Complete domination: Southlake Carroll 49, Keller Central 14

An early exit

KELLER – Southlake Carroll running back T.J. McDaniel, the Dragons’ most potent and reliable offensive weapon, had a short but happy outing last night against the hapless, overmatched and outclassed Keller Central Chargers.

He carried the ball four times, ran for 81 yards and made 2 touchdowns.

Then he sat down – and never returned.

But before languishing in satisfaction as his teammates disassembled the injury-riddled Chargers, McDaniel dazzled Dragon Nation with his customary heroics.

He capped the first drive of the game with a blast through the middle of the Central front line and a 49-yard dash untouched to the end zone.

On the second Dragon possession, set up by a breathtaking 61-yard punt return by double-duty star R.J. Mