Game Day: Southlake Carroll 49, Colleyville Heritage 14

There’s a moment – a decisive moment – in every football game when things change: momentum shifts, a hesitant offense shifts into gear and begins to hum, a sluggish defense awakens and begins to exert its will.

For the Southlake Carroll Dragons, tied 14-14 with neighboring Colleyville Heritage, that moment came last night late in the 2^nd quarter.

Up to that point, the weather-postponed contest had been a desultory affair, with the impressive Panther offense striking first behind its hotshot junior quarterback, Camden Roane, and phenom sophomore receiver, Ke’Von Ahmad.

But the Dragons, coming off a deflating loss to Euless Trinity the week before, gamely responded, finally drawing even with the surging Panthers when Lil’ Jordan Humphrey capped a seven-play drive with a 9-yard surge across the goal line.

On the next drive, Dragon linebacker Will Quillen intercepted a Roane pass and handed the Dragons an opportunity to finally take the lead.

The Dragon offense, guided by junior quarterback Mason Holmes (12 of 19 for 175 yards and 2 TDs), began a determined march downfield, but not for long. It found the way muddied by a couple of holding penalties that threatened to choke off the drive. But stellar, hard-nosed running by Humphrey (22 carries for 198 yards, 2 TDs), Shelmar Coleman (13 for 141, 2 TDs) and Jack Johansen (4 for 31) brought the Dragons to the Colleyville 36, where the drive stalled.

Facing a fourth and 4, they appeared ready to chance it, then called timeout. As expected, kicker Jack Oldroyd led the fieldgoal team out after the break, and it appeared the Dragons were ready to settle for a 3-point lead as halftime loomed.

Instead, in a move that had the paltry Carroll crowd blinking in confused delight, they faked the ball to Humphrey, who sprinted 28 yards around the left end. Two plays later, Holmes connected with Coleman in the end zone, and the Dragons never looked back.

Colleyville, which has never defeated Carroll, came into last night’s game with the same 2-1 District 7-6A record as the Dragons. It had high hopes that this might be the year to beat the Dragons, considering the Panthers’ much-touted offensive firepower and the hope that Carroll still might be reeling from its narrow loss to the No. 2-ranked Trojans.

But despite a couple of showy big plays in the first half, the Dragon defense contained the explosive Roane, a speedster with a rocket arm, intercepting him twice and staying in the face of his favorite target, the soft-handed, hard-running Ahmad. Roane finished the night with a pass completion rate well under 50 percent and only 71 yards rushing.

Beginning with the tying score in the 2^nd , Carroll ran up 42 unanswered points against the gasping Panthers, who had no answer for the Dragons in the air or on the ground.

Saturday’s win guarantees Carroll a spot in the playoffs, which begin (oh, my!) in a mere three weeks. It will have to settle for that, since the Trinity Trojans, no surprise, officially captured the 7-6A title on Friday with their rout of Coppell.

The Dragons, of course, are playoff veterans, and they have been readying themselves for the post season, even as they play through the tough segment of their district schedule.

In falling to the Trojans, they demonstrated the power of their multi-faceted offense to keep them in games. While the unstoppable Trinity amassed a breath-taking 603 yards against the Dragons, the final score was 37-35.

The strength and effectiveness of its running game was on full display last night. The tall and lanky Humphrey was elusive as always, twisting around tackers and deceptively difficult to bring down. Coleman, who uses a little stutter-step to confuse defenders that’s sheer poetry, is fast and slippery. On his single rushing TD, he launched himself at the 2-yard line, sailed over struggling Colleyville defenders and crashed into the end zone.

The Panther defense managed to exert pressure on Holmes early, rushing throws and disrupting his rhythm. But he stayed calm and collected and, despite several missed catches by the Dragons’ deep and talented receiving corps, he connected when it counted.

 The Carroll defense, a young, under-sized squad at the beginning of the year, has gained in skill and confidence as the year progressed. It was overwhelmed by the mighty Trojans, true, but who hasn’t this season? In most of its other matchups, it has played splendidly in the second half, limiting opponents’ ability to score while its offense has run the field.

Meanwhile, Carroll has demonstrated a fondness for misdirection and deception. It has employed the wildcat formation with great effect, with both Humphrey and Coleman taking snaps from center last night on a number of key third-down plays.

The fake field-goal, sold beautifully by the wily Oldroyd and executed brilliantly by the amazing Humphrey, caught the Panthers completely by surprise. They saw nothing like that in any game films, I can assure you.

Carroll even launched a series of pooch kicks in the second half in the hopes of catching Colleyville off guard. None of them worked, instead handing Colleyville good field position it wasn’t able to capitalize on. But I like the confidence it showed in the defense and the buccaneering spirit it displayed.

As expected near the end of a bruising regular season, Carroll is nicked up some. Safety Obi Eboh sat out last night from an injury he received against Trinity. Humphrey limped off the field late in the game with a twisted ankle, but coaches had to take his helmet away to keep him on the sidelines, a hint that the injury isn’t too bad. Other key personnel also are nursing hurts.

Luckily, Southlake’s last two district games are against Haltom, in the Birdville Fine Arts/Athletic Complex on Friday, and L.D. Bell, on Senior Night at home on Nov. 6. The hapless Buffalos and Blue Raiders have but a single district win between them. That offers the Dragons valuable time to rest starters and heal the injured, and to prepare for the onslaught of the playoffs.

The wind coursing through Dragon Stadium last night had a bite to it. It’s football weather for sure, folks, and, glory be, the post-season is nigh. Go Dragons!