Game Day: Southlake Carroll 42, Abilene 17

The brutal truth is the proud Abilene Eagles never had a chance of whipping the Southlake Carroll Dragons last night as the Dragons ended their challenging pre-district march before a hostile West Texas crowd at Abilene’s venerable Shotwell Stadium.

A potent combination of Dragon offensive firepower and a fumbled Eagle kickoff reception gave Southlake a 14-0 lead before the Eagles could run a single offensive play. Abilene, which is expected to challenge strongly for the District 3-6A title, could never overcome that poor beginning.

True, its feisty offense kept it within striking distance in an entertaining first half that ended with the Dragons leading 28-17. But the Southlake defense shut it out in the second half, while the Mason Holmes-led offense tacked on a couple of cushion TDs to seal the deal.

That’s the pattern set by the Dragons this season, with their young, under-sized defense getting shoved around in the beginning, but making the necessary halftime adjustments to dramatically reduce their opponents’ trips to the end zone, thus clearing the way for its offense to control events.

Southlake scored briskly on the opening drive of the game, with Holmes connecting with Zach Farrar for a 25-yard TD. The senior wide receiver played an economical game last night, making four catches for 92 yards. But three of those catches resulted in touchdowns.

Holmes, playing in his third varsity game, was his usual superb self, shredding the Abilene secondary and ending the night with 256 passing yards, four TDs and one interception.

Double-threat running back/wide receiver Lil’ Jordan Humphrey owned the Shotwell field. For the second straight game, he rolled up more than 100 yards rushing AND 100 yards receiving, a feat never before accomplished in Dragon football history.

The 6-foot-5 Humphrey ran for 113 yards and had 10 receptions for 166 yards and two TDs. On the Dragons’ last scoring drive – a 20-play marathon in which Southlake had to overcome three 15-yard penalties, including one that denied Farrar his fourth TD – Humphrey accounted for 95 yards. Mere mortals would be applauded for such a performance over an entire game.

So ends the Dragons’ tough pre-district schedule. But for a deflected pass in the end zone in last seconds of the season opener against Austin Westlake, Southlake could be entering District 7-6A play undefeated.

But at 3-1, it’s tested and ready for the 7-6A run, having survived a road scare against Tulsa Union, one of Oklahoma’s best squads, and running away with an overmatched Midland Lee team at home. Added to the momentum gained last night, the Dragon pre-district accomplishments position them nicely for the road ahead.

But the rest of the way won’t be easy. Next up are the hated Coppell Cowboys, who will be playing at home at Buddy Echols Field, where their fans can be expected to heap venom and vitriol on their Southlake neighbors.

As I’ve noted before, these communities don’t like each other, animosity that dates back decades to when the two high schools were 3A rivals and the Dragons dominated the series. In recent years, Coppell has proven it can bloody Southlake’s nose, and its fans delight at the prospect of knocking the Dragons out of the 7-6A race.

So the Cowboys will be tough as old saddle leather, make no mistake. And so will Euless Trinity, which the Dragons face at Pennington Field on Oct. 16. Most prognosticators are picking the Trojans to win the 7-6A title, and the Carroll-Trinity contest could be the decisive one.

 Some very good football lies ahead as the fall weather cools the sweat of Friday night lights. It’s time for our players to put on their big-boy pants and take care of business. Go Dragons!

Game Day: Southlake Carroll 52, Midland Lee 14

There are some who would say that when you have a 45-7 lead midway in the fourth quarter – with your opponent on the ropes and gasping for breath – it’s bad form to go for a touchdown on fourth down inside the five-yard line.

But the Southlake Carroll Dragons did just that last night in their pre-district contest against the woeful Midland Lee Rebels. And I think it was the right thing to do.

Last night’s game, an example of total domination by the Dragons, ended any lingering doubt about who Carroll’s starting quarterback is and provided the latest showcase for the heavily recruited talents of one Lil’ Jordan Humphrey.

But before we get into the particulars, let’s revisit the decision facing the Dragons in the fourth quarter, fourth down on the 2-yard line, 6 minutes on the clock. By that time, Carroll’s offensive starters were long gone, and backups were in the game, including seniors Montana Murphy at quarterback and Alex Simpson at running back.

Montana had marched the Dragons smartly down field, showing with his feet and his arm why he competed so strongly with junior QB Mason Holmes for the starting job. Most of us, I think, expected head coach Hal Wasson, a conservative guy with conventional instincts, to call in his kicker, junior Kole Rampage (ably standing in for senior Jake Oldroyd), for the chip-shot field goal.

Instead, Murphy stayed behind center and handed off to Simpson, who bullied the ball over the goal line, extending Carroll’s lead over the hapless Rebels to 52-7 after Rampage’s PAT.

An example of bad sportsmanship – running up the score on a prostrate foe long after the final result had been determined?

Nope, says I, for three reasons, one serious and two more subjective and personal.

First and foremost, Southlake had pulled most of its starters by the fourth quarter, giving its backups the opportunity they yearn for most – to play the game they love before their parents and friends.

Hamstringing these youngsters – who largely work in the shadows of their more accomplished teammates, but whose contributions to the program’s success are essential – with conservative play-calling and deliberate attempts to keep the score down seem churlish and unfair.

On a more practical note, it also hampers their development, should the time come when they are called upon to step into the glare of Friday night lights when a starter goes down.

So when Murphy and his teammates entered the game, they had every right, despite the lopsided score, to expect they would be allowed to play to the full extent of their talent and abilities. Thankfully, they were.

The fact that Midland Lee’s winded starters couldn’t stop them from extending the Dragon lead is something for the Rebels to worry about, not the Southlake sideline.

Secondly, and this is where we leave the realm of Xs and Os, any school named after the commanding general of Confederate forces during the Civil War, whose team is named the Rebels and whose fight song is, so help me God, “Dixie,” well, it gets what it deserves.

It’s 2015, folks, even in the dusty wilds of West Texas, time to enter the 21^st century and way past time to abandon such reminders of the painful legacy of slavery and its enduring scar on our nation’s psyche.

And lastly, as I have relayed here before, I have history with Midland Lee and none of it is good. Back in the day, Lee was a stalwart member of the West Texas district known then as the Little Southwest Conference. It competed yearly for district with such schools as Abilene High, Abilene Cooper, San Angelo Central and Odessa Permian, which was at least a decade away from its heyday at the apex of Texas high school football.

My school, lowly Big Spring High, was the weak sister of the district, and the Steers were regularly kicked around by the Big Boys on the Block. And none of them did so with more distain, arrogance and gusto than the despised Rebels.

So when Southlake Carroll gives Lee a serious ass-whupping, which it does with some regularity these days, it does my aging heart good. I consider it long-overdue payback.

All of which made last night’s game all the more enjoyable. I stayed in my seat until the closing second, me and the players’ moms and dads relishing every moment of the crushing win.

Holmes, in only his second varsity game, performed masterfully, throwing for five touchdowns and completing 20 of 30 passes for 285 yards.

He set the tone for the game during the Dragons’ first two possessions, going 6-for-6 and engineering clockwork drives that both ended in touchdowns, one a 10-yard toss to Humphrey and the second a 16-yard throw to senior Zach Farrah.

In light of his performance in the last two games – including his role in the Dragons’ dramatic come-from-behind victory against Tulsa Union last week – Wasson told the Star Telegram after the game, “Mason is our guy.”

The other undisputed star of the game was Humphrey, who caught eight passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns and led in rushing with 156 yards and another TD. The out-matched Rebels had no answer for Humphrey, whether he was slipping through defenders for major yardage or bedeviling their secondary with key receptions.

Carroll’s undersized D-line, call them the Not-So-Big-Guys, had trouble stopping the Rebels running game. Lee RB Ashton Akbar rolled to 137 yards and one TD, and quarterback Sema’J Davis tacked on another 67.

But it stopped the Rebels when it counted, sacking Davis in key situations and keeping Akbar out of the end zone, mostly. The exception came in the first quarter, when Akbar skittered through the front line, zipped past befuddled Dragon linebackers and sprinted 78 yards for the Rebels’ only touchdown against Carroll starters. Their second TD came during trash time late in the fourth quarter.

The Dragons are idle next week. Then it’s a road trip west to face the Abilene Eagles in fabled Shotwell Stadium. The Eagles are another blast from my past, a storied West Texas program that is disciplined and well coached. They knocked the Dragons out of the playoffs in 2007, ending Carroll’s famed Run of three straight state championships.

They always play rough and tough, particularly at home, but the tested Dragons are well positioned to give them a run for their money. Needless to say, a win in Abilene would provide welcome momentum as Carroll prepares for District 7-6A play, facing Coppell on Oct. 2 and Euless Trinity on Oct. 16. Go Dragons!

Game Day: Southlake Carroll 34, Tulsa Union 30

Southlake Carroll players – in explaining their second-half turnaround that fueled a thrilling come-from-behind victory last night over the Tulsa Union Redskins – said it was a simple matter of mental toughness.

As a group, they said they simply decided to assert themselves, ignore the hostile environment of Union’s Tuttle Stadium and take control of a game at which they had been little more than spectators for the first half.

Perhaps it was just that simple. One of the things that makes high school football so fascinating is the role that emotion, dedication and mental focus play in the final outcome of games. Yes, athleticism, preparation and coaching prowess all must be considered. But raw, jagged emotion has been the determining factor of many a contest under Friday night lights.

Regardless of the reasons, the Dragons put together a magical second-half performance that had Carroll fans gasping in astonishment and delight.

Trailing 23-7 at the half, Southlake outscored Union 27-7 in the second half. Junior quarterback Mason Holmes, playing in his first varsity game, engineered four consecutive scoring drives that ultimately overwhelmed Union’s sturdy defense. Meanwhile, the Dragons’ under-sized defense smothered the heroics of Redskin quarterback Brandon Burch (11-28, 139 yards and 1 TD) and RB Tyler Adkins (25 rushes for 181 yards, 2 TDs; 3 receptions for 46 yards, 1 TD).

Carroll head coach Hal Wasson followed through on threats to divide quarterbacking chores between senior Montana Murphy, who started last week, and Holmes, who was a standout last night against the Redskins.

Although a little uncertain in the first half, the junior (24-39, 313 yards and 2 TDs) came into his own beginning in the third period, when he led an 11-play, 67-yard drive that ended in a 20-yard pass to senior Shemar Coleman in the end zone and brought Southlake within 10 of the Redskins.

Coleman, who failed to make the varsity last year, played with a chip on his shoulder all night, making three of the second-half TDs that broke Union’s back and almost eclipsing the accomplishments of the Dragons’ leading offensive weapon, RB Lil’ Jordan Humphrey.

Humphrey, who at 6-4 is finding increasing employment as a receiver, rushed for 89 yards and caught five passes for another 89, making the Dragons final score that iced the game.

Senior Zach Farrar, who had a relatively quiet night last week in the Dragons’ losing effort to Austin Westlake, led the receiving corps against Union, pulling in five Holmes passes for 107 yards and fulfilling the promise of his junior year.

It was a most disappointing night for Tulsa Union, an eight-time Oklahoma state champion and one of that state’s premier programs. During the past four years, it has lost four pre-district games to Texas teams, including an overtime heart-breaker to the Dragons last year in Cowboys Stadium. Interestingly, last night was the first time Carroll has traveled out of state to play an opponent, even though it has faced a number of non-Texas teams on its own turf.

Last night’s game followed a familiar pattern. As they did against Westlake in week one, the Dragons performed sluggishly against Union in the first half, but dominated the second, shutting down the Redskin offense and marching decisively up and down the field on offense.

A victory against a tough opponent on the road was important for the Dragons. Otherwise, they would have opened the season 0-2 for the first time in recent memory. They face Midland Lee at home next week, which should offer them something of a breather before they travel to Abilene’s Shotwell Stadium the week after that to face the always-tough Eagles.

And then it’s a deep dive into District 7-6A play, where they will face the surging Euless Trinity Trojans and the relentless Coppell Cowboys on the road. Let’s hope the Dragons’ never-say-die stand against the Redskins last night will prove to be a bracing experience for the long, rugged road ahead. Go Dragons!