it came from the lightning strikes that lit up the skies around Astound Broadband Stadium, delaying the Dragons’ season opener by 1½ hours.

Much of it came courtesy of the Carroll offense, which came roaring out the weather delay like a caged – well, dragon – eager to show everyone who was boss.

Quarterback Angelo Renda did a masterful job as Dragon field general, peppering his young – but oh-so-talented – receiving corps with pinpoint passes and deftly launching the rushing careers of two running backs making their varsity debut.

(I won’t mention the two interceptions Renda lofted, uncharacteristic missteps I’m sure he’s still kicking himself about. Besides, they proved meaningless since the bedraggled Bulldogs went 3-and-out after each one.)

But the Renda-led offense wasn’t the only electrifying performance of the evening. While he and company were marching unhindered up and down Astound field, the Dragon defense restricted Midland’s offensive wattage to that of a guttering candle, a light so dim it might have been a flickering firefly – if fireflies still existed on West Texas’ parched and dusty plains.

Triple-option challenge

Dragon defenders shredded the Midland offensive front, which made it impossible for Midland’s much-discussed triple-option offense to work as intended. When Bulldog quarterback Carson Anderson wanted to hand off the ball, Dragon linemen William Chen, Crawford Taylor and their defensive chums were johnny-on-the-spot to disrupt the exchange. When he wanted to keep the ball, the Dragon horde was stuffing his face into the turf.

And then, alas, there was the unfortunate fact that Anderson isn’t a very good passer. He attempted only 5 passes and completed only 1 – for 6 yards. (You read that right – 6 yards.) That deficiency, made more acute by Carroll’s talented defensive secondary, effectively eliminated the third leg of Midland’s offensive stool, leaving the Bulldogs with what kindly might be called a zero-option offense.

Needlessly brutal? Maybe, but you have to consider the final score: 49-0. Even after Carroll’s backup squads took over for the starters, the ’Dogs were toothless mutts. Truth hurts, don’t it?

Of course, no one figured the Bulldogs would put up much of a fight against the vandals from Southlake. In last year’s matchup at Dragon Stadium, the Dragons started out slowly, but eventually hung a 48-24 loss on their West Texas visitors.

Besides that, respected football journal Dave Campbell’s Texas Football has ranked the Dragons No. 1 in 6A Division II. It predicts Carroll will win its ninth state championship this year, after making it to the state finals last year before falling to the Austin Vandegriff Vipers.

The Dragons return 19 starters this season from that team, 10 on offense and nine on defense. That experience was on full display last night.

William Chen, playing at outside linebacker to take advantage of his impressive football IQ, scampered through the Bulldog 0-line with impunity. Defensive lineman Crawford Taylor spent so much time in the Midland backfield he might as well have worn a blue jersey. Defensive end Zac Hayes, who was shaken up early in the game, nonetheless regularly short-circuited timing and execution by Anderson and his beleaguered comrades.

Impressive debuts

But it was the debut of running backs Harrison Phillips, a sophomore for heaven’s sake, and Brooks Biggers, a junior transfer from Highland Park, that captured the attention of Dragonheads.

The running tandem of Harrison Phillips and Brooks Biggers made a stunning debut against Midland.

Running in tandem, the pair ran wild behind their beefy offensive line, reminding more than a few of us of last year’s running duo of Riley Wormley and Davis Penn, both sidelined with season-ending injuries.

Phillips and Biggers were handed frontline duties because Wormley graduated and Penn still is recovering from the ACL injury that took him out of the limelight last year. Fingers are crossed that Penn will return later in the season. (Please, God, he’s a good kid and deserves his time under Friday night lights. Besides, he got a great career waiting for him at the next level when he graduates.)

But Biggers (16 rushes for 103 yards and 2 TDs) and Phillips (10 rushes for 92 yards and 1 TD) filled in nicely for the mending Penn. How will they fare as the season progresses and opposition stiffens? Hard to know, but the prospects look promising.

Last night, both youngsters showed poise and patience in letting the behemoths on their O-line bulldoze paths through the dazed and confused Bulldogs. The young Phillips was particularly eye-catching. He kicked off the 2^nd quarter by dashing 42 yards untouched through the middle of the Midland line to score Carroll’s third TD.

As for Renda, who has committed to Pitt when he graduates, his season debut couldn’t have gone better, aforementioned INTs notwithstanding.

He completed 16 of 24 passes for 248 yards and 3 TDs. His favorite target – not surprisingly – was senior Brock Boyd (6 catches for 88 yards and 1 TD), an Ohio State commit who’s one of the state’s most highly regarded receivers. Close behind was junior Blake Gunter (5 catches for 88 yards and 2 TDs. Junior Brody Knowles snagged 2 for 29 yards.

The road ahead

For the Dragons, the next few weeks will be a proving ground of sorts as they face off against what perhaps will be their toughest opponents of the regular season.

Next Friday, the Hebron Hawks travel to Dragon Stadium. Carroll whipped the Hawks handily in the regular season last year, easily rolling to a 59-16 ass-kicking.

But when the Dragons faced Hebron in the third round of the playoffs later in the year, it was a different story. The Hawks gave the Dragons all they could handle, and Carroll only managed to eke out a 42-37 victory that wasn’t secured until the final seconds of the game.

Hebron lusts for revenge, you can bet on that. The Dragons can expect a bitter struggle to defend the sanctity of Dragon Stadium.

On Sept. 12, Carroll meets Bryon Nelson, a District 4-6A foe who fell to the Dragons last year 33-21 in a knock-down-drag-out affair to decide district champs. The Bobcats – always tough, well-disciplined and well-coached – will be powerfully motivated this year. During the off season, they lost their gifted and beloved football coach, Travis Pride, who died suddenly last May. They’ll have something to play for this season, and Carroll had best be prepared for an unpredictable, emotion-charged matchup.

Friendly foes

Then on Sept. 19, the Euless Trinity Trojans, another 4-6A resident, come to town. The Trojans are friendly foes, but foes nonetheless. The Trinity and Carroll schools, which are located only 10 miles apart, share a mutual respect and affection for each other, despite the seismic differences in the communities they serve.

The Trojans are fiercely proud, always filled with talent and intensely competitive on the field. Last year, the Dragons managed to outlast a determined Trojan onslaught to win 56-48. Frankly, it could have gone either way. Will this year be any different? Not likely.

But tough competition is good preparation for the playoffs, particularly if you find yourself in a relatively weak district like 4-6A. So despite the challengers, the Dragons will square their shoulders, grit their teeth – and get it done.

The playoffs – and a ninth state crown. It’s time, Dragonheads! It’s time!

Go Dragons!

Carroll won a squeaker against Trinity last year, and it could be another barnburner when the Dragons face the Trojans on Sept. 19. 

Hannukah and the miracles around us

 

A celebration of the last night of Hannukah is taking place tonight at the new home of my darling daughter and son-in-law.

It was supposed to take place at Gunnels Manse on Mad Bird Hill. But the unpleasant case of shingles I contracted shortly after Christmas required a change of venue.

I won’t be there out of deference to my four-month-old grandson and the unborn child that my daughter’s friend, Sam, is carrying. I’m saddened, of course, but the safety of the children, born and unborn, takes precedence.

Hannukah is a celebration of a miracle. In 164 B.C., the militant Maccabees drove out the Syrian occupiers of Israel, who had sacked and desecrated the Second Temple in Jerusalem. After the Maccabees ousted the Syrians, the cleansing of the Temple called for a relighting of the Menorah, the gold candelabrum whose seven branches represented knowledge and creation and were meant to be kept burning every night.

Oil was in short supply, but the decision was made to relight the Menorah anyway. Although only enough oil was available for a single night, the lighted Menorah burned for eight days, by which time a new supply of oil was secured.

Jews believe the miracle of the lighted Menorah was a message from God to his chosen people They commemorate the event by celebrating the eight nights of Hannukah.

A nice story, I think you’d agree. But if it occurred, was it indeed a miracle? Or was it just a fluke – or a misjudgment about the amount of oil needed to last eight nights?

I don’t know, and truthfully, I don’t think it makes a difference. Miracle or fluke, it is a story that sustains belief and gives comfort and guidance to Jews around the world.

You see, I believe miracles are all around us – whether sent by a supreme being or by the vagaries of the cosmos. If you look and listen, you can see them everywhere – in the burgling laugh of a happy baby, the radiant glow of a pregnant woman, the unexpected triumph of the child for whom you almost gave up hope. And, yes, in the doctor’s confident assessment, “We got it all.”

We face difficult and perhaps even tragic days ahead, and we’re going to need all the miracles we can get to endure them and, ultimately, to prevail.

On this last day of Hannukah, remember the miracle it celebrates. And on this first day of a new year, I hope you’ll keep a keen eye out for the miracles around you.

They are there – if only we take time to see and recognize them.

Best wishes to you all. I consider friends and family miracles sent by … well, someone or something. You sustain me and give me hope.

No holiday joy: Southlake Carroll 17, Austin Vandegrift 24

Senior Ethan Fisher gets a pat on the head after yesterday's game. It's a sad substitute for a state title.
 

Hanging on to the bitter end

ARLINGTON – The Vandegrift Vipers certainly didn’t look like the Grinch. No reptilian features, no greenish hue. But steal Christmas joy from Dragonheads everywhere – that they surely did.

Oh, it wasn’t an embarrassing beatdown to be sure. But with a state championship title hanging in the balance, a single-score victory is as good as a blowout. And perhaps more excruciating for the vanquished.

In a blowout, all hope dies quickly, and the blast of pain is intense but soon over, to be replaced by a dull ache and miserable disposition.

In yesterday’s Class 6A Division II championship final, the Dragons hung on until the very end – never able to overtake Vandegrift’s narrow lead, but always within striking distance. Ah, hope. It can be such a brutal and heartless companion.

It offers little solace to the Carroll faithful that the Dragons largely brought the house down upon themselves. Committing three turnovers in a championship game – turnovers that killed promising drives and led directly to one touchdown – is courting disaster.

No crystal ball needed

Add to that a slew of procedural penalties from the normally drilled and disciplined Dragons, and it doesn’t take a crystal ball or a deck of Tarot cards to predict the outcome.

Even with all that, however, the Dragons had a last-gasp chance to turn things around. And the second-guessing about how it all went down began immediately – even before the championship trophy was handed over to the celebrating Vipers – and is likely to continue for some time to come.

Here’s what happened.

Trailing 24-14 with half of the last quarter left, the Dragons had launched their longest drive of the night and fought their way to the Vandegrift 5-yard line. After failing to connect with receivers in back-to-back endzone tosses, Dragon quarterback Angelo Renda faced a fourth down call with 2½ minutes left.

Many of us – including more astute football minds than mine – expected head coach Riley Dodge to order up a Gavin Strange field goal, an almost sure shot at that range, then gamble that his desperate youngsters could recover an onside kick and score a tying TD to send the game into overtime.

 The odds of such a risky strategy working weren’t great, but the Dragons had pulled it off in the past. To many fidgeting Dragonheads, clinging to the edge of their seats in Arlington’s AT&T Stadium, it seemed the most sensible course.

Slapped away

Instead, Dodge called yet another pass play. Renda dutifully drilled the ball, which a Viper defender in the endzone contemptuously slapped away.

Vandegrift took over, milked the clock to 40 seconds before going 3-and-out, and then punted the ball to the Dragons at the Viper 47. Carroll moved to the 30, where Strange booted a 47-yard field goal with 1 second left.

Game over. And Vandegrift, who had made it to the state finals twice but never won, finally took home the ultimate prize.

Dodge defended his decision in an interview with Dallas Morning News sportswriter Ronald Harrod Jr.

“I felt we were in a situation where we needed a touchdown,” Dodge told Harrod. “We were struggling to get down there to begin with, and we felt like when we did get there, we needed to get 6 instead of 3.”

Met with skepticism

In the Jerry’s World suite where I was a guest of the great Mike Golden, a scholar of high school football, that explanation was met with skepticism. Mike was philosophical, as befits his character and general outlook on life. Others opined that Dodge blew it, plain and simple.

The grumbling continued for a while, but faded rather quickly among these football authorities as they all agreed that Dodge is a remarkably gifted coach, son of another remarkably gifted coach, and that Southlake is is extremely lucky to have a football guy of his caliber and temperament in charge of the program.

In seven seasons, he has compiled a 93-9 record, taken his team to at least the fourth-round of the playoffs every year, made two trips to the state finals and, perhaps more importantly, rejuvenated the football program and ignited flagging community support squandered by his predecessor.

Condemn him for a single call in a single game? For heaven’s sake, don’t be silly.

Carroll got off to a decent start yesterday. After its first drive went nowhere, the Dragons scored on their second, a 10-yard pass from junior Angelo Renda to sophomore Brody Knowles (6-75) that ended a lengthy drive and consumed much of the 1^st quarter.

But Viper quarterback Miles Teodecki responded quickly, lofting an 84-yard arc to receiver George Farley on the second play of Vandegrift’s next drive. Viper running back Brendan Fournier soon added a second TD with a 4-yard bolt in the second quarter.

 On their next possession, the Dragons were moving briskly downfield when Renda threw his first interception. Vandegrift was unable to capitalize on that misstep, however. When its drive fizzled out just inside the Dragon red zone, it muffed a 35-yard field-goal attempt.

Fumbled away

But it got another chance after a subsequent Carroll drive collapsed when junior receiver Brock Boyd, who had an otherwise exceptional game, caught a Renda pass, then fumbled it away to an attentive Viper.

Brody Knowles celebrates with teammates after a touchdown. Moments like this were rare in yesterday's game.

Four plays later, Fournier scrambled 9 yards for his second TD. The Vipers ended the half with a 21-7 lead.

The Dragons opened the second half by holding Vandegrift to a 3-and-out, then charged downfield, thanks to a 56-yard pass reception by sophomore receiver Caden Mackey. From the 15, Renda zipped a pass to Boyd (13 for 178) at the 5 and he drifted quickly across the line.

As momentum shifted Carroll’s way, the Dragon D, which struggled to corral Teodecki and disrupt his receivers, stalled a Viper drive inside the Dragon red zone. When Vandegrift failed to convert on a 4th-and-2, the Dragons appeared poised to tie things up.

But three plays later, that effort evaporated when Renda threw his second interception of the day. The Carroll D once again rose to the occasion and kept Vandegrift from extending its lead.

In the decisive 4^th quarter, Vandegrift controlled the ball on a clock-eating drive that ended when Wiley Olsen booted a 33-yard field goal that gave the Vipers a 10-point lead.

That’s when Carroll launched its last drive that culminated in the decision as the clock drained away to go for a TD rather than a field goal.

Dodge acknowledged in post-game interviews that the Viper defense succeeded in largely shutting down the Dragon running game. Vandegrift limited the Dragons to 53 total rushing yards, compared to its own 193.

Carroll senior Christian Glenn, who stepped in to replace injured rushing stars Riley Wormley and Davis Penn, managed only 30 yards on 10 carries. Renda kept the ball 7 times for only 23 yards.

Success in the air

In the air, Renda enjoyed more success, completing 27 of 39 attempts for 351 yards and 2 TDs, balanced against the pair of ruinous INTs.

Teodecki completed more than 80 percent of his passes, 14 of 17, and compiled 248 yards and a score.

By contrast, the Dragon D was unable to shut down the Viper running game. Fournier had an extraordinary day, rushing 29 times for 169 yards and 2 scores.

So in the end, the Carroll awards cabinet won’t have to be reorganized to hold a ninth state championship trophy. That day will come, but not this year.

It’s important to remember that by all rights, this team should never have made it to the state finals, anyway. 

After all, during the course of the season, it lost the services of not one, but two world-class running backs. Renda, a talented, illusive runner, battled a serious case of turf toe and was rendered virtually immobile for most of the regular season. And as is normal for a Carroll team, its defensive squad was inexperienced and undersized.

No happy ending

I’m a sucker for happy endings. And bringing Southlake its ninth state championship seemed like the perfect ending to a story about a group of young men who battled adversity, overcame the odds and achieved sweet victory.

In the final minutes, Angelo Renda tried three straight times to connect with a receiver in the endzone. All three attempts failed, sealing Carroll's fate.

But storybook endings befittingly occur in, well, storybooks. Real life is a little grimmer, the road it travels rockier and trickier to navigate.

Dodge knows that. And because he’s the kind of coach he is, his thoughts after the game turned to his players and staff.

“It hurts no matter what,” Dodge told the DMN’s Harrod. “But I’m just once again proud of our kids and our coaching staff. It wasn’t a lack of effort” that cost the Dragons the game.

As for that ninth state championship?

“It’ll happen one day,” he said. “I’m excited to see what the future holds.”

What the future holds could be pretty bright for the Dragons. The season is over for this group, but it’s a young team and many of its most promising members will return next season.

Renda is a junior. So’s the recovering Penn. Receivers Boyd and Luc Jacquemard are juniors. Knowles, Mackey and Blake Gunter are sophomores.

On defense, backs Parker Harris and William Chen are juniors, as are linebackers Marcus Brouse and Robbie Ladd. All were standouts this year.

Gavin Strange, kicker and defensive back, and Zac Hayes, defensive lineman and punter, both are juniors. So is backup kicker Clark Lemmermann.

On the offensive line, brothers Luke and Nick Wilson are a sophomore and junior, respectively.

I’m certainly missing others who will make a big contribution next season. Apologies for that. My point is that although great players and competitors are moving upwards and onwards from the land of Dragons, a talented, experienced core group remains.

Next year holds great potential. Like Dodge, I’m eager to see what awaits our Dragons.

Meanwhile, enjoy the holidays and remember to laugh. Laughter is a soothing balm that sustains us through the bad times and reminds us, in the words of an old friend of mine, that “life is a funny old dog.”

Go, Dragons!

Head coach Riley Dodge congratulates Viper quarterback Miles Teodecki after yesterday's game. A teaching moment for his devastated team.

Keith Shelton (1932-2024)

 

Keith Shelton, right, and C.E. "Papa" Shuford look over The North Texas Daily on the day it changed its name from the The Campus Chat.

The man who made me a journalist

Tomorrow, I will drive a few miles up I-35W to Denton to attend a memorial service for a great man – a mentor and friend, and the person who helped mold me into the journalist I became and the person I am.

Keith Shelton, journalist and teacher, died earlier this month at the grand age of 92 – his mind still clear, his humor intact, his keen interest in the world around him still active.

And while his passing is being mourned by his former students, his friends and his family, Keith’s memory and the impact he had on several generations of journalists at the University of North Texas will live on.

If we’re lucky, most of us can come up half-dozen or so people who have had a profound influence on our lives.  Our parents, of course. Perhaps our grandparents. But that list almost certainly will include teachers. Those dedicated educators who guided us, who influenced us, who helped us find our way in the world.

For me, Keith Shelton was one of those people.

He was the first person with whom I had contact at UNT.

After graduating from a cowboy junior college in my hometown, I was having trouble deciding where to finish my studies. Then I had a chance encounter in the parking lot with the publisher of the Big Spring Herald, where I had a summer job.

“Where are you going to college?” he asked me.

“I’m not sure,” I stammered.

“Quit farting around,” he barked. “Go to North Texas State. It’s got a great journalism program and a damned good student newspaper. You can’t go wrong there.”

Keith Shelton on the day he was honored by the university he served so well for 23 years.

So I composed a letter to the chairman of the NT journalism department and asked about the possibilities of working on the student newspaper. I noted hopefully that I had been the editor of both my high school and junior college newspapers.

The great C.E. “Papa” Shuford, the founding chairman of the J-department, was on vacation. So Keith Shelton answered my letter.

He was courteous, but direct. There were no guarantees about working on The North Texas Daily, he wrote. It would depend entirely on how I performed – both in the classroom and with my fellow students. He welcomed my choice to attend NTSU and said he looked forward to seeing me on campus.

It was straight-forward and uncompromising – not exactly the welcoming embrace I hoped for. I was being served notice. I was on the brink of a great adventure, and Keith Shelton was welcoming me to take the leap.

And I did.

When I met Keith, it was a surprise. He was not the commanding figure I had envisioned. Instead, I met a short, balding man with a neat mustache, a tight smile and a large – make that huge – left ear.

Keith has written candidly about the birth defect that impacted his life and career, so I won’t shy away from it here. It was his most distinguishing feature. But one that was never – and I mean, never – mentioned in his presence.

In all the years that I knew Keith, the subject never came up. The force of his personality, the strength of his character, the overwhelming respect he enjoyed from both students and colleagues soon erased its significance.

In a few short days, I no longer had to remind myself not to stare at it. Jokes about the “big ear” were not tolerated.

After a single semester, I was chosen to join the Daily staff. I credit my success in large part to Keith’s quiet influence. Although he had no direct voice in the selection, his approval was all-important to the editor who did.

It changed my life, making my long career in journalism both possible – and inevitable.

Truth be told, Keith Shelton was not a great classroom lecturer. Frankly, I don’t remember a single thing he ever uttered in the classroom. But I don’t have a single memory of the time I spent at UNT – known then as North Texas State University – in which he doesn’t play a prominent role.

All his students knew of his professional credentials. He was a former chief political correspondent for the Dallas Times Herald, and, famously, had traveled in the motorcade in which JFK was assassinated.

He was the first journalist to interview Gov. John Connally, who had been in the limo when JFK was hit and had been wounded by the bullet that killed the president.

He wrote a heralded account of former U.S. House Speaker Sam Rayburn’s funeral and accumulated a formidable number of awards for his reporting.

In the autobiography he wrote shortly before his death, Keith credited his career to chance. But there was more to it than that.

He was the real deal, and he radiated professional authenticity. Questioning his judgment, resisting his influence, defying his “advice” was unthinkable. To do so – it happened; after all, we were kids – would seldom result in a scolding from Keith. But peer pressure would be immediate and damning.

He was a fierce defender of his students. One day a chemistry professor called him to complain bitterly about a mistake in a story an NT Daily reporter had written about his course. Keith reminded him that the Daily served a teaching lab for journalism students.

“When one of your students makes a mistake in lab, the only people who know about it are you and maybe their lab partner,” he told the fuming professor. “When one of my students makes a mistake, everybody on campus knows about it. Because we tell them. And then we correct it.”

End of conversation.

When I was NT Daily editor in Fall 1972, we ran a story on the last day of the semester about the president of the university misusing money from the Student Services Fee, a violation of state law.

Instead of using the fee money for “the betterment of student life,” President C.C. “Jitter” Nolen had used it to renovate the presidential residence and build a fancy, state-of-the-art barbecue pit in his backyard.

The story was picked up by the Dallas and Fort Worth papers and was extremely embarrassing for the university and for Nolen, an unpopular president with no advanced degrees who got the job because he was a successful fund-raiser for TCU.

A couple of days after the story ran, Keith attended a faculty reception at the Presidential Mansion, an act of moral courage if ever I’ve heard it. But that was only the beginning.

As he stood sipping a drink, the chairman of the NTSU board of regents, a rich oil man named A.M. “Monk” Willis bustled up to him.

“Goddamn it, Keith, what are you people trying to do to us?” yelled Willis, who knew Shelton from his reporting days.

Keith looked at the irate chairman coolly, then replied, “Just trying to keep you folks honest, Monk.”

Even now, Keith’s response seems both fool-hardy and – incredibly, unbelievably, gloriously – courageous.

Is it any wonder that Keith’s students – if called upon – would charge through a stone wall for the guy?

The desire for Keith’s approval was universal in the NT J-Department of the 1970s. I remember a particular incident that occurred on a Saturday afternoon in mid-summer.

Four of us – all former or future NT Daily editors – decided, out of boredom or just stupidity, to smuggle a suitcase full of beer into the Daily office, where we spent most of our free time.

We sat in the middle of the office – the whole J-building was empty as a tomb, remember it was a Saturday – drinking the beer and luxuriating in our debauchery.

At that moment, the door opened and in strode the last person we expected to see in the Daily office on a summer Saturday afternoon: a grim-faced Keith Shelton.

He stood there, hands on his hips, and stared hard-eyed at us. Caught like rats in a trap, we meekly braced for the tirade we expected and deserved.

His face then softened into disappointment and sadness. It was like a knife slicing into our guts as we realized what the look meant. We had violated his trust.

“You know better than this, guys,” he said mildly. “No drinking on premises.”

Turning on his heel, he walked out. Looking at each other, we all realized we had truly, irretrievably effed up. It never happened again.

He was a complete man – devoted husband, loving father, dependable friend – but also a man of sound judgment and rock-ribbed integrity. A perfect role model for a bunch of young people coping with the turmoil of the times.

Over the years, I managed to keep in touch with Keith. We became, I hope and believe, friends. I spent 37 years as a newspaperman, applying the lessons I learned from him in the rickety old Journalism Building, now long gone from campus.

Among those lessons, these stand out:

n  -- Trust no one completely, but be completely trustworthy yourself.

n  -- Value the truth above all, but understand that, ultimately, it’s unknowable.

n  -- Facts are essential, but pursue them with an understanding heart.

n  -- People are weird – but often wonderful.

Now retired, I’m an adjunct instructor at UNT’s Mayborn School of Journalism. I flatter myself that I’m carrying on his tradition, but who am I kidding? Teachers like Keith Shelton don’t come along too often.

They are oh-so-rare. That’s what makes them so valuable and what makes Keith’s passing so painful.

God speed, dear friend. And thanks.

Keith Shelton was the complete man -- devoted husband, loving father and dependable friend. A man who changed lives. May he rest in peace. 

Defense leads the way: Southlake Carroll 20, Longview 17

 

Senior Christian Glenn muscles his way to a touchdown against the sturdy Longview Lobos.

So close…so very close

Lord-a-mercy, that was a close one. A glorious, righteous, busted-knuckle-and-bared-teeth close one.

Which made the victory, on the very last play of the game, all the sweeter.

We all knew – every last Dragonhead one of us – that yesterday’s playoff contest between the Southlake Carroll Dragons and the Longview Lobos was going to be a rather desperate knock-down, drag-out affair.

The Longview Lobos, two-time state champions and behemoths of East Texas high school football, had demolished the reigning state Division II state champions, the DeSoto Eagles 50-14, to get to the state semi-finals.

And the Dragons, unbeaten but bloodied, were facing a tried and tested Lobo defense without the services of their two star running backs, both sidelined with season-ending injuries.

So it shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise when the see-saw matchup came down – the score knotted 17-17 and 3 seconds left on the clock – with the Dragons lining up for a last-gasp field goal on the Longview 24.

Cold-blooded character

Kicker Gavin Strange, a cold-blooded character who already had played an outstanding game as defensive end, lined up for a 41-yard field goal that would send his Dragons to their 11^th appearance in a state championship game.

But the timing of the snap was off, and Strange was hurried by oncoming Lobos. His kick veered wide right.

Expelling held breath with a disgruntled huff, Dragon fans prepared themselves for the agony of overtime.

But flags flew when Strange was spun around by a Lobo defender. The penalty handed the junior kicker another chance five yards closer.

Carroll head coach Riley Dodge told veteran Dallas Morning News reporter Randy Jennings that he expected a 15-yard roughing-the-kicker penalty, but Strange said the second chance was all he needed.

“I wasn’t like, ‘I missed the last one, I got to make this one,’” Strange told Fort Worth Star-Telegram writer Cody Torn. “It was more like, ‘I get to make it.’

“I have visualized this moment hundreds and hundreds of times,” added Strange, who kicked a 40-yard field goal earlier in the contest. “Every time I go to bed, I visualize kicking the game-winning field goal. Now, it’s not a visualization anymore. It’s the best feeling in the world.”

For the second week in a row, it was the Dragon defense that preserved and protected Carroll’s playoff hopes.

Senior defensive lineman Austin Davidge was an absolute beast, keeping Lobo quarterback Johnny Hamilton scrambling and generally disrupting offensive operations. Zac Hays, who also handled punts for the Dragons, also made a nuisance of himself  all night, bless ’im.

Lobo running back Kevin Washington was a pre-game concern, but the Dragon D kept him generally corraled for most of the 1^st half, and limited his effectiveness when he finally sprung free in the 2^nd. He ran for 146 yards on 29 carries but managed only a single score for Longview.

Head coach Riley Dodge is congratulated by one of his assistants, Sean Razloznik, after yesterday's victory over the Lobos.

Carroll head coach Riley Dodge acknowledged the yeomen’s work his defensive squad accomplished yesterday.

“Our defense kept us in the game,’’ Dodge told Jennings. “This team is young and banged up, but resilient. We really didn’t know what kind of a team we were going to have this season.’’

Both teams played determined and effective defense. Carroll barely edged Longview in total yards, 320 to 310. But both totals were well below the per-game averages of the Lobos and the Dragons.

Dragon quarterback Angelo Renda completed 13 of 21 passes for 174 yards, but was intercepted twice by Longview’s talented secondary. He threw one TD pass to super-sophomore Blake Gunter (4 catches for 98 yards).

Hamilton managed 6 completions for 146 yards but no scores. He was intercepted once by, who else, defensive end (and team ball hawk) Ethan Fisher. Hamilton accounted for Longview’s other touchdown – a 1-yard sneaker that tied the game 10-10 at the end of the 1^st half.

While Strange’s second-chance boomer will be the offensive memory embedded in everyone’s mind, another offensive performance deserves a nod, and it does my heart good to acknowledge it.

Running back Christian Glenn, a wide receiver for most of the regular season, was moved to running back after stars Riley Wormley and Davis Penn went down.

He probably was destined to ride the Dragons’ deep receiving bench for most of his senior year, behind WR stalwarts Brock Boyd, Luc Jacquemard and Brody Knowles. But fate – as it often does – had other plans.

Glenn is the son of a famous Cowboys receiver, Terry Glenn, who was tragically killed in an automobile accident in 2017. Football is in his blood, and he stepped in and stepped up big when opportunity tapped his shoulder.

He rushed 17 times for 127 yards yesterday.  With Carroll trailing 0-3 near the end of the 1^st quarter, Glenn energized a lengthy Dragon march downfield when he snared an 8-yard Renda pass near midfield. Later in the drive, when Carroll moved to the Lobo 35, Glenn took Renda’s handoff and sprinted into the endzone.

After Carroll and Longview traded 3-and-outs with each other, the Dragons were poised at the Lobo 43 when Glenn sprang around the left end and raced 34 yards to the Longview 23. That set up Strange’s first field goal and extended Carroll’s lead to 10-3.

While Carroll’s battered offense held its ground, it was the defensive struggle that seized the spotlight in yesterday’s confrontation.

That conflict developed early. On the Lobos’ first drive, the Dragons forced two fumbles, although Longview recovered both. After Carroll fielded a punt at its 27, Renda was intercepted by Lobo linebacker Kason Brooks.

Booting a field goal

Eight plays later, Longview kicker Alexandre Mitchell booted a 29-yard field goal to give the Lobos a 3-0 lead.

Renda then led the Dragons on a 75-yard drive that culminated in Glenn’s 35-yard TD run that send Carroll into the lead as the 1^st quarter ended.

Midway through the second, a Dragon drive stalled at the Longview 23, and Strange booted his first field goal. Hamilton and the Lobos responded with a drive that ate up the rest of the 3^rd-quarter clock with a drive that ended up at the Dragon 1.

Facing 4^th-and-1, the Dragon D stopped the Lobos cold, but a last-minute time-out call by Dodge negated the play, and Hamilton bullied across on his second chance, tying the score 10-10.

Given the razor-thin nature of the contest, that ill-timed decision might have loomed large later. Luckily for Dodge, who could be seen chastising himself on the sidelines, it didn’t.

 The 2^nd half started disappointingly for the Dragons.

Renda was intercepted on the second play of the half, but outstanding defensive plays by Davidge, defensive back Parker Harris and linebacker Robbie Ladd handed the Lobos a 4^th-and 4 at the Carroll 25.

Hamilton lofted a pass into the endzone, but Fisher was there to knock it away.

Carroll took over and Renda sent a pinpoint pass to sophomore Blake Gunter who juked around a Lobo defender and raced 63 yards to give the Dragons a 17-10 lead.

Endzone jaunt

Longview responded with a 70-yard drive behind the hard running of Washington, who capped the series with an 8-yard jaunt to the endzone, evening things up.

Here's the moment: Gavin Strange kicks the game-winning field goal to send the Dragons to the state championship game.

Both teams’ offensives then faded into the background as their defensive comrades wrestled with each other, vying for an advantage.

The explosive Fisher blew up a Lobo drive by intercepting a Hamilton pass at the Dragon 5, but Carroll failed to convert on a 4-and-2 and turned the ball over to Longview.

Likewise, the resulting Lobo drive dried up at the Dragon 31, and Longview surrendered the ball on downs midway through the 4^th quarter.

At that point, Renda and company staged a clock-draining, 12-play drive that methodically worked its way downfield to end, finally, at the Longview 24. And that’s where the game’s final dramatic showdown occurred.

And now it comes down to one game, this week’s encounter with Austin Vandegrift, which beat Houston-area Humble Summer Creek, 34-31, last night. The Vipers and Dragons will face off on Saturday at Jerry’s World.

This will be Riley Dodge’s second trip to the state championship game as Carroll head coach.

Hired by Southlake in 2018 at the tender age of 29, Dodge led the Dragons to the highly hyped “Dodge Bowl” in the 2020 6A Division I championship (played in 2021 because of the COVID pandemic). There, he faced his father, legendary coach Todd Dodge, then coach of the Austin Westlake Chaparrals.

The elder Dodge, who captured four state championships in five years while leading the Southlake program, won the 2020 contest, one of three state trophies he brought to Westlake. After a brief try at retirement, he’s now head football coach for Lovejoy High School. And enjoying great success there. Natch.

Eclipsing the father

As for the younger Dodge, he may be headed for a career that eclipses his illustrious father. In seven seasons with the Dragons, he’s already compiled a 93-8 record, led his team to at least the quarter-finals every single year and, now, to the finals for the second time. Not bad for an old man of 36.

“To get to the state championship game is unbelievable,’’ Dodge told the DMN’s Jennings. “I have a lot of people to hug.’’

Some of the people he’ll hug, without a doubt, will be his players. His affection for, and dedication to, the young men who play for him is apparent to anyone paying attention.

“This group’s resilient,” Dodge told the Star-T’s Torn. “They’re young, and they’re banged up. They just keep finding a way. We’ve done it a lot of different ways this playoff run, and I’m just proud of the kids.”

As are we all.

Go, Dragons!

Christian Glenn takes a handoff from Angelo Renda in yesterday's squeaker against Lonview.