Game Day: Austin Westlake 20, Southlake Carroll 14

For a moment last night, as the final seconds ticked inexorably toward zero, it appeared that the football gods would look down favorably on the Southlake Carroll Dragons as they struggled and strived to wrest victory from the jaws of defeat.

But alas, that didn’t happen, and when Dragon quarterback Montana Murphy, desperately eluding tacklers in his backfield, finally found RB Lil’ Jordan Humphrey in the end zone, his hurried pass was batted dismissively away, and it was over.

Austin Westlake 20, Southlake Carroll 14.

The Dragons had their chances, plenty of them. They held the Chaparrals scoreless in the second half, their young defensive line finally settling down and stopping Westlake’s talented signal caller, Sam Ehlinger (18-29, 236 yards; 72 rushing), who had ripped them handily on the ground and in the air in the first half.

But mental mistakes in the form of two costly turnovers, a flurry of needless penalties and, most particularly, an embarrassing series of downs in the shadow of the Chaps’ end zone with less than 5 minutes to play doomed the Dragons.

Rule of thumb: If you can’t convert on a 1^st and goal at your opponents’ 1-yard line, you probably don’t deserve to win.

That was the situation facing Carroll as game momentum shifted its way in the closing minutes of the game. Trailing by six points, it had slashed its way to the Westlake 1 and had a fresh set of downs to ice the game.

But then a combination of on-field jitters and unforgivable sideline confusion created a Keystone Cops scene that left Dragon fans weak with despair.

Humphrey, who ended a frustrating night with less than 100 yards rushing, was called upon to seal the deal, but he was stopped for a 2-yard loss. Carroll then was called for a false start and subsequently had to burn a timeout to prevent another penalty.

From there, things only got worse, and when the kids on the field needed them most, the coaches failed them. First, Carroll was penalized for illegal substitution and, in the ensuing confusion, was called for delay of game. Now facing second down on the 13-yard-line, it was unable to convert, setting up a normally routine 27-yard field goal.

But nothing was normal about this series, and kicking ace Jake Oldroyd, normally an iron-clad cinch at this distance, implausibly sliced it wide left.

The agony wasn’t over yet. Westlake milked the clock on the next series, but the Dragons finally forced the Chaps to punt with less than 3 minutes left.

They clawed their way into Westlake territory, and Murphy (13-28-1 for 201 yards) hefted a last-hope long pass to Humphrey that landed the Dragons on the 9-yard line with 5 seconds on the clock and no timeouts.

But there would be no Hollywood ending for the Dragons on this night. Humphrey was unable to pull in Murphy’s throw, and Chaps head coach Todd Dodge ended up with the victory over his old team that he so coveted.

Many observers will be tempted to credit the Chaps’ victory to Dodge’s sideline leadership, contrasting it with reigning chaos on the Dragon sideline as its offense sputtered and stalled inches from victory.

There’s some truth in that assessment, I think. But the Chaps are not a perfect team. They played a very sloppy game. Their O-line is highly questionable, and their running game, as demonstrated last night, amounts to the sturdy Ehlinger and little more.

As for their defense, its success in shutting down the Dragons had more to do with Southlake missteps than skill and expertise on Westlake’s part.

Murphy didn’t have a terrible game, but he threw a momentum-draining interception in the first half and had trouble making connections with his receiving corps in the crucial 4^th period. The radio commentators thought he needed to complete his progressions and not focus so intently on his favorite target, senior Zach Farrar, who only caught two passes for 27 yards.

That’s something that will come with experience for Murphy, who was playing his first game as starter, despite getting significant experience last season behind Ryan Agnew.

Head coach Hal Wasson’s threat to split QB duties between Murphy and junior Mason Holmes was a bluff, and the senior played the entire game. The question is whether Murphy showed Wasson enough promise to keep him behind center next week when the Dragons face another fearsome opponent, the Tulsa Union Redskins, on their Oklahoma turf.

This isn’t how the Dragons wanted to begin their 2015 season, but it’s not exactly a shocker, either. Westlake is a quality program, and Dodge is a great coach. There’s no shame in falling before that combination.

It was the manner in which they lost that leaves an unpleasant taste. Truth be told, Carroll should have pulled out a win last night and very well might have with a little more coherent leadership from the sidelines. The good news is that the kids never gave up and got better as the night wore on. That’s the right direction to be traveling.

Another tough road trip faces the Dragons next week. Tulsa Union wants a little payback after its 42-41 overtime loss in the Death Star last year.

Stopping the Redskins won’t be easy, but the prospect of two straight losses is too terrible to contemplate. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Go Dragons!

The Southlake Carroll Dragons' uphill battle begins tonight

Challenges galore confront the Southlake Carroll Dragons this year as they seek to repeat as District 7-6A champions and stage yet another deep run into the playoffs.

The season begins tonight in Austin as the Dragons confront a familiar foe, the Austin Westlake Chaparrals, and their legendary coach, Todd Dodge, who made his considerable reputation some years ago in leading Carroll to four state titles in five years.

First and foremost, the Dragons must overcome the ravages of graduation, which has left them with a single returning starter on defense and a bunch of undersized O-line newbies. Questions on defense are nothing new for Carroll – which saw its playoff hopes die in the fourth round of the playoffs last year when its overmatched defense allowed Cedar Hill to rush for 570 yards in a 62-42 slugfest.  

Meanwhile, questions have swirled all summer about who will replace standout quarterback Ryan Agnew, who graduated to San Diego State and a career in D1 college ball.

Backup quarterback Montana Murphy, a senior, got considerable playing time last year in the later stages of many games during Carroll’s dominant march through 7-6A. But he missed the Spring Game and summer 7-on-7 experience because of a back injury.

Now healed, he faces stiff competition from junior Mason Holmes and so far hasn’t demonstrated to head coach Hal Wasson that he deserves the starting job. Wasson, to the consternation of many of us, has raised the spectre of instituting a quarterback platoon system if Murphy or Holmes doesn’t separate himself in sufficiently dramatic fashion from his rival.

That sounds like a recipe for chaos, and many of us hope that it’s just a ploy by Wasson to throw off game planning by the crafty Dodge, who would dearly love to hand his successor a drubbing in the season opener, a feat he very nearly succeeded in achieving last season.

Southlake, playing at home, squeaked by last year, and it may well do the same this year. Montana or Holmes (or both) will have some potent weapons to deploy against the Chaps, who they defeated back in 2006 for the state championship.

Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, now a towering 6-4, 195-pound senior, ran for 1,830 yards and 29 touchdowns last season, and he’s primed for another romp through opposing 0-lines. But Humphrey likely will be increasingly deployed as a receiver as coaches look to use his height and fluid moves to full advantage. He’ll be joined in that position by senior WR Zach Farrar, who’s poised to have a standout year after showing much promise last year.

The Dragons will face a rocky, uphill battle to repeat their success of last year – a 13-1 season that included a district championship over the Euless Trinity Trojans and ended before the might of the Cedar Hill Longhorns, who went on to win their second consecutive state title.

To begin with, Carroll’s schedule last year gave it home field advantage against Westlake, Tulsa Union and the Trojans, all of whom fell before the Dragons in close, hard-fought campaigns. This year, they’ll face those formidable opponents on the road, and home field advantage could provide the key to otherwise see-saw match-ups.

There is the very real possibility that Southlake could open home field play against the Midland Lee Rebels on Sept. 11 with a 0-2 record, having fallen to the Chaps tonight and Tulsa on Sept. 4. That would be shock to the system of the proud Dragons and a bitter pill to swallow for Carroll fans, myself included, who consider winning our birthright.

This season could test our arrogance. Most observers expect Trinity to win the district championship, despite the retirement of its phenomenal coach, Steve Lineweaver, who led the Trojans to three state championships in 16 seasons at the helm. He was quickly replaced by one of his trusted assistants.

If, indeed, this season gets off to a shaky start, it will test the resilience of our kids and the fortitude of the Southlake fanbase. That might not be an altogether bad thing. Painful, yes, but ultimately a test of fire that could build a stronger team and a stronger community.

That said, whipping the Chaps and humbling Union at home would be pretty damned satisfying, too, doncha think? Go Dragons!

The first day of forever

When I saw them, boy and girl, neither older than 8 or 9, standing nervously on the corner, I felt a little catch in my heart and I almost started bawling.

Both were attired in an explosion of freshly laundered red, blue, yellow and green. They wore new sneakers, probably purchased weeks ago and carefully preserved for just this morning. Across their backs were slug spotless bookbags, filled no doubt with spiral notebooks, No. 2 pencils and packs of Sharpies and colored markers.

Today was the first day of school, you see, an event once so monumental in my household that it was prepared for weeks – yes, even months – in advance. An event chronicled with photos of scrubbed faces – occasionally marred with a smear of jam – bright with the prospects of new beginnings: meeting new friends and learning new things and taking another step on life’s broad highway.

It’s still an occasion of some note. My daughter, who’s still living at home, is a teacher, and she spent last week in teacher-training sessions and in setting up her classroom for today. Classes also officially begin today for my son, a sophomore at the University of North Texas in Denton, although he, already savvy in manipulating the system, managed to schedule all his classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

But the magic of what this day once represented to the Gunnels clan has faded. The treasured blend of pride and anguish my wife and I felt as our children toddled off to the bus stop (only one house away, so we could monitor them safely and secretly from behind a closed window blind) is gone forever.

It was sweet – oh, so sweet – while it lasted, but time, dammit, marches on. We must now be satisfied with tender memories of when we served on the front lines of parenthood, not in the rear echelon area to which we have been consigned by the growth of our kids into young woman and young man.

So I gave a little wave to the boy and girl (Brother and sister? Best friends? Next-door neighbors?) as I passed them. They ignored me, and with good reason, too. Their gazes were fiercely focused on the adventures ahead. The road to the future lay before them, a dizzying rollercoaster ride of heartache and exhilaration, battles fought and lost, battles fought and won.

Godspeed, children, I murmured. And safe travels.