Game Night: Southlake Carroll Dragons vs. Keller Fossil Ridge Panthers

The Southlake Carroll Dragons got quite a scare Thursday night so it’s only right, I suppose, that it came on Halloween.

The ghouls responsible for the quickened heart beats and shallow breathing were the Keller Fossil Ridge Panthers, who almost staged the upset of the year in denying the Dragons their second-straight District 4-5A championship.

In the end, Southlake calmed its nerves and emerged from the fray with a 31-27 win. But it didn’t come without a struggle. Many of the Dragon faithful, myself included, had been yearning for a competitive district game. Well, on Thursday night we got one. What in the world were we thinking?

Ridge dominated the first half, with quarterback Jacob Gnacinski and speedy wide receiver Ryan Parker proving to be an unbeatable combination. Gnacinski, who threw 39 times by halftime, connected repeatedly with Parker on simple swing passes to the right or left. Each time, the slippery receiver, who had 11 catches for 151 yards, broke tackles and slithered for 10 yards or more. Dragon safeties appeared powerless to stop him.

At half, the Panthers led the shocked Dragons 27-17, and a sullen mood settled over the Southlake crowd, which impatiently endured half-time with the bands in anticipation of a rejuvenated Dragon squad taking the field in the second half.

But a smartly executed Dragon opening drive in the second half came to a crashing halt at the Panther goal line when quarterback Ryan Agnew, who had a solid rushing game Thursday, slammed across the goal line and promptly coughed up the ball. Everyone in the stadium, except the blind bats in white and black stripes, saw Agnew break the goal-line plane, thus scoring a touchdown. But, nope, the visually impaired ones ruled it a touchback and Keller took over at the Carroll 20.

I turned to my wife and observed through gritted teeth, “That may just have cost us district.”

Luckily, I’m no clairvoyant, and the Dragons put that stark injustice behind them and went on to hold Ridge scoreless for the entire second half, while piling up a couple more TDs in the third quarter to take and keep the lead.

And they did it with a bruising ground game. Ridge loaded its defensive backfield with six, sometimes seven, defensive backs and stifled Southlake’s potent passing game. Largely denied the airwaves, Agnew rolled to 143 yards rushing and two TDs, while sturdy running back AJ Ezzard piled up 105 and one score.

Agnew managed to connect on 14 of 16 passes, with one interception, but he was held to a mere 110 yards.

It’s not often – maybe ever? – that Agnew gets schooled in the air, but Panther signal-caller Gnacinski came close. On the one hand, he threw 60 passes, connecting on 40, and piled up 367 yards. In the wild second quarter, he guided Ridge to three straight scores, the last two within a minute and a half of each other (the last the result of the Agnew misfire). Pretty damned good, wouldn’t you say?

 Now, for the rest of the story. Gnacinski also threw four interceptions, two of which were snatched by junior Dragon DB Tariq Gordon. Those mistakes proved crucial to the Dragon’s eventual victory, stalling impressive Ridge drives and keeping Carroll in the game until it regained its composure and handed the Panthers three-and-outs on three consecutive drives in the decisive third quarter.

Thursday night’s scare could be a blessing in disguise. The Dragons looked disaster in the eye and rose above it. It’s the kind of challenge and response that could prove beneficial as Southlake contemplates the beginning of the second season two weeks from now. It was a chance to shake off the cobwebs collected during its trudge through cupcake-strewn 4-5A.

If the Star Telegram’s statistics can be trusted – and I suspect they can in this case – a defeat at the hands of Ridge would have broken Carroll’s winning streak of 22 straight district games. The last defeat in district came against Coppell in 2010, only the second district defeat suffered by the Dragons since they were elevated to 5A in 2002. The first also was at the hands of Coppell, an unforgettable 57-53 shootout in triple overtime.

But that was then, and this is now. The Dragons have clinched the district title and qualified for the playoffs for the 13^th straight year. They end their regular season at home next week, facing the Haltom Buffalos on Senior Night.

 It will be a bittersweet moment for Marice and me, as we stand on the field with our senior son, who is a member of the Crew spirit group, and look to the approaching end of our children’s association with Carroll ISD. The last 17 years have gone by with a flash. But what memories we have! Go Dragons!