Playoff Quarterfinals: Cedar Hill 62, Southlake Carroll 42

Bitter as it is to say, the best team won yesterday in the playoff quarterfinal contest between Southlake Carroll and Cedar Hill.

The Longhorns, with their roster of D1-bound athletes, dominated the game from kickoff to final whistle, employing their multi-dimensional ground game to score at will and forcing the Dragons to take to the air to keep up.

It’s a testimony to the grit, discipline and heart of the Carroll players that they kept things close enough for their fans to hold out hope for another last-gasp, last-minute victory.

But Cedar Hill was too good for that. Even as senior quarterback Ryan Agnew staged a series of quick-attack aerial heroics in the second half, bringing the Dragons within 5 at one point in the 3^th quarter, the Longhorns came roaring back every time.

After each Dragon score, Cedar Hill, in business-like fashion, sent their double-threat quarterback and fleet-footed running backs scything through the Dragon line, marching authoritatively down the field to maintain the two-score lead it held through most of the game.

The Longhorns rolled up 686 total yards of offense, 572 on the ground. By comparison, the Dragons could manage only 78 yards rushing.

Cedar Hill’s kill-shot occurred with less than 3 minutes left when it intercepted a pass by Agnew as he was trying desperately to close the Longhorns’ 13-point lead. In the ensuing series, the Longhorns rolled inevitably to their final score and ended the Dragons season.

Cedar Hill Coach Joey McGuire told The Dallas Morning News that his game plan was to smother the Dragon ground game and its hard-charging lead rusher, Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, and to gamble it could survive Carroll’s ensuing aerial assault.

It worked beautifully. Humphrey, a junior who rushed for 1,800 yards this season and 29 touchdowns, was held to a paltry 37 yards yesterday. Forced to the air, Agnew and his receiving corps did their best, and it was impressive to see. He completed 15 of 23 passes for 418 yards and four touchdowns, engineering pass plays along the way of 76, 52, 42 and 75 yards.

Senior Tariq Gordon was his favorite target, pulling in 6 catches for 168 yards. Zach Farrar nabbed 3 for 128, and senior Parker Fentriss got 3 for 114.

But it wasn’t enough to blunt Cedar Hill’s abundant offensive arsenal, headed by quarterback Justin McMillan (8-15 for 112 yards, 3 TDs) and running backs Aca’cedric Ware (283 yards on 29 carries) and Denvre Daniels, (155 yards on 19 carries). Its weapons included sophomore Avery Davis, a backup quarterback who went in for one play late in the 4^th and sprinted 62 yards for a touchdown that padded the Longhorn lead, 47-35, after a Carroll rally had narrowed the margin to 6.

The Dragons, bless’em, shrugged off that shocking development. What would have been a dagger to the heart for many good teams, only served to inspire Agnew and his teammates. Starting the next drive at the Carroll 25, Agnew hefted a long ball downfield to WR Parker Fentiss, who took it to the house, narrowing the lead to 47-42.

The Longhorns responded in turn with a 54-yard TD run by Ware, making it now 55-42. At that point, Agnew made his first and only miscue of the afternoon, throwing an INT on a 2^nd and 9 at the Cedar Hill 40.

Thus ends the Dragon season. For many of us, the disappointment is eased somewhat by the knowledge that Carroll fell to a great team, well-coached, highly talented and strongly motivated. The Longhorns, after all, are defending 6A Division II champions, and they played like it yesterday.

They face Spring Westfield next week in Georgetown, and the Houston-area folks had best come prepared for a squad on a mission to repeat state. If Cedar Hill gets past Westfield, and it should, it probably will face Katy in the finals at Cowboys Stadium on the Saturday before Christmas. That will be quite a game, folks.

For the Dragons, the season ends here, and preparations will begin almost immediately for next year. That’s the nature of sports.

It will be sad to see seniors like Ryan Agnew, WRs Parker Fentriss and Ryan McGiboney, safety/WR Tariq Gordon, RB Deondre Wiltshire, DL King Newton and others leave. Also worthy of note are departing safety Andy Chelf, who left yesterday’s game with a knee injury, and linebacker Clark Parr, who has been courageously playing for some time with a battered knee. Both are warriors whose leadership and talent will be missed.

But a cadre of talented juniors will be stepping into top roles next year. Backup quarterback Montana Murphy is Agnew’s likely replacement, at least at this point. He got some valuable reps this year and shows great promise. Junior receiver Zach Farrar will be back. So will Humphrey, who showed this year he can run with the best of them. If he demonstrates half the improvement between his junior and senior years as he did from sophomore to junior, 2015 could be a very special season for him. Grant McFarlin will be joining him in the backfield.

Sophomore linebacker Jacob Copeland, who was sidelined much of this year with injuries, will be back, as will safety Obi Eboh. Others no doubt will muscle their way to the forefront.

This is Southlake Carroll, after all, where the program reloads rather than rebuilds. Go Dragons!