Game Day: Southlake Carroll 10, Euless Trinity 6 (Wow!)

The battle over, the combatants met at mid-field to exchange perfunctory handshakes and fist bumps, then victorious and vanquished parted ways to begin their traditional post-game routines.

The Southlake Carroll Dragons – winners in this, the fourth, meeting with the Euless Trinity Trojans – gathered with family and friends at the east end of Dragon Stadium to celebrate in front of the band and Emerald Belles drill team.

The celebration was particularly boisterous last night, considering what a near-run thing victory had been against a superb Trojan team, a brutal, hard-hitting defensive struggle that remained in doubt until literally the last second ticked off the clock. And it ended, as it always does, win or lose, with the playing of Carroll’s alma mater as the gathered crowd swayed and sang along.

Across the way, the Trinity team and its fans were observing a tradition of a different sort. Not a person stirred from the sold-out visitor’s side, all standing in unison and waiting for the team to begin its postgame Haka war dance, which also is performed regardless of the final score.

That’s when a fairly inspiring thing happened, at least to these jaded eyes. The celebrating Dragon crowd, on the field and in the stands, stopped and turned respectfully toward the visitors, observing the Haka ceremony in patient silence. And when it was over, Carroll fans gave the heartbroken Trojans a standing ovation.

In a time when this country seems so splintered and divided, when our politics have become poisoned with partisan bickering and ideological venom, it was grand to see that respect for a rival can still be observed and that the art of good sportsmanship has not vanished completely.

But then again, the relationship between the Carroll and Trinity programs has always been something special. Some observers, including me, had wondered if the mutual admiration and affection both fan bases have felt toward one another could survive the fact the Dragons and the Trojans are competing in the same district for the first time.

If last night’s game was any indication – and I can’t imagine a more intensely emotional environment or a more physically bruising clash – then the relationship has endured at least its initial regular-season encounter.

And what an encounter it was! No one expected last night’s game to be a smash-mouth defensive struggle in which only a single touchdown was scored.

Before last night, Trinity hadn’t punted the ball in three straight games. Its stellar running back, junior Ja-Ron Wilson (18 carries, 93 yards), using the massive Trojan O-Line as a road grader, had run over, around and through defenses. And the Trojan quarterback, junior Tyler Natee (10 carries, 60 yards), a 6-foot, 240-pound human bowling ball, had crashed through defenders with ease and aplomb.

Natee has an interesting story. He was a tailback last season and was dragooned into the signal-caller’s job because Trinity simply had no one else. For a novice, he looked pretty damned good last night. He doesn’t have much of an arm, as you might expect, but that’s no disgrace at run-centric Trinity, which has built its elite reputation and filled its trophy case with a bruising, nigh-on-impossible-to-stop running game.

Until last night.

In an extraordinary, unlikely and unexpected display of grit, determination, discipline and, oh, hell, just sheer guts, the Carroll defense slowed the mighty Trojan ground attack, bending but never breaking. Trinity’s only scores came in the first half, after the Dragons stopped the Trojans twice inside the 12-yard line, forcing field goals instead of touchdowns.

But Trinity’s beef-laden D-Line had a good night, too, keeping Dragon quarterback Ryan Agnew off-balance and sacking him three times for large losses. Meanwhile, the Trojan secondary disrupted his passing plays and caused Carroll’s depleted receiving corps to drop passes all night. Normally glue-fingered WR Parker Fentriss (6-77) dropped two TD passes.

But Agnew (17-27 for 170 yards and 1 INT) lived up to his reputation as a gritty and courageous playmaker, extending drives when the Dragons needed them most. His most electrifying moment came on Carroll’s winning drive. With his team trailing 6-3 late in the 4th, Agnew faced a 3-and-17 in Trinity territory. Flushed from the pocket, he scampered to the left for 19 yards before taking a vicious hit.

 Several plays later, the Dragon drive skidded to a halt at the Trinity 3 on 4^th down. The Dragons lined up to kick a field goal to tie it, but a Trojan jumped offside. Now faced with a yard and inches, Carroll coach Hal Wasson listened to his inner gambler’s voice and ordered his offensive unit back on the field. That’s when star RB Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, who ended the night with 106 hard-fought rushing yards on 28 carries, crashed into the Trinity Wall and bullied his 6-foot-3 frame over the goal line.

But with 5 minutes left, Carroll fans knew there was a lot of football left to play, despite the Dragons’ success in shutting out the Trojans since the 2^nd quarter.

With Carroll leading 10-6, it fell to its defense to seal the win. And that’s just what it did in the defining defensive series of the season.

With the clock draining, Trinity drove the field, landing at 1^st and goal with less than 2 minutes to play. It lost ground on first down and called its last timeout with 1:17 to go. On second down, Natee was sacked at the 15, and Trinity hurried to the line for a right sweep to the 9. But the runner was tackled in bounds so the clock continued to run. Faced with 4^th down, the junior quarterback simply couldn’t marshal his teammates in time to get the play off before the buzzer.

By defeating Trinity, Carroll is a prohibitive favorite to win District 7-6A and to secure a top seed in post-season play. It also snapped the Trojans’ 62-game district winning streak.

I’m not sure how far this Dragon team can go this year. But it has demonstrated to its fan base that it has the character and the determination to make a deep run in the playoffs. And by defeating talented teams like Tulsa Union, Coppell and Trinity, it also has shown it has the talent and athleticism to make a lot of noise in the post season.

The Dragons face the Colleyville Heritage Panthers next week in Panther-Mustang Stadium, the lights of which I can see from my seat in Dragon Stadium. Unlike the Carroll-Trinity relationship, Southlake and Colleyville fan bases don’t like each other much. It would be a pleasure to see the Dragons beat the snot out of the Panthers. Go Dragons!