Game Night: Southlake Carroll Dragons vs. Temple Wildcats

Sept. 14, 2013

Part of a phone conversation between my wife, Marice, and me while I was coming home from the Southlake Carroll-Temple football game in Waco last night.

 Her: What was the score?

 Me: 38-7.

 Her: So we won big.

 Me: Not big enough. We didn’t play up to our potential.

 Her: We won by 31 points! Are you nuts?

 The question was rhetorical, so I left it unanswered. But Marice may have a point. The Dragons scored on their first offensive play and completely dominated the game, rolling up 481 total yards. Quarterback Ryan Agnew accounted for 385 of those yards, rushing for two TDs and passing for another two.

 Dragon defenders knocked out the starting Wildcat quarterback on the first play of the game, stopped Temple drives inside the Dragon five-yard line twice, and shut down the Wildcats running game in the second half.

 So why was there a vague air of depression among the hardy few of us who braved rush-hour traffic to make the long drive to Floyd-Casey Stadium in Waco? In the light of a new day, it does seem kind of nutty. After all, this was a Temple team who hung 41 points in a losing effort against always potent Austin Westlake last week.

 And last night was a similar result to last year’s Carroll-Temple contest in Jerry’s World, when the Dragons roasted a more talented Wildcat team than this year’s version 34-0, beginning a Sherman’s-march-through-Georgia advance to a District 4-5A championship and a deep run in the playoffs.

 We begin a similar district race in two weeks against Keller Central that almost certainly will end in another Dragon district championship. But district titles are no measure of success for the Southlake program. Thankfully, our 4-5A opponents look to be a little livelier this year, which will help us prepare for the always grueling playoffs.

 Why the gloom, then? Perhaps it’s the coalescing assessment that this isn’t the same Dragon team that Kenny Hill helmed last season, and that a repeat of last year’s playoff success is not guaranteed.

 For one thing, our defensive backfield is deeply suspect. True, they snagged two Wildcat passes and held backup QB Chase Truelove to 167 total passing yards for the night. But you don’t expect to see a play-caller wearing No. 26 on his jersey (Truelove’s a wide receiver by trade) connecting with receivers all over the field. Watching from the sparsely populated Southlake side of Floyd-Casey, Truelove looked more impressive than the stats box indicated.

 Meanwhile, the Wildcats dominated time of possession in the first half, giving our Big Guys fits with their delayed option scheme and stringing together a collection of impressive runs up the middle for good gains. The Dragon D-line adjusted adequately at half, but watching our defense, which is supposed to be one of our strengths, get shredded was distressful and probably overly influenced our impressions of the game as a whole.

 I could go on about the trouble Agnew was having with his long ball, but it seems churlish now to bitch about a 38-7 win. I must be nuts.

 Next week is a bye week for the Dragons. Then comes the Homecoming game against Keller Central. Dig deep high school parents, mum season is upon us. Go Dragons!