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.