Playoffs, Regional Round: Southlake Carroll Dragons vs. Euless Trinity Trojans

When it was over, the victors said they won in memory of fallen comrades killed in a car wreck before the season began. Now how are you going to beat a team like that?

The Southlake Carroll Dragons and the Euless Trinity Trojans met last night in another classic contest, a desperate back-and-forth battle in the third round of the playoffs that hinged on the game’s only turnover and ended with Trinity triumphant.

 After the game, Trinity players reminded sportswriters that this season is dedicated to two former Trojans and a junior high student killed in an automobile accident. At halftime, one told the Star-Telegram, “We just thought of our three fallen angels, just thought about that and remembered who we were doing it for.”

Everyone expected a battle royale between the Dragons and Trojans, and they weren’t disappointed. The lead changed hands six times, five in the second half, and the outcome remained uncertain until the last seconds of the game. In the end, it was Trinity 42, Carroll 38.

Senior Trinity running back Isaac Ellsworth shredded the overwhelmed Dragon D-line all night, compiling 245 yards on 18 carries and three touchdowns. Three times he blasted through the front line and outsprinted pursuing Dragon defenders on TD runs of 42, 70 and 51 yards.

His compatriot, sophomore RB Ja’Ron Wilson, running behind the Trojan O-line’s behemoths, blasted 114 yards on 17 carries and one TD.

 Meanwhile, Trinity quarterback Christian Hammack proved what everyone has been saying of late: The Trojans also can throw the ball. He completed five of seven throws for 105 key yards and engineered the Trojans’ final score, a 23-yard pass with 9 minutes left.

He wasn’t the best quarterback on the field last night. That honor, as usual, belonged to Dragon QB Ryan Agnew, who tried his mightiest to keep Carroll in the game, completing 39 of 48 passes for 449 yards and three touchdowns. It was another dazzling display for the junior standout.

But, alas, Hammack and the Trojans will proceed to the fourth round to face the fearsome DeSoto Eagles, while Agnew and crew will be Christmas shopping. Nobody said life was fair.

Ultimately, it came down to this: The weaknesses in the Carroll defense – a concern all season, even during its cruise through the weak sisters of District 4-5A – were exposed last night. The D-line couldn’t contain the Trinity running game, and the secondary couldn’t disrupt its infrequent aerial attack.

The Southlake kids tried. God knows they tried and never gave up. Linemen A.J. Tolbert and King Newton were defensive stalwarts.

But the muscle and gristle of the Trinity O-line was simply too much. The Trojans’ Big Guys blasted the smaller Dragons off the line by three or four yards on every play. Trojan runners must have averaged more than 5 yards per carry. And they carried a lot – rolling up 448 rushing yards for the night.

For a while, it looked as if Agnew and his receivers would be able to win the day. Senior wide receiver Luke Timian was a monster, catching 13 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns in the best game of his life. It’s a damn shame it was for naught.

Likewise, backup running back Lil’ Jordan Humphrey – subbing for senior RB AJ Ezzard, who was shaken up in the first half and never returned – had a brilliant night, right up until the moment, with less than six minutes left in the game, when he coughed up the ball on the Trinity 20 as Carroll was driving for yet another go-ahead touchdown.

Trinity was leading at the time, 42-38, and Hammack staged a vintage Trinity rushing drive, a clock-draining, soul-sapping, run-it-down-their-throats drive that ended when Trinity handed the ball on downs to the Dragons with 19 seconds left to travel three-fourths of the field. It was a masterful display of dominance – and clock-managing finesse – that Dragon fans watched with grim-faced admiration.

So the Dragons’ season is over. A loss in the third round is no humiliation, particularly when you come as close as Southlake did to beating a team as good as Trinity, but it does leave a sour taste in the mouth. That’s probably because they came so close, so very close.

But it is, after all, only a game. Soon, the pain will ease and then likely disappear, except for the dull ache when old photos are dug out of an album years from now. For the seniors, there is the anticipation of graduation. For the rest, there is the promise of a new season. Life goes on, don’t it? Until next year, go Dragons!