Regional Playoffs, Southlake Carroll 35, San Angelo Central 10

The Southlake Carroll Dragons have played better playoff games in their storied history, but their take-down of the San Angelo Central Bobcats on Saturday was no less total and complete.

The Bobcats came to Baylor’s McLane Stadium riding a season that had exceeded even their biggest boosters’ expectations. Once a powerhouse both in West Texas and statewide, the proud Bobcats have fallen on hard times in recent years. But with a new coach and a new program, they arrived in Waco with an 11-1 record and a chip on their shoulder.

It didn’t long for the Dragons to send that chip a-flying and to bring the high hopes of the West Texans crashing to earth.

The Carroll defense, which just gets better as the season progresses, smothered the Bobcats’ offense. It held Central to only two first downs and nine rushing yards in the first half, forcing the Bobcats to punt on four of their first five possessions. In the key third quarter, the Dragons’ Big Guys stopped three fourth-down attempts by the desperate Bobcats, stifling any comeback hopes for good.

Central’s only touchdown came with only 6 second left on the game clock, long after the Dragons’ second team had taken over.

Central’s highly regarded double-threat quarterback, senior Braden Hucks, compiled decent numbers, but he was no factor in the contest, despite managing 247 yards in the air and 87 yards on the ground.

Meanwhile, the Dragon offense lacked the zip-ziggidity of its flawless game last week against Denton Guyer. But even at three-quarters speed, it was more than the Bobcats could handle.

RB Lil’ Jordan Humphrey ran for 114 yards and three TDs. Quarterback Ryan Agnew threw 13 of 24 for 208 yards and ran for another 62. Tariq Gordon, who plays both safety and wide receiver, was Agnew’s favorite target, nabbing seven throws for 153 yards.

But the time for lackadaisical effort is over. Carroll faces Cedar Hill, defending Division II state champions, next Saturday in SMU’s Ford Stadium. The Longhorns slipped past the Abilene Eagles 36-28 Saturday to reach the fourth round, and they will be gunning for the Dragons, you can be sure of that.

Cedar Hill has been averaging 500 yards and almost 48 points per game this season. Despite a couple of stumbles against Skyline and Mansfield, the Longhorns are playing their best football right now, and that’s as it should be.

If the Dragons bring anything but their A-game to SMU on Saturday, Cedar Hill likely will send their playoff run spinning off the road, leaving it upside down in the bar ditch with its wheels spinning.

Ford Stadium has been a mixed bag for the Carroll Dragons, who saw playoff hopes die there in 2009 against Arlington Bowie and in 2012 against DeSoto. But it’s also the location of one of their most memorable triumphs.

In a semi-final game against Skyline in 2011, the Dragons staged an unlikely come-from-behind victory against the favored Raiders. With less than a minute left, Carroll quarterback Kenny Hill rumbled 35 yards for the game-winning touchdown, passing along the way a wild gray fox that had wandered onto the field. The next week, the Dragons beat Fort Bend Hightower for the state championship.

The fox was last seen scampering over the berm on the south end of Ford Stadium. Anyone up for a fox hunt? Go Dragons!

Area Playoffs: Southlake Carroll 58, Denton Guyer 42

For many high school football programs, just getting to the playoffs is a worthy goal to set at the beginning of any season.

Not so for Southlake Carroll and the rest of the state’s elite football schools. Their mission is not just to make the playoffs, but to make a deep run into the post season and to be in the hunt for the ultimate prize – a state championship.

So playing until after Thanksgiving – or, put another way, making the third round of the six-game playoffs in Texas – is a significant milestone, and one achieved early this morning by the Southlake Carroll Dragons.

And they did it in handy fashion, dominating a solid Denton Guyer squad with high playoff aspirations.

Led by senior quarterback Ryan Agnew, the Dragon offense was a well-oiled machine, scoring on each of its first seven possessions and jumping to a 31-7 lead by the last third of the second quarter.

Agnew, who struggled during the first half of last week’s contest against Mansfield, came roaring out of the gate against Guyer, completing 21 of 24 passes for 241 yards. He passed for one score and rushed for another two.

Stellar running back Lil’ Jordan Humphrey had a monster game, rumbling to 176 yards on 26 carries and scoring three touchdowns. He also proved to be a key Agnew receiver, catching five throws for 50 yards.

