Cross-town rivals: Southlake Carroll 42, Colleyville Heritage 17

A soggy night

It took just 23 seconds to dispel any concerns we may have had about how a two-hour rain delay might affect the Southlake Carroll Dragons’ preparation for their matchup last night with Colleyville Heritage.

As remnants of the storm that disrupted games across the Metroplex drifted northeastward, the Dragons came roaring out of the chute, putting 7 points on the board in two plays, and never looked back. The stunned Panthers could only stand and stare.

And although we didn’t know it yet, Dragon history was about to be made. Here’s the setup.

After an opening kickoff return to the Heritage 43, a personal foul by the Panthers brought Carroll to the 28. From there, quarterback Will Bowers carried Carroll to the 1 with a toss to receiver John Manero, and star rusher T.J. McDaniel then swept into the end zone.

  Making history

Enter senior kicker Madison Martin, the first female ever to play varsity football for Southlake. A standout goalkeeper for the Lady Dragons soccer team, Martin is no stranger to football. She was a Dragon kicker in middle school.

But now she appeared under Friday night lights and lined up for the PAT, booting it squarely through the uprights, the first of five extra points she would make for the night.

After the game, Martin still was overflowing with excitement at being the first female to play varsity for the Dragons.

“It meant the world to me,” she told radio announcer Chuck Kelly. “I’m so excited. It’s unreal. I’m so blessed. To be honest, I’m still in shock.”

How did she feel after making her first kick?

“Oh, my gosh,” she said, “I saw it go through the uprights, and I said, ‘I did that. I’m out here. It’s real.’”

She admitted she worried about how the rest of the team would react to a woman in their midst. But the players and the coaches reacted just fine.

“I’m their teammate,” she said simply. “Family.”

Martin couldn’t have picked a better game to make her debut. After a sloppy season opener against South Grand Prairie, the Dragons put it all together for their 11^th meeting with Heritage.

The Panthers have never beaten the Dragons, but they had high hopes last night, despite the burden of history. With 4-star receiver Kam Brown and a trio of promising quarterbacks, Heritage hoped to lift the Dragon curse.

It never came close.

After its initial scoring drive, the Dragons piled up three more unanswered TDs, ending the half with a commanding – and insurmountable – 28-0 lead.

Looking at the numbers

Bowers, after his disappointing performance last week, showed marked improvement. He completed 65 percent of his passes for 169 yards on 26 attempts and 1 TD. Not only that, he peppered his relatively inexperienced receiving corps with on-target throws, completing passes to seven separate receivers. But for several balls that passed inexplicably through the hands of receivers, his stats would have been more impressive.

The most prolific receivers were Manero with 7 catches for 75, followed by Glenn Mitchell (5 for 45) and Wills Meyer (2 for 39, 1 TD).

Bowers also was good on the ground, piling up 90 rushing yards on 9 attempts and 1 TD. His 11.7-yard average exceeded even the phenomenal McDaniel.

As for McDaniel, who was bottled up by a stubborn South Grand Prairie defense last week, he was more effective against the Panthers D-line. His 63 rushing yards on 13 tries, while modest by his own high standards, came at critical times and his 2 TDs established Dragon dominance.

Meanwhile, the opportunistic defense took no prisoners. The Dragon secondary stymied the notable Brown throughout the decisive first half. Most of his 127 receiving yards, on 9 attempts, came in the second half, when Carroll had matters well in hand. He never reached the end zone.

Trey Flint carried most of the load at quarterback for the Panthers, completing a bit over half of his passes for 247 yards and no TDs. His counterparts A.J. Smith and Colin Losack weren’t factors.

Turnovers plagued the Panthers all night. They lost two fumbles and Flint threw one interception that disrupted promising drives.

One fumble near the end of the 3^rd period resulted in Carroll’s final score. Heritage had smartly marched to the Dragon 25. Flint coughed up the ball as he was hit behind the line.

Junior defensive end Brandon Howell snatched it up and rumbled 79 yards for the touchdown.

Howell described the play in a post-game radio interview.

“As I was running toward the goal, I saw myself in the jumbotron,” he said, referring to the screen on the Dragon Stadium scoreboard. “I saw someone coming up behind me and then (linebacker Graham) Faloona cut him off. Faloona just cut him off, and I sealed the deal.”

Not everything was peaches and cream. Penalties continue to be a problem. The Dragons were flagged 9 times last night for 90 yards, many for unforgiveable false starts.

Practice will iron out such glitches, and Dodge appears to be a firm believer in what he calls “reps and more reps.” Repetition in drills.

In his post-game interview with Dodge, Chuck Kelly was curious about a possible connection between last night and 2011, the last time Carroll won the state title.

“Coach, this is the first 2-0 start of the season for the Dragons since 2011,” he said. “Any significance in that?”

“No,” Dodge replied firmly. “None at all. It was just the guys taking care of business. We’ve got to continue to do that. We’ve got a tough one next week.”

Indeed, they do.

Mojo on the rise?

The legendary Odessa Permian Panthers are next up for the Dragons. The magical allure of Mighty Mojo has dissipated in recent years, but the West Texas ruffians are hungry to regain their former lofty perch in the state football hierarchy.

West Texas once was known as the heart of Texas high school football. The schools in Midland, Odessa, Abilene and San Angelo – with Big Spring being a relatively insignificant member of the club – formed a district known as the Little Southwest Conference. Known for gritty, hard-nosed football, its district winner frequently vied for the state title.

In the 1980s and ’90s, Permian surged from the pack and captured a string of state championships, ending up with a total of six. It was immortalized in Buzz Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights, his epic tale of Permian’s 1988 season.

Over the years, the center of gravity for high school football has shifted from the windswept plains of the west to the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston suburbs. West Texas teams were left in the dust.

Permian dreams of changing that. To raise its state profile, Permian scheduled two highly regarded Metroplex teams this year. In their season opener, the Panthers hosted DeSoto, falling to the Eagles 38-28.

Next Friday, they’ll try to do better in Dragon Stadium. I say bury the past. The future is tinted green.

Go Dragons!