It wasn’t supposed to be that easy. The
McKinney Lions, Southlake Carroll’s first-round playoff opponent, were supposed
to be a tough nut to crack.
Everyone expected the Lions to be full of
piss and vinegar after making it into the postseason for the first time since 2009.
And what chance did the Dragons have, after struggling to contain lowly L.D.
Bell two weeks ago, in stopping McKinney’s leading rusher, the worthy Matt
Gadek?
Gadek, it must be remembered, possesses the
state’s single-game rushing record for an astounding 599-yard performance
earlier in the season against Plano East.
Stopping the hard-charging Gadek, who came
into the game with 2,207 rushing yards and 17 TDs, promised to be a tall order.
And then there was senior quarterback Damon Witmer, who had thrown for 1,360
yards and 16 TDs in the regular season. Many football wizards predicted the
Carroll-McKinney contest would be an “entertaining” affair sure to the get the
playoffs off to a rousing start.
Such talk filled many Dragon fans with a
grim foreboding and raised a couple of haunting questions. Was Carroll’s 18th
consecutive playoff appearance doomed to be a short-lived affair? Would the
struggling Dragons fail to make it out of the first round for the first time in
almost two decades?
The Dragons answered at least one of those
questions in a decisive manner last night, holding McKinney scoreless and
limiting Gadek to a mere 61 rushing yards on 21 carries. Thus ended McKinney
hopes for its first playoff victory since 1994.
For their trouble, the Dragons won the
right to face the DeSoto Eagles, who destroyed the Copperas Cove Bulldogs last
night to make it to the area round. Last year, the Eagles, helmed by the
remarkable Shawn Robinson, eliminated Southlake in the second round of the
playoffs on their way to the 6A Division II state championship.
Robinson, recruited by TCU, will be
starting today for the injured Kenny Hill, a former Dragon signal caller, in a
crucial game against Texas Tech. It’s a small world, ain’t it?
And in a new wrinkle for Dragon fans, the
DeSoto game will be played next Saturday at The Star in Frisco. It’s a new
venue, at least for Southlake denizens, but an old foe in what promises to be a
classic matchup.
The Dragons would like a little payback
for the results of their last two encounters with the high-flying Eagles. In
addition to last year’s early exit at the hands of DeSoto, the Dragons fell
before the Eagles in the fourth round in 2012.
That game was Kenny Hill’s last for the
Dragons, and it ended in heartbreaking fashion for Carroll, at the time the
defending Divison II state champion. In the closing seconds of that game, the
Eagles staged a brilliant goal line defense, barring a desperate Hill from the
end zone on three consecutive plays and ensuring their 49-45 victory.
Even now, the memory brings a flush of frustration
to many of the Dragon faithful.
To put it mildly, the teams have history,
and the next chapter will be written on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
DeSoto head coach Todd Peterman summed it
nicely for The Dallas Morning News. “Who
doesn’t want to play Southlake Carroll? Who doesn’t want to play DeSoto? Two
great teams are going to go after it.”
Indeed.
As for last night, it was billed as a
battle of running backs – the heralded Gadek versus the Dragons’ brilliant rusher,
junior T.J. McDaniel.
In the event, it wasn’t much of a battle.
Not even a skirmish. More of a dispute, really, quickly settled.
While Gadek was getting stuffed by an
inspired Dragon defense, McDaniel was leading the Dragon charge, literally. He staged
back-to-back runs of 70 and 72 yards in a rip-snorting 2nd period, rushed
for a season-record 311 yards, and scored 5 – count ’em, 5 – touchdowns.
McDaniel, who missed the last two games of
the regular season because of injury, said in a post-game radio interview that
he had something to prove last night.
“I really wanted a big game to make up for
the two games I missed,” he said. “I just did what I do. I run physical and I
run tough. I see green grass and I run.”
Senior defensive lineman Ryan Thompson,
asked to compare Gadek and McDaniel, dismissed the opinion of many before the
game that the Lions had the better runner.
“In my opinion, T.J. is the best running
back in the state,” he stated flatly. “He does amazing things on the field. I’ve
never seen anything like it.”
Carroll controlled things from the opening
kickoff, scoring on five consecutive possessions in the decisive 1st
half. It rolled up 541 total yards, compared to the Lions’ meager146.
McDaniel accounted for most of the Dragons’
399 rushing yards, of course. Backup Tavian Gould, who performed admirably during
McDaniel’s two-game absence, got 27 yards on 8 carries after the starter was pulled
in the middle of the 3rd.
Quarterback Will Bowers, who has played
hot and cold in the regular season, was red-hot in the playoff opener. He peppered
his receiving corps with sharply thrown passes, completing 13 of 15 (an 86
percent completion rate) for 142 yards and 1 TD.
Cade Bell, 3 catches for 54 yards, was the
leading receiver, followed by Hudson Shrum, 4 of 32, and Eli Fergal, 1 for
26. Defensive standout R.J. Mickens, who
also plays on offense and special teams, snagged 2 for 14, including a TD.
But the real heroes
of the night were the Dragon defenders who smothered one of the state’s premier
running backs and pitched a perfect game.
McDaniel acknowledged as much when he
described his phenomenal 72-yard scamper in the 2nd, after the
defense forced a Lion punt. On the first play from scrimmage at the Dragon 9,
McDaniel plunged through the center of the McKinney line, veered to the right,
then crossed the entire field and continued his run along the left sideline
before finally being downed at the Lion 19.
That run was all the more amazing because
the previous Dragon drive had ended with a 70-yard McDaniel dash down the left
to the end zone. Two consecutive plays, 142 yards.
All in a day’s work for McDaniel, who said
he and his offensive line work hard to get the timing right.
“When they’re clicking, I’m clicking,” he
said.
Jacob Dodderidge, one of the most
athletically talented players on the Dragon bench, accompanied McDaniel on his
72-yard race. Dodderidge plays everywhere, occasionally lining up as fullback
in the Dragon backfield.
“I was running behind Jake,” McDaniel
explained. “I don’t know how many people he blocked. He was just hammering
people.”
Thompson, the Dragon defensive lineman, admitted
that injuries to McKinney’s two leading rushers – one in last week’s game
against McKinney Boyd and the other on the first series against the Dragons last
night – forced the Lions into a one-dimensional game and allowed him and his
teammates to “focus on the running backs.”
A pleased Hal Wasson, Carroll head coach,
praised his defense’s success in shutting down Gadek.
“They came in snarly today,” he said in a
postgame radio interview. “And I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
After a lackluster performance against Bell two weeks ago and a losing effort against Hebron last week, Wasson
said he noticed a difference in his players now that the playoffs are here.
“I
saw a new attitude tonight,” he said. “I’m excited about it.”
Thompson said the Dragons will be ready
for some payback against the Eagles.
“We’re going to come out with a passion,”
he said. “We’re going to be ready to fight.”
Sounds good to me. Go Dragons!
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