Game Day: Southlake Carroll 35, Flower Mound Marcus 21

When the Southlake Carroll Dragons, leading Flower Mound Marcus by a mere 7 points, lined up to punt the ball about midway through the 4^th quarter last night, I turned to my wife and said, “They sure could have used another score. Seven points isn’t going to be enough.”

The Carroll coaches must have agreed. Instead of booting the ball and relying on a defense that had struggled to blunt Marcus’ hard-charging offense all night, the Dragons staged a crowd-pleasing fake punt. After a direct snap to running back T.J. McDaniel, he quickly tossed it to WR Cade Bell sprinting down the right sideline.

Bell rumbled 32 yards before he was stopped at the 5. Three plays later, the Dragons widened their lead and soon the Carroll Marching Band struck up “Hey, Baby,” the traditional sign that we could all begin planning our post-game celebrations.

Marcus, which falls to 2-2 in district play, did not go gentle into that good night. It fought hard on both sides of the ball, keeping pace with Dragon quarterback Will Bowers and company for most of the game and making Carroll work hard for every score.

But ultimately, the Dragon defense made the difference. Marcus’ hard-charging running back, Justin Dinka, scored twice, once on a 30-yard pass from quarterback Xavier Maxwell and again on a 25-yard run. But he was held to a total of 70 rushing yards, far below his normal rate.

Marcus was more successful in the air, with the connection between Maxwell and WR Evan Green bedeviling the Dragon secondary, at least in the first half. Locker room adjustments presumably addressed that because the Marauders managed only a single score in the second half. In the crucial 4^th quarter, they were held to only 21 total yards and 10 plays.

Marcus did not make it easy for the Dragon offense. The Marauder defense keyed on the phenomenal McDaniel all night, but the Coppell transfer couldn’t be denied, rolling up 154 yards on 26 carries and 2 TDs. The two longest plays of the game were his back-to-back runs of 35 and 40 yards to set up the Dragons’ first score.

Bowers, 10 of 19 for 138 yards, had a frustrating night, missing several key passes and watching experienced receivers drop catchable balls. He rushed 10 times for 35. On the other hand, he passed for 1 TD and ran for another.

Once again, the remarkable sophomore, R.J. Mickens, excelled on both sides of the ball, breaking up running plays, disrupting pass routes, returning punts and catching a 14-yard TD pass. It’s all in a day’s work for perhaps the Dragons’ most talented athlete.

Until Carroll's fake punt, the contest had been a seesaw affair. Both squads had traded touchdowns to arrive at the end of the 3^rd tied at 21-21.

Then Bowers, at the Marauders’ 14, dropped back and pitched to Mickens, who caught the ball over his head as he fell backwards in the end zone.

That gave Carroll the tenuous 7-point lead it enjoyed when Marcus, driving to respond, failed to convert on a 4-1 at its 45.

Taking over, the Dragons could do little better. After 3 plays, they faced a 4-8 at the Marcus 37. As they lined up to punt, I began to worry about a Marauder comeback.

Instead, Carroll rolled out the tricky play it had been practicing all season but never used.

"We work on things for a reason," head coach Hal Wasson told The Dallas Morning News after the game. "We're not going to keep anything in the back pocket."

Wasson, once the most predictable of coaches, has changed his cautious ways as he’s gotten older. Some of us, which is to say me, believe Wasson was forever altered by his team’s amazing come-back victory over Dallas Skyline in the 2011 state semifinals.

During the game-winning drive, with time expiring, a wild fox wandered onto the field and encountered Dragon quarterback Kenny Hill – now playing for TCU – as he weaved his way to the end zone. That astounding victory set up Southlake’s last state championship, and Wasson became forever “The Silver Fox.”

My theory is the incident, which holds a prominent spot in Dragon football lore, prompted Wasson to embrace the unexpected. Ok, ok, that’s probably nonsense. But one thing is certain, trick plays have become a much bigger part of the Dragon play book than in Wasson’s earlier years. And to me, that’s a good thing.

The importance of last night’s win over Marcus can’t be overstated. A loss would have left the Dragons with a 2-2 district record and dropped them to fourth in district rankings. That would be the lowest district ranking they have endured in years.

Only the top four teams in any district qualify for the playoffs, and the lower the ranking, the tougher opponent in the first round of the playoffs. Generally.

With the win, however, Southlake stands at 3-1 in district play, with Trophy Club Byron Nelson next up. The Bobcats are 2-2 in district, beating Flower Mound and Lewisville, both of whom were easily dispatched by the Dragons. Next in line is lowly L.D. Bell, which at 0-4 in district shares the 5-6A cellar with Lewisville.

Things get considerably tougher for the regular season finale on Nov. 10. Carroll travels to Lewisville for a critical, gut-busting contest against district leader Lewisville Hebron, which sports a 4-0 district record along with Euless Trinity.

A win against the Hawks could give the Dragons a shot at the 5-6A crown, despite their earlier loss to Trinity. To give wings to that hope, and increase the stakes mightily for a Hebron-Carroll showdown, the Hawks would have to defeat the Trojans next week, a definite possibility, and the Dragons would have to best Byron Nelson and Bell, which should happen.

Grounding the Hawks can be done. Hebron is a beast, but not unbeatable. It whipped Flower Mound last night 34-21, a team the Dragons defeated 45-31. Such comparisons don’t mean much, of course, and probably only prove that Flower Mound, despite a 1-3 district record, is no pushover.

For their part, the Hawks have a potent offense and an effective defense. Mess around with these guys, and they’ll hand your head to you and bid you good day.

But those worries are for another day. It’s fall in Texas, and there’s a nip in the evening air at game time. I know where I’ll be for the next few Fridays. What about you?

Go Dragons!