Sept. 28, 2013
You might call it the “Parade of Cupcakes.”
Southlake Carroll opened District 4-5A play last
night with a total dismantling of the hapless Keller Central Chargers, cruising
– with time for a milk shake and an order of fries – to a 59-3 win.
Ho-hum, thus
begins the Dragons’ district race, which won’t be so much a race as a stately
victory parade, a dignified and inevitable progression to another district
championship. The Chargers – overmatched in almost every area – were just the
first of seven “cupcakes” on the Dragon schedule. For the Southlake faithful,
it will be a largely joyless, thrill-less chore until the playoffs, when the
Dragons’ real season begins.
I know, I
know. Pride cometh before the fall. Don’t count your chickens before they
hatch. Etc., etc. I get it. But consider this. Even when the Chargers managed
to do something right, the Dragons swatted them away like flies at a picnic. On
two occasions when Central’s D-line battered its way to Dragon QB Ryan Agnew
and sacked him, he responded on the very next play with long touchdown passes.
More on him a little later.
Central isn’t
the worst of the 4-5A lot, by any means. The Chargers are well-coached and
always play tough. They just were outgunned last night. At one point late in
the third quarter, after the Southlake Homecoming crowd had thinned
considerably, my wife turned and delivered the unkindest cut of all for the
Chargers. “You know,” Marice said, “I feel sorry for these boys.”
Imagine you’re a 16-, 17-, 18-year-old football
player on the receiving end of a world-class beatdown. Your nose is bloodied;
you’ve got aches in muscles you didn’t even know you had; your girlfriend, for
God’s sake, is watching you get spanked; and a mother on the opposing side
says, essentially, “Poor, poor, baby.” How is THAT gonna make you feel? Better
or worse?
For the
Dragons, there was a lot to like about the game, even if assessments are hard
against such a definitively inferior opponent. Agnew, who’s only a junior,
continues to impress. He rushed for 106 yards and four TDs, and completed 17 of
20 passes for 216 yards and another two TDs. He would have had a fifth rushing
touchdown but for a holding call near the end of first quarter. And with his
top receiver, Ryan Weigel, out for the season, he passed the ball to, count
’em, six members of Southlake’s talented receiving corps, with seniors Luke
Timian and Chris Hogan each snagging a TD throw.
Senior RB AJ Ezzard
was back from an ankle injury, but he continues to be overshadowed by a pair of
sophomores, Lil’ Jordan Humphrey and Grant McFarlin. Humphrey is a tall, gangly
lad who runs with deceptive power. McFarlin is a short whip of kid who looks
like a 7th grader from the stands. But he’s quick and slippery and squeezed
through an exhausted Charger D-line in the fourth quarter, sprinting 71 yards
for a touchdown. I'm beginning to have flashbacks to the years when Tre Newton,
former Cowboy Nate Newton's kid, ran roughshod over opposing defenses.
The Dragon’s
D-Line had a field day, too. The Big Guys limited the Chargers to 150 yards of
total offense, forcing them into seven 3-and-out series for the night and
holding them to a single first down in the second half. Star linebacker Steven
Bergmark even enjoyed a brief moment in the offensive sun. When a Dragon drive
stalled in the third, Bergmark, who briefly flirted with playing running back,
lined up as a backfield blocker for punting ace Sam Downey. There was an
audible gasp from the football parents in front of me when Bermark took the
snap and rumbled 41 yards to set up another Southlake TD.
Trick plays
from the Dragons? Well, the coaches had to do something to keep us awake in the
second half.
Next week, we
travel to the embarrassment Keller ISD calls a football stadium to play Timber
Creek, which was humbled last night by lowly Haltom, 24-17. Because the
ramshackle stadium must accommodate all four of Keller’s 5-A high schools,
kickoff will be at 7 p.m. on Thursday. Go Dragons!
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