Game Day: Southlake Carroll 42, Flower Mound 7

What’s not to like about the Southlake Carroll Dragons’ 42-7 shellacking of overmatched Flower Mound in their district opener last night?

Well, a couple of things.

Yes, the Dragons overwhelmed the Jaguars on both sides of the ball and posted a satisfying final score to build momentum for next week’s contest with their legendary rival, the undefeated Euless Trinity Trojans.

But to feel really good about that, you have to ignore a huge swath of the first half when the Dragon offense, helmed by senior Mason Holmes, sputtered and stalled, largely because of a blizzard of procedural penalties that derailed several promising drives just the Dragons seemed to be catching offensive rhythm.

The Dragons ended the night with an astounding 14 penalties for 136 yards.

An exasperated Hal Wasson, Carroll’s head coach, was asked after the game if he knew what had caused the avalanche of penalties.

“Oh, yes,” he said. “I know exactly what caused it – lack of concentration. The very thing we’ve been working on for two weeks. Concentration is a skill, like anything else. We’ve got more work to do.”

The Dragons started things off in good form. Running back Audricke Gaines powered a promising 7-play, 65-yard opening drive that ended with a 7-yard sprint into the end zone. Then the Dragons seemed to hit a wall. They were 3-and-out on their next four possessions, gaining impressive negative yardage as the yellow flags flew.

Luckily for the Dragons, the Jaguars were having their own problems. Jag quarterback Jackson Averitt (11 of 28 for 131 yards, 1 TD) was intercepted three times in the first half, the last of which Southlake was able to capitalize on for its second TD.

When Averitt wasn’t tossing the ball to Dragon safeties, he was having trouble connecting with own receivers. The sole bright spot for Flower Mound came in the second quarter when Averitt flipped a screen pass to WR Ifeanyichukwu Uzowihe. What should have been a modest gain turned into a wild, 65-yard TD scamper by Uzowihe as he improbably broke through the oncoming D-line and careened past four or five Dragon secondaries. As the desperate Dragons let panic overcome training, he weaved his way to the left sideline and put on the gas.

With that humiliation fresh on their minds, the Dragons squared their shoulders and set to work, although they continued to get bit by the penalty bug. On their next possession, they overcame a pass interference call and a holding penalty before pushing inside the Flower Mound 10.

Holmes (12 of 16 for 165 yards and 1 rushing TD) carried it to the 4, where Gaines breezed untouched into the end zone with 13 second left in the half.

In the decisive third quarter, the Dragons helped erase its sloppy first-half performance by employed an impressive, balanced attack to post 21 unanswered points. Gaines was Carroll’s leading rusher, 141 yards on 24 carries and 2 TDs, posting the best performance of his Dragon career.

WR Clayton Keyes was Holmes’ favorite target, snagging 5 passes for 80 yards, followed by Jackson Davis, with 4 for 74 yards.

It’s noteworthy that the Dragons were without the services last night of perhaps their best player, receiver/defensive back Robert Barnes. They seemed to take his absence in stride on both sides of the ball, despite the best efforts of the radio commentators to make his loss the defining element of the game.

Keyes, in post-game interviews, refused to fuel the narrative that the Barnes-less Dragons had faced a daunting challenge in game planning for the Jaguars.

 “We know that when someone goes down, someone else has to step up,” Keyes said. “So we did.”

The formidable Barnes, an Oklahoma commit, is expected to be back soon.

Injuries have plagued the Dragons this year. Wasson said that a total of eight players identified as starters in preseason have been sidelined by injuries.

“That’s the reason we think we can be something special when some of these players come back,” he said.

Speaking of injuries, a scary moment occurred on the Dragons’ first scoring drive in the third quarter when Holmes was slow to get up after a quarterback draw through the middle of the Flower Mound line.

He was only out for a single play, but prospects of continuing the season without Holmes under center would be a lot more challenging that finding shoes to fill for Robert Barnes, and that’s no slam on Barnes.

Holmes came out for good near the end of the third, which set up a long, scoreless fourth quarter that seemed to last forever.

As I mentioned, getting off to the good start in District 5-6A is important for the Dragons since their next opponent without doubt will be their toughest. Just as it was last year, next week’s contest very well could decide the district championship.

The Euless Trinity Trojans won that matchup, and no doubt will be favored to do the same this year. It’ll be a tough week of preparation for Carroll and one of sweet anticipation for its fans.

Although Carroll and Trinity are historic rivals, there’s not much animosity between the two programs. In most respects, mutual admiration reigns. Let’s hope that continues and that history holds true. I expect a memorable game at Dragon Stadium on Friday – full of hard knocks, good sportsmanship and the special magic that is Texas high school football.

Go Dragons!