Meanwhile, Carroll’s Big Guys stopped Guyer’s high-octane offense when it had to. The Wildcats' sophomore phenom quarterback, Shawn Robinson, was everything he was billed to be, a dazzling pinpoint passer with a rocket arm and a bewitching runner with speed and guile. Robinson had a hand in all six of Guyer’s touchdowns, passing for five and rushing for another.

But while he finished the night with 404 passing yards and 101 rushing, much of that production came in the second half, when the Wildcats were chasing the steady Dragons. Significantly, in the critical first half, when Carroll was building its early – and ultimately insurmountable – lead, Robinson was held to only 137 yards.

The Wildcats, who had easy pickings in District 5-6A and roared past Plano in the first round, responded to their first real challenge of the season with a sloppy, mistake-strewn first half.

On Guyer’s second possession, Dragon safety Kevin Cramer snagged a Robinson pass, setting up a 12-yard throw from Agnew to Ryan McGiboney, who led Carroll receivers with eight catches for 97 yards. Later, the Dragon D stalled a Wildcat drive at mid-field. A high snap sent to ball sailing over the punter’s head, and the Dragons recovered on the Guyer 18. Five plays later, Agnew darted three yards for the score.

The Wildcats were reeling but far from out. They scored on the last play of the first half and on the first play of the second to cut Carroll’s lead to 31-21. But that would be as close as they would get.

The Dragons, who had survived a desperate17-point comeback in the first round against the upstart Mansfield Tigers, were determined to avoid any similar last-minute dramatics. Rushing scores by Agnew and Humphrey in the third quarter tamed the striving Wildcats.

Most forecasters had predicted a Guyer win, believing the Carroll defense would be unable to corral Robinson and the blistering Wildcat offense, which never scored less than 40 points in any game it played, including this, its last one.

But this Dragon squad is a never-say-die bunch that has found a way to win all year, piling up narrow victories against such stalwart opponents as Austin Westlake, Tulsa Union, Coppell and Trinity.

Now, it will travel to Waco on Saturday to meet the San Angelo Central Bobcats in McLane Stadium on the banks of the Brazos. Nothing is easy at this point in the playoffs, but the Dragons should be favorites in that matchup.

Personally, I seek balm on Saturday for bitter high school memories of watching the high-stepping Bobcats smash the Big Spring Steers year after year in the West Texas district known as the Little Southwest Conference.

Particularly vivid is the memory of one Central fan, a huge fellow with barrel chest and beer belly who arrived at Steer Stadium one year with his shaved head painted a bright Bobcat orange. His obscene taunts and antics still stick in my craw all these years later. Funny how some things stay with you, isn’t it?

If the Dragons get past the Bobcats, and they should, they’ll face either Abilene or Cedar Hill in the fourth round, setting up yet another classic confrontation with a familiar foe.

Roasted turkey on Thursday and fricasseed Bobcat on Saturday. Now that would be a Thanksgiving feast, indeed. Go Dragons!

Bi-District Playoffs: Southlake Carroll 38, Mansfield 31

Friends sometimes ask why I’m such a fan of high school football. The answer is complicated.

It has to do with the pageantry of Friday night lights – gridiron action, marching bands, high-stepping drill teams and back-flipping cheerleaders. With memories of watching games in the wind-blown West Texas stadiums of my youth. With a nostalgic affection for the concept of players motivated by school spirit, team loyalty and comradeship rather than fame and money.

And then there are classic contests like last night’s matchup between the Southlake Carroll Dragons and the Mansfield Tigers.

Hollywood scriptwriters couldn’t have written it any better:  Carroll, a highly ranked team with a storied past, winner of eight state championships, is initially humbled in the bi-district round of the playoffs by Mansfield, a second-seed team that proved itself a giant-killer when it knocked off Cedar Hill, last year’s state champions, earlier in the season.

Then the Dragons, trailing 24-7 with 5 minutes left in the third quarter, stage a dramatic, spine-tingling comeback, led by the quarterback who had been intercepted three times earlier in the game. That quarterback throws the winning touchdown pass with 13 seconds left.

See what I mean? How can you NOT love a game that provides week-in, week-out that kind of drama, emotion and nerve-jarring entertainment?

Last night’s contest – or more precisely, the last 17 minutes of it – easily qualifies as one of the Dragons’ best playoff efforts. It takes its rightful place with the double-overtime win against Allen in the second round of the 2009 playoffs, a back-and-forth affair that ended with Carroll cornerback Justin Agnew stopping a game-winning two-point conversion by the Eagles.

By the way, Justin Agnew is the brother of Dragon quarterback Ryan Agnew, who staged the Dragons’ last-gasp comeback last night. I’m telling you, folks, you can’t make this stuff up.

For most of three quarters, the Tigers mauled the Dragons, keeping their offense off-balance and out-of-sync and feasting on the harassed Agnew’s hurried throws. Meanwhile, its swift and crushing running game, led by sophomore Kennedy Brooks, who ended the night with 231 yards on 29 carries and two TDs, shredded their defense. He averaged 8 yards a carry, and the Dragons only managed to slow him in the fourth. They never stopped him.

It’s tempting to say that the Dragons simply were flat during the first half, with the Agnew-led offense out of rhythm and the defense stiff and sluggish.

 But the truth is Mansfield was a beast, a truly talented, well-coached and highly motivated team that wasn’t intimidated in the least by the Dragons’ unbeaten record and bulging trophy case. And why should it be: Only two weeks ago, it soundly defeated district rival Cedar Hill, the defending state champion and another obstacle the Dragons must surpass if they are to win a ninth state championship.

To be honest, when the Tigers pulled 17 points ahead of the Dragons half-way through the third period, I figured the season was over. Mansfield was just too strong on offense and too stingy on defense for Carroll to make up the difference in the time remaining.

I should have had more faith in Agnew and his teammates, who decided they didn’t want their season to end and who set about making sure it didn’t.

Agnew’s dad, who was sitting in front of me and certainly is no stranger to dramatic Dragon finishes, had faith. While I was sitting dejected and depressed in my seat, he was on his feet, urging the Dragons on and appearing – to this observer at least – to be as cool and confident as if he were watching spring practice.

As if flipping on a switch, the Dragon offense came alive. As the third quarter came to a close, Agnew (21-34, 344 yards) completed the first of his four TDs passes for the night, a 36-yard toss to WR Parker Fentiss, who finished with 97 yards and two TDs.

Now trailing 24-14, the Dragons recovered the ensuing on-side kick, but had to settle for a 33-yard field goal by the stalwart Jake Oldroyd to pull within a touchdown.

But Mansfield refused to go down quietly. Starting its next drive on the 14-yard line, Tiger quarterback Aaron Funk shoved the ball into Brooks’ gut, and the soph darted around the right corner and outraced the entire Dragon backfield 86 yards to the end zone.

Brooks’ heroics could have snuffed out any comeback effort, but the Dragons, now behind two TDs with less than seven minutes to play, took the setback in stride. Agnew responded with a 33-yard pass to Fentiss with 5½ minutes to play.

After forcing the Tigers into a 3-and-out, the Dragons mounted a play that probably epitomized the entire game – a desperate, glorious struggle ending in triumph. Starting at his own 24, Agnew was flushed from the pocket and evaded tacklers as he sought an open receiver. Narrowly avoiding a tackle at his own goal line, he found RB Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, who juked and jerked his way 76 yards for the tying score, but not before strong-arming one pursuer at the 10 and bulling past another at the 1 to stretch into paydirt.

The Dragons once again stopped Mansfield, forcing the dazed Tigers to punt with 1:43 left in the game. Carroll marched the field, fighting to the Mansfield 31 before using its last timeout to stop the clock with 19 seconds left.

Time to turn to the dependable Oldroyd to kick the winning field goal, right?

Nope. When the Dragons returned to the field, it was clear they were going to gamble they had time for one more shot before setting up the 3-pointer.

With bated breath – to be honest, I hadn’t drawn an easy lungful of air for most of the last half – the Dragon faithful waited for the snap. And there it was. Agnew dropped back and found WR Tariq Gordon in the end zone. End of game. Dragons win.

So the Dragons advance to the Area Round and face Denton Guyer back in the Death Star next Saturday. They’ve faced Guyer before and have no reason to love the Wildcats. Guyer ended Carroll’s deep playoff run in 2010 and handed the Dragons a rare defeat on their home turf earlier that season.

Perhaps it’s time for some payback. I’d like to think so. But it won’t be easy. These are the Texas high school football playoffs, and the road to any state championship is rough and rocky. Go Dragons!

Game Day: Southlake Carroll Dragons 38, Hurst L.D. Bell 14

The Southlake Carroll Dragons have gone undefeated in every state championship run they’ve ever made. So finishing the regular season last night with a 10-0 record is comforting for those of us – and oh, that includes every Dragon fan on earth – who harbor desires for a ninth, record-setting state trophy.

But let’s face it, a perfect record in the regular season doesn’t mean a damned thing in the playoffs. And the road to state this year – like every other year – will be a long and difficult one.

But what the hey, let’s bask in the glory of an unblemished record, at least until the team's blond-hair dyes are completed and the black uniform pants are laundered and distributed, both cherished playoff traditions.

The Dragons face the Mansfield Tigers in Cowboys Stadium next Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 9 p.m., but since there’s an earlier game that night, it’ll probably be closer to 10 p.m. That’s not an optimum time to play football, but it is what it is.

The alternative scenario, which the Dragons avoided by some last-second heroics by the Cedar Hill Longhorns last night, was a first-round matchup on Saturday afternoon with the aforementioned Longhorns.

Cedar Hill was expected to easily handle South Grand Prairie in the final game of the season. Instead, it found itself in the fight of its life and only managed to eke out a come-from-behind victory on the last play of the game, a 7-yard TD pass that gave it a heart-racing 37-35 victory.

If the Longhorns had lost, they would have faced the Dragons in the first round, a matchup that neither team wanted. If they keep winning, Southlake and 8-2 Cedar Hill eventually will face either other, but both teams would rather that contest come later in the post-season when they each have established rhythm and momentum.

Instead, the Dragons will battle the 7-3 Tigers, who dismantled Midlothian last night 62-37. Our Southlake heroes had best not look past Mansfield, a solid, disciplined team on a roll, lest they find themselves booted early from the playoffs.

After all, Mansfield whipped Cedar Hill last week, a 49-34 shocker that indicated the returning state champion Longhorns might not be all their reputation implied and the Tigers might be something more.

But before we focus exclusively on the post season, we should tidy up last night’s affair.

One could almost – almost – feel sorry for the L.D. Bell Blue Raiders. A sleepy, half-hearted effort by the Dragons, facing a hired-up Bell squad with literally nothing to lose, left the score at halftime 17-7. It wasn’t hard to imagine the Raiders – whose dismal 1-8 record already had snapped their playoff streak – contemplating the delicious prospect of felling the mighty, high-flying Dragons in the friendly confines of Pennington Field in Bedford.

A few of us on the Dragon side exchanged raised eyebrows as the teams headed for their locker rooms at half. We need not have worried, of course. The Dragons came out energized in the second half, icing the game with a couple of TDs in the third quarter before pulling their starters and dispatching Raider hopes to oblivion.

Bell, which had moved with some authority in the second quarter against Carroll’s sluggish D-line, managed only a negative-4 yards during its first three possessions in the second half. It only collected a second touchdown after Dragon backups had replaced starters.

It was a record-setting night for Dragon running back Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, who left the game at halftime with 98 yards and a touchdown. He now holds Dragon records for total rushing yards during a season (1,365), for most consecutive 100-yard games (7) and for most 200-yard games (2). I’m also fairly certain he holds the record for total rushing TDs in a season, but I don’t have that number at hand.

Senior quarterback Ryan Agnew also was in good form, completing 13 of 18 passes for 189 yards and three TDs, one each to WRs Parker Fentriss, Tariq Gordon and Ryan McGiboney.

His back-up, junior Montana Murphy, who spelled him late in the third quarter, added the final score for Carroll, a fourth-quarter, 19-yard pass to junior WR Tommy Kane, his first reception of the season. Remember that connection, Murphy-to-Kane. You might be hearing a lot more about it, come next season.

So Carroll emerges from the regular season with some bumps and bruises, but with its chief goals in hand: a perfect record against a stiff schedule, champions in one of the toughest districts in the state and first seed in the playoffs.

And its warriors are mostly healthy and focused on the job ahead. Sophomore linebacker Jacob Copeland and WR/DB Tariq Gordon both left the game last night in the first half, Copeland with a shoulder injury and Gordon with a knee. But Gordon returned to play in the second half, and Copeland was seen on the sideline with his helmet on, so apparently his injury is not serious. That’s good because Copeland is having a great season at linebacker and will be needed for the playoff inferno ahead. As for Gordon, he’s a beast on both sides of the ball and a critical element of Dragon success.

Some of us hoped, as we closely monitored the Cedar Hill/South Grand Prairie game, that Carroll would end up playing the Longhorns next Saturday, instead of a “midnight match” with Mansfield on Friday.

 “We might as well face Cedar Hill now, while they’re in the middle of a losing streak,” a buddy said as the score see-sawed back and forth in Grand Prairie.

 But the football gods decreed otherwise, and so it’ll be the Tigers instead. Lord-a-mercy, how I love this time of year. Go Dragons!

Game Day: Southlake Carroll 62, Haltom 0

Virtually every senior on the Southlake Carroll Dragons got into last night’s runaway contest against the overwhelmed and under-powered Haltom Buffalos.

And that’s as it should be on Senior Night.

Senior receivers C.J. Bryan and Brooks Pannell each snagged their first touchdowns of the season in bolstering Carroll’s battered receiving corps. Bryan scored twice, catching four passes for 86 yards. Pannell also scored twice, finishing with six catches and 79 yards.

Pannell’s parents sit a couple of rows down from my seats in Dragon Stadium. It did my heart good to see the pride and joy on his mom and dad’s faces when he made the scoring catches and was credited for the scores by the stadium announcer.

Moreover, senior running back Deondre Wiltshire, who came in at halftime to relieve starter Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, had his best game ever, scoring two touchdowns while piling up 95 yards on eight carries.

Last night’s contest was as much about preparing for the playoffs as it was about facing the bottom of the District 7-6A roster. Haltom is winless this season and, try as it might, couldn’t put up much of a struggle against the confident Dragons, who have faced several trials by fire this season – against Trinity and Coppell, for instance – to arrive at their unbeaten 9-0 (6-0 in district) record.

So Carroll took the opportunity last night to rest its starters, give its backups substantial game experience and to dust off its passing game, which surprisingly has taken a back seat this season to the Dragon ground game.

Senior quarterback Ryan Agnew was on point and on target, completing 13 of 17 passes for 229 yards and three touchdowns – not a bad night, particularly since he was relieved halfway through the second quarter by backup Montana Murphy.

Agnew’s completion rate would have been even more impressive but for a series of downs near the Haltom goal line, when he threw three straight passes into the end zone. One was dropped after Agnew delivered it right in the receiver’s chest and the second was overthrown when the receiver flubbed the route.

Nevertheless, it was good to see Carroll getting its aerial attack in shape. It will need it when the playoffs begin in two weeks, along with the Dragon ground attack led by Humphrey, who saw last night’s air show terminate his string of 100-yard games.

He managed only 77 yards on 12 carries and a single touchdown, a below-average night for the hard-charging Humphrey, who is having a record-setting season for the Dragons. His 17 touchdowns this season already has snapped Tre’ Newton’s previous 15-TD season record, and he’s got another game to pad the numbers.

He, too, took a seat early last night, replaced by Wiltshire and junior Grant McFarlin. With the Dragons leading 41-0, Wiltshire electrified the few Dragon fans still in the stands on a single play in the third quarter.

After fielding a Buffalo punt on the 50, Murphy handed the ball to Wiltshire, who darted around the right corner and sprinted 50 yards untouched for the score. Wiltshire hasn’t spent much time on the field this year, thanks to his fate of playing behind the sensational Humphrey. But as the fastest Dragon runner, perhaps the fastest runner in Dragon history, he has raised eyebrows and speeded heartbeats whenever he’s appeared. His speed could be an important arrow in the Carroll quiver come the post-season, and last night provided valuable real-game experience.

Meanwhile, Murphy provided a tantalizing glimpse at the Dragon future in guiding Carroll to its last four touchdowns. He completed five of seven passes for 78 yards and two passing TDs. Perhaps even more impressive, he showed a quick, elusive running style in gaining 51 yards on five carries.

You can’t say much for the pitiful Buffalos, who could manage only 56 total yards against the Dragons. Two numbers provide the tale of the tape: Carroll’s worst field position of the night was its own 36-yard line, and Haltom never ventured past its own 34.

Carroll will finish the regular season against the lowly L.D. Bell Blue Raiders, who have won but a single game this year. The hope is the Dragons can stage a repeat of last night’s romp, resting starters, giving backups some time under the lights and emerging injury-free and energized for the playoffs.

 Several things now are clear. The Dragons will take the District 7-6A title and will be joined by Trinity, Coppell and probably Colleyville in the post season. They also cinched the first seed in Division II and probably will face Mansfield in the first round.

There are those who specialize in bracket analysis and who can speak authoritatively about all the likely playoff matchup scenarios. I’ll leave them to their Ps and Qs. I’m content to wait in anticipation for the appearance of the blonds in black pants. Go Dragons!