Game Day: Southlake Carroll 63, Abilene 28

A good memory can be a terrible burden sometimes. So when Southlake Carroll quarterback Ryan Agnew left the game last night a few minutes before halftime against the Abilene Eagles, I flashed back to another encounter with that stalwart West Texas program.

Back in 2007, the Dragons were three-peat state champions playing the Eagles in old Texas Stadium in the third round of the playoffs. Near the end of the first half, Dragon quarterback Riley Dodge, who had led Carroll to championship victory the year before, went down after a vicious, but legal, hit by an Abilene defender.

He was out for the game with a separated shoulder, and the Dragons eventually fell before the Eagles, 22-21, thus ending their storied Run of four state champions in five years.

When backup quarterback Montana Murphy took the field last night in place of Agnew, whose first-half heroics had opened a 35-21 lead over a determined, disciplined Abilene squad, I experienced that sinking feeling that comes when you see a promising season come to an anti-climactic thump.

A few moments later, my son – who was filming the game for the Carroll ISD sports marketing department – reported that Agnew’s parents were in the Dragon locker-room, news that prompted me, burdened by memories of ’07, to assume the worst.

I’m happy to report that it appears I was an alarmist and that Agnew is not seriously injured. Carroll coach Hal Wasson told The Dallas Morning News after that game, “He’s OK,” explaining he was just giving Murphy – a junior who has one of the best names for a quarterback that I can imagine – some valuable playing time.

That explanation seems a bit odd. I’m no gridiron guru, but is it normal to replace before the half a starter who has executed brilliantly, completing 15 of 20 passes for 251 yards, and guided his team to a hard-fought 14-point lead? Particularly when your opponent has demonstrated his ability to march the field at will?

 I suspect Agnew got nicked up and the Dragon coaches, understanding the importance of keeping the high-flying Dragon offense on track, exercised caution. Also possible, of course, but too terrible to contemplate, is that Wasson is fibbing madly and that Agnew really is hurt.

Regardless, Murphy performed admirably in his backup role. He led the Dragons to their final score of the first half, extending the lead to 42-21, and the Dragons never looked back. He rushed for two TDs and threw for a third, efficiently managing the two-back set the Dragon offense settled into for the rest of the game.

Carroll has a well-deserved reputation for producing talented quarterbacks that go on to success at the next level. Witness Missouri standout Chase Daniels, Alabama wizard Greg McElroy and, most recently, A&M phenom Kenny Hill.

In making his debut last night, Montana Murphy provided some reassurance that the quarterback tradition will continue, showing Dragon fans he has a good arm and is cool under fire.

It appeared at first the game was going to be a shootout. The Eagles, led by quarterback Derek Scott (22-31 for 167 yards), matched the Dragons score for score. Scott’s well-aimed passes to Eagle WR Reese Childress shredded the Dragon secondary, and running back Abram Smith punctured the Dragon D-line, which struggled throughout the half to get its bearings.

Then two things happened. First, Carroll’s Big Guys blunted Scott and company’s scoring rhythm and provided their offense a chance to surge ahead. With the score tied at 21-21, Agnew and RB Lil’ Jordan Humphrey (125 yards on 19 carries and four TDs) took advantage of the opportunity and staged a 13-play, 70-yard drive, sparking a 42-point scoring spree that doomed the sturdy Eagles.

It was during that key series that Wasson, who enjoyed the 200^th victory of his coaching career last night, showed he has acquired a gambler’s nerves this season. Faced twice with drive-ending fourth downs, Wasson threw the dice and went for it. Humphrey delivered both times, gaining the needed yard on the first attempt at the Carroll 40 and later driving for a necessary three.

Carroll even attempted an on-side kick at one point in the first half, as both sides jockeyed for an advantage in their tit-for-tat exchange of TDs. Add in the trick play that Wasson dialed up to cinch an overtime win against Tulsa Union in the second game of the season, and this is head-scratching stuff for those who have watched Wasson carefully negotiate eight years at the helm of Dragon Football.

Carroll’s scoring surge was aided by Abilene’s baffling decision to back off its successful passing game and move to the ground. Adjustments in the Dragon secondary put a damper on the aerial Scott-to-Childress heroics, but Abilene might have put up more of a fight if they had adhered more closely to the first-half game plan.

In the end, they could do little to stop the Dragon offense, which rolled up 650 yards, evenly divided between air and ground. When you couple that with a rejuvenated Dragon defense that held the Eagles scoreless in the second half until the final moments of the game, you have Carroll’s recipe for Eagle fricassee.

The Abilene fans who battled the ruler-straight highway east to see their beloved Eagles can take heart at the knowledge that their youngsters never quit and show great promise. If the right cards fall into place, the Dragons could meet them again in the playoffs.

As for the 4-0 Dragons, they too can feel pretty good about themselves as they open District 7-6a play at home next week.

Their opponents, the dreaded Coppell Cowboys, ripped up Hurst L.D. Bell last night, 42-3. The Cowboys, which travel with one of the rudest and most ill-behaved student fan bases in the area, would dearly love to embarrass the Dragons at home.

Game Day: Southlake Carroll 42, Tulsa Union 41 (OT)

Southlake Carroll head coach Hal Wasson is no riverboat gambler. He’s the cautious, steady type, perfectly happy to sit on a comfortable lead and milk the clock, rather than employ the “kill-the-will” strategy of his predecessor, the great Todd Dodge, whose philosophy was to keep scoring until the other guy was thoroughly bereft of hope.

Wasson has been criticized for his lack of aggression and his risk-aversion approach, and it has at times cost the Dragons.

That’s why the closing moments in Friday’s late-night thriller between the Dragons and the visiting Tulsa Union Redskins were so astounding.

Tied 34-34 in regulation, the score stood at 41-34 in overtime after a stunning 29-yard reception in the end zone by Union receiver Robert Thomas, who had picked apart the Dragon secondary all night, followed by a Union point after. Carroll responded with a 25-yard bolt by junior running back Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, bringing the score to 41-40.

Carroll then lined up for the point-after kick, and that’s when things got interesting.

Wasson called a timeout and gestured his kicking team off the field. When the Dragons returned to play, it was clear Carroll was going for the win, not for the tie and another round of OT.

That, in itself, was shocking, and so un-Wasson-like that some of us began jabbering incoherently. But when Humphrey, and not ace quarterback Ryan Agnew, lined up behind the center, we all knew we were entering unfamiliar territory.

Carroll was about to run a wildcat play? I had never seen such a thing. No one had. It was unthinkable. But there it was.

Humphrey took the snap, rolled to his left, and we all held our breath for his expected turn toward the goal line. Then we noticed senior wide receiver Parker Fentriss coming left to right in front of Humphrey, who flipped him the ball. Fentriss kept rolling right and then lobbed the ball to Agnew, who was standing all alone in the end zone.

Two-point conversion. 42-41 Dragons. Game over.

Stunned, I had to wait for the replay on Jerry’s Jumbotron to confirm what I had seen. Sure enough, there was the trick play that Wasson had approved, executed flawlessly by Carroll’s key playmakers, who had only seconds to prepare mentally for a play that reportedly was added on the day before the game.


(Now here's the delicious part: The Star Telegram points out that it was the exact same play that Dodge-coached Austin Westlake attempted against the Dragons last week. It says Wasson was so taken with it that he decided to add to the Dragon playbook! You gotta love this stuff.)


The Union-Carroll contest will go down in Dragon lore as one of the team’s half-dozen or so classic contests, right up there with its 2006 playoff win against Trinity and the 2009 double-overtime win against Allen.

Everyone knew that Union, a perennial state contender in Oklahoma, was going to be a tough nut to crack and so it was. Its offense, helmed by senior quarterback Mason Farquhar, pressed Carroll’s sturdy defense to the limit all night.

When Union pulled ahead of the Dragons 27-17 in the fourth quarter, the grinding of teeth could be heard all across our side of Cowboys Stadium. But the Dragons fought back, eventually tying the game at 27. But with less than three minutes left, standout Union running back Tyler Adkins, a tough, straight-ahead bruiser, crashed three yards to the end zone and brought the score to 34-27. Then with time drifting toward a minute, Agnew connected nine yards to WR Zach Farrar, setting up the OT showdown.

Adkins, who is a junior for heaven’s sake, shredded the Dragon’s D-line, rolling to 192 yards on 27 carries and four TDs. Do the math: That’s more than 7 yards per carry and, trust me, it seemed like more when you watched him in real time.

Meanwhile, Farquhar passed for 252 yards, completing 23 of 32 passes. His favorite target was the afore-mentioned Thomas, who caught 15 passes for 183 yards and one TD in regulation.

For the Dragons, questions remain on offense. The beleaguered O-line, which allowed Agnew to be sacked seven times last week against Austin Westlake, faired somewhat better this week. Even so, Agnew completed only 54 percent of his passes (20 of 37 for 295 yards), a paltry outcome when compared to his success rate last year.

Union’s burly front line sacked him three times and forced him to scramble frequently when he should have been working his progressions and finding open receivers. Even more alarmingly, Union’s Big Guys held Agnew, who last year arguably was more of a threat with his feet than with his arm, to negative 43 yards on 14 carries.

The porous shield wall that protects Agnew and opens running lanes for him and his talented running backs must be plugged and quickly. Carroll’s next two games are with Midland Lee and Abilene, with a bye week in between. It should have few problems in handling both squads before it enters tough-as-nails District 7-6A play. Perhaps that three-week stretch will give its young O-line some time to jell, mature and just get better.

Humphrey was the rushing leader for Carroll, carrying 23 times for 162 yards and three TDs. Fentriss was Agnew’s chief target, nabbing seven throws for 159 yards.

It’s a long road trip next week for the Dragons. They travel west across the dusty plains to oil-rich Midland to face the Lee High Rebels, who Carroll whipped handily not once but twice last year. Six hours on Interstate 20 to watch a likely blowout? Hmm. Tough call.