Area Round: DeSoto 48, Southlake Carroll 30

For a half, it looked like last night’s meeting of Southlake Carroll and DeSoto might be a replay of their thrilling 2012 playoff battle, a hard-fought, well-played game in which the Eagles successfully defended their tight 49-45 lead with a classic goal-line defense as the clock wound down.

Throughout the first half last night, the two teams jockeyed for advantage, the lead changing with each possession. But there were signs of the stormy seas ahead for Carroll for those who chose to see them.

On its first possession, Carroll moved effectively to the DeSoto 4, thanks to a 66-yard toss by senior quarterback Mason Holmes to junior receiver Jacob Doddridge. But the stingy Eagle defense broke up two pass plays and kept star running back Audie Gaines corralled, forcing Carroll to settle for a 21-yard Kole Ramage field goal to seize the first lead of the game.

Later, trailing 7-3, Holmes found senior receiver Clayton Keyes on a 23-yard pass that brought the Dragons to the Eagle 21. Two plays later, Holmes connected with senior receiver Jackson Davis in the end zone, but the TD was negated by a procedural call. Once again, the Dragons had to settle for a Ramage field goal, this time a 38-yarder into a stiff north wind. Later, he boomed a 47-yarder.

That series was unsettling on several fronts. First, silly mistakes that cost you TDs can be fatal against a determined and talented team like DeSoto, as can trading field goals for TDs. Finally, the pass to Keyes, while a beautiful play, was costly. Keyes, one of the few remaining playmakers in the Dragon receiving corps, injured his shoulder and never came back.

Injuries are part of the game, of course. But this seemed like a particularly bad harbinger for what was to come. The Dragons have been plagued by injuries all season, particularly among their receivers. Keyes was only the latest on a casualty list that included junior Cade Bell and the Dragons’ true superstar, senior Robert Barnes.

Premonitions aside, there was plenty to like in that first half.

When Holmes connected with senior receiver Jackson Davis (2-84, 2 TDs) on a 60-yard touchdown catch and run with about 2 minutes left, it looked like the Dragons would take a 23-21 lead into halftime.

That’s when DeSoto’s peerless senior quarterback, the remarkable Shawn Robinson, staged a textbook 75-yard touchdown march that shifted momentum permanently to the Eagles and sank the spirits of shivering Dragon fans, who sensed in their hearts that DeSoto was finally asserting itself once and for all.

That smoothly operating drive threatened to sputter at the Dragon 34 when Carroll’s never-say-die defense sacked Robinson with 11 second left.  Even then, more than a few of us were thinking: Here It Comes.

On the next play, Robinson calmly dropped back and tossed the ball to his favorite target, receiver KD Nixon (11 receptions for 163 yards), who loped into the end zone. Robinson then added insult to injury by slipping through the Carroll D-line for a 2-point conversion. The Eagles took a 29-23 lead into the locker room and never looked back.

The tale of the tape in the decisive third quarter was brutal. DeSoto outgained Carroll 174-16, scoring on three of its first four possessions and holding the Dragons scoreless until the final seconds of the fourth quarter, long, long after the end had been determined.

It was a thorough beatdown for a proud team like Carroll. But in keeping with the traditions of the program, the kids never stopped fighting.

Holmes (6-20-1 INT, 158), denied most of his best receivers, kept scrambling, pursued by DeSoto’s swarming defense, trying to find someone to throw to. Audie Gaines (22 carries for 104 yards, 1 TD) kept trying, mostly in vain, to pierce the Eagle D-line, settling instead for more modest gains, if any.

Dragon defenders didn’t quit either, but they had no answer for Robinson, who dismantled Carroll’s D for the second year in a row. Last year, he guided Denton Guyer to a similar dominating performance against the Dragons in the second round. He followed his parents, who are both coaches, to DeSoto, where he encountered the welcoming embrace of coaches and players alike.

DeSoto has struggled to escape the second round of the playoffs for the past two years, falling in 2014 and 2015 to the Allen Eagles. Robinson and realignment allowed it to avoid Allen AND an early exit this year. It is well poised to make a deep plunge.

In DeSoto green and gold, Robinson was magnificent, leading the Eagles to 621 total yards. Of that, he accounted for an astounding 454, completing 18 of 30 throws for 245 yards and a touchdown, and rushing for 209 more and three scores. You can’t get much better than that.

As I’ve stated before, the goal of the Dragon football program is to play until Thanksgiving. In other words, to make it into at least the fourth round of the playoffs each year. That’s a tall order in Texas, where there are no easy routes to a state championship. But goals should be aspirational and difficult, or else what’s the point.

Alas, Dragon players won’t be distracted from their Thanksgiving dinners by a Turkey Day practice – another unshakeable Dragon tradition when Carroll makes a deep playoff run. Given the choice, I’m pretty sure the Dragons, to a man, would prefer the chilly practice field to the delights of a family holiday meal.

Disappointment reigns today in the toney confines of the Southlake Bubble, but it should be tempered with an appreciation of what this team has accomplished. It started the season with a desultory performance against Oklahoma powerhouse Tulsa Union, a performance shaped, it is fair to say, by the somber fact that eight starters were sidelined with injuries.

Carroll coaches overcame that, however, by moving their best player, the inestimable Barnes, from the defensive secondary, where he could play any position with skill and grace, to wide receiver. That was just the spark needed to energize the offense, and Carroll began a 10-game winning streak and a triumphant march through District 5-6A.

Injuries and more injuries continued to define the season, however, culminating in Barnes breaking his right leg last month in the Bryon Nelson game. Still, the Dragons surmounted the disruptions and continued to win.

With much of their receiving corps on crutches or in arm slings, coaches were forced to shift the focus of their offense from Carroll’s heralded vertical attack to a ground game centered around three talented runners.

The lead dog, as it were, clearly was Gaines, a Mansfield Timberview transfer who found his place and made his name in playing for Southlake.

Gaines ends the season with 1,523 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns. He rushed for 100 or more yards in nine games and scored a touchdown in every game. I’m not certain yet where he goes next year, but it’s a safe bet he’ll find a college playing home somewhere.

Filling out the Dragon running trio were seniors Tre Sledge, who ended up with 501 yards and four TDs, and Jack Johansson, who gained 436 and eight TDs.

Barnes, who has spent the last four games on the Dragon sideline in crutches, had successful surgery on his broken leg and will next be seen playing in Norman with the Sooners.

As for the future, sophomore quarterback Will Bowers, Holmes’ heir apparent, got valuable playing time in each of the last two playoff games. Last night, he guided a 90-yard TD drive in the closing minutes of the game, culminated by a 23-yard pass to Davis.

Bell, the junior receiver, will be back to form the core of the receiving unit, as will junior Hudson Shrum.

Two stalwarts on the Dragons' worthy O-line, juniors Matthew Leehan and Jackson Kimble, will be back. And on defense, freshman corner R.J. Mickens, who was called upon to step into Barnes’ very big shoes when he went down, played far above expectations, snagging multiple interceptions and shutting off passing routes like no other 15-year-old you’re likely to see. It’ll be fun to see how he develops in the next three years.

Meanwhile, the DeSoto Eagles travel to Wichita Falls next week to meet birds of another feather, the Abilene Eagles, in the Regional Round. Abilene dismantled El Paso Americas 55-0 last night, but it will face an opponent playing an entirely different game when it lines up against DeSoto.

West Texas teams once boasted about the hard-nosed brand of football they played, but the high school game has largely passed them by. They don’t fare well once they leave the dusty stadiums of the West. Next week, my money’s riding on Shawn Robinson and his shattering offensive line.

The state championships are back in Jerry’s World the weekend before Christmas. Perhaps I’ll see you there. Until next year, Go Dragons!