Game Day: Tulsa Union 21, Southlake Carroll 10

By the middle of the third quarter last night, when Tulsa Union extended its lead over Southlake Carroll to 14-3, it became clear that the sputtering Dragon offense wasn’t going to shake off first-game jitters and give the Redskins a run for their money.

Senior quarterback Mason Holmes had scrambled all night, as Union’s D-line behemoths batted aside his protectors and zeroed in on his breastbone. His inexperienced receiving corps had failed to elude Redskin defensive backs. And even when the harried Holmes found a target, his passes sailed over the receiver’s head.

And the Dragons’ ground game, in the post-Lil’ Jordan Humphrey era? Fuhgeddaboudit.

It’s cold comfort that the Dragons fell in their season opener to the top-rated football program in Oklahoma. After all, this is Texas, and the natural order of things decrees that premier Texas programs, of which Southlake is one, always triumph over premier programs from any other state.

Trouble is, someone failed to tell Tulsa Union.

 And the Redskins arrived at Dragon Stadium last night hungry for payback. In the teams’ last two encounters, the Dragons engineered last-gasp wins in contests Union arguably should have won.

The Redskins had every reason to feel good about their chances of extracting revenge. Rated by most either No. 1 or No. 2 in Oklahoma, they brought a high-powered offense, led by two dual-threat quarterbacks and a sure-handed receiving corps, and a defensive wall of beef.

But the Dragons had little reason to quake in their cleats. After all, they were playing at home, in a venue where they had only lost three games since the facility opened in 2001. And they had a talented and experienced quarterback in Holmes, who completed 68 percent of his passes last year and scored 38 touchdowns. True, they had no returning receivers, but this is Southlake, where quarterbacks and receivers are as plentiful as Cadillac Esplanades and Rolex watches. Even the defensive unit, perennially undersized, had mass and talent in equal measures this season.

 So it was a pleasant, but not completely unexpected, surprise when the Redskins went 3-and-out on their first possession and turned the ball over to Holmes and company. We all settled in for the offensive display we already had played out in our heads.

The Dragons called a quarterback draw, and we held our breaths as Holmes – not known for his running prowess – hit the line. The ball popped out, and the Redskins covered it. Rut-roh.

What followed was a defensive clash in which both teams struggled to ignite any sort of offensive spark.

The Dragons’ single sustained drive of the first half stalled inside the Union 5-yard line. Faced with a 4^th-and-goal, Southlake attempted the unthinkable – at least in Dragon country – a fake field goal. Holder Hudson Taylor pitched the ball to Ryan Thompson, who only managed to claw to the 1. Southlake has a new offensive coordinator this year, can’t-cha tell?

A field goal by senior kicker Kole Rampage marked the Dragons’ only score of the half. But it was a dandy – a 55-yarder that most agreed is a school record.

Southlake defenders blunted Union’s highly regarded offense, led by quarterbacks Peyton Morrison and Grady Davenport, at least until the draining seconds of the half.

That’s when Davenport, the hero of the night, put together a 13-play drive that ended with a 7-yard pass to C.J. Moore with 13 seconds left.

Davenport passed for 139 yards and two TDs, rushing for 98 more. Most of those came on a 77-yard sprint to the end zone in the third quarter that effectively spelled the doom of the Dragons by extending the Redskin lead to 14-3.

Southlake edged to within four points in the fourth quarter, on a muddled drive aided by three pass interference calls against Union, two inside the 10. The Redskins did all they could to help the faltering Dragons, committing two more penalties inside the 5, effectively giving Carroll three sets of downs to reach the end zone.

Mercifully, the Dragons finally scored on a 1-yard run from Audricke Gaines, a transfer running back from Mansfield Timberview who was nursing a sore knee.

With most of the fourth quarter before us, many nursed hopes that Southlake might stage yet another last-minute victory from a discombobulated Union squad.

Davenport and his receivers would have none of it, slamming the door on such foolishness with a 72-yard scoring drive.

In the end, Southlake fans pinned too many hopes on the talented Holmes, who threw 13 of 27 passes for 176 yards, a lackluster performance for him. He and his receivers, who failed to get open with any regularity last night, have much work to do. As does the O-line, which must shelter Holmes long enough for his inexperienced receivers to learn their trade.

Additionally, the Dragons need a ground game. Badly. Clearly, Holmes can’t be depended on for that. In his few forays into the maelstrom, he looked tentative. Best to let him stick to what he does best. Meanwhile, is Gaines, who comes highly recommended, the answer? Not last night. But with a little time to heal,  perhaps.

I heard much grousing about the quality of the Dragon defense last night. Not enough pressure on Davenport and Morrison. Too many open receivers. Yes and yes. But given a little offensive Dragon firepower, which might have spelled a different outcome, such criticism would seem churlish today.

Job No. 1 for the Dragons – fix the offense. So says me.

And the Dragons must fix it fast. They host Arlington Martin next week, the same team that destroyed Dallas Skyline 55-7 last night. You read that right – 55-7. Dear God.

Two consecutive defeats in Dragon Stadium? Unthinkable.

Go Dragons!

A new season. A new beginning.

High school football season begins anew this evening, and it’s a time of hope and celebration, a time of renewal and pursuit of excellence.

With quickening pulse, I’ll be at Dragon Stadium tonight to watch the Southlake Carroll Dragons take on the potent Tulsa Union Redskins and launch their annual pursuit of a ninth state title.

Some might think it strange – perhaps even a little weird – that a man entering the middle of his sixth decade on the planet could get so excited about a high school football game.

What’s the attraction, you say, particularly in this era of heightened concern over concussions and safety of players?

As I’ve pointed out before, I love the pageantry and color of Friday Night Lights in Texas. The booming discipline of the marching bands. The glittering precision of the drill teams. The cheerleaders and inflated helmets and running of the flags. Student councils exchanging gifts before the game. Proud parents cheering their kids from the stands. Hell, I even like the almost-food served in the volunteer-operated concession stands. I love it all.

But it’s something more, something I can’t really describe without sounding corny and trite. In an age marred by cynicism and suspicion, malfeasance and distrust, insincerity and distain for almost everything, there is a purity in high school athletics, over which football still reigns supreme.

Money hasn’t spoiled it yet. And although the glory of Friday night reflects brightly in the halls of high school on Monday morning, most of these kids know that fame is fleeting. The players know that only a tiny percentage of them will play at the next level. They do what they do because they love it. They enjoy the thrill of achievement, the gleam in their parents’ eyes and, yes, the pride of representing their school.

I warned you it would sound a little corny.

Of course, I’m leaving something out. Something deeply personal.

I love Dragon football because it saved my life – or at least my sanity.

Five years ago, Southlake’s unlikely, nail-biting championship march provided a welcome distraction during one of the lowest periods of my life. When I was laid off by The Dallas Morning News after 26 years, I embraced the Dragons, which I had followed faithfully since my daughter entered high school, like a drowning man seizes a floating log.

I confronted an uncertain future with an abundance of self-doubt, even fear. Would I ever work again? Did I have the energy, talent and imagination to start another career at age 60? Certainly, I had too many responsibilities to just lay down and molder. There was a mortgage to pay, one kid in college and another in high school. But who in hell would hire a man who had spent 37 years in newspapers?

Thank God for the Dragons. For at least a few hours each week, I could put those retched concerns out of my mind and concentrate on football and Southlake’s chase of a state championship. The Dragons were a diverting bunch that year, that’s for sure.

The 2011 team, like the current version, was led by a quarterback with proven skills. Sophomore Kenny Hill, now TCU quarterback, had taken over in the third game of the 2010 season, leading a demoralized Dragon team to the fourth round of the playoffs. Hill won his spot after the Daxx Garman affair ended when the UIL disqualified Southlake’s highly regarded move-in quarterback six hours before the first game of the season.

In 2011, the Dragons struggled during the regular season, narrowly avoiding being upset by a lowly Richardson Berkner squad and struggling with Keller’s mediocre teams. While no one doubted they’d make the playoffs – despite losses to Coppell and Denton Guyer – no one believed they’d survive for long.

But with Hill at the helm and a steadily improving defense, they plowed through the post-season, surviving a first-round squeaker with Plano East, manhandling Cedar Hill, edging past Arlington Bowie, drowning Arlington Martin in a game-long downpour before confronting Dallas Skyline in the semi-finals.

Dominated by the Raiders for the entire game, they trailed by two TDs with less than 3 minutes to play. That’s when Hill took charge, driving the Dragons downfield for a quick TD. After a controversial onside kick – which drew the eventual disapproval of Dallas’ mayor pro tem – Hill again marched the Dragons to the go-ahead TD, but not before encountering a wild gray fox at mid-field. Stuffed toy foxes were in abundance the following week at the finals game in Jerry’s World against Fort Bend Hightower, another close-run victory for Southlake that captured its eighth championship trophy.

By the title game, which always takes place on the weekend before Christmas, I had a good line on a job, things were looking up in the Gunnels household and we managed to enjoy the holidays. With plenty of time on my hands, I had developed a habit of commenting on the games on Facebook. Eventually, that turned into my blog, Dragon Tales & Other Musings, of which this missive is a part.

That brings us to today, Week 1 of the 2016 high school football season. My Dragons are hosting a very good Tulsa Union team tonight. The two programs have fought two classic battles, last year in Tulsa and the year before in Cowboys Stadium. The Dragons won both, by razor-thin margins, so the Redskins are desperate for payback tonight.

Getting it might not be so easy. The Dragons are firming up to be quite formidable.  

Senior quarterback Mason Holmes threw for 2,884 yards and 38 touchdowns last year, but he’ll be breaking in a new receiving corps this season. According to Star-Telegram writer Kevin Lunnquist, they include Hudson Taylor, a JV quarterback last year; Jackson Davis, who played cornerback; Clayton Keyes, a backup; and Cade Bell and Royce Weigel, who both saw only limited time.

Holmes, who isn’t the lethal dual-threat QB that Kenny Hill was, may be charged with running the ball more this season. Dragon coaches are hopeful, however, that Audricke Gaines, a transfer from Mansfield Timberview, can step into the role vacated by graduating Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, now at UT. Gaines’ challenge will be in making the impact on the field that the phenomenal Humphrey did.

Unlike last year, when defense bedeviled Southlake, the Dragon Big Guys are jelling into a solid unit, with senior safety Robert Barnes, an OU commit, emerging as a leader, aided by defensive back Jacob Murphy and defensive end Luke Jeter. Another defensive stalwart, Ryan Miller, playing both sides of the ball, will be joined by left tackle Carson Green.

Can the Dragons repeat the magic of five years ago? That would be nice, but the odds are long. Regardless, hope springs eternal. That’s the intoxicating allure of high school football. I’m climbing aboard for another exciting ride, and I’ll be describing it here each week.

These days, I don’t depend on the Dragons to rescue me from career despair. I’ve got a good job, working for great people engaged in important work. I’m a lucky guy.

Come 7 p.m. tonight, I’ll settle into my reserved green-back seat, Feedstore BBQ sandwich in hand, and bask in the sheer joy of it all. When the whistle blows, a little shiver of anticipation will shoot up my spine and I’ll tense for kickoff.

Go Dragons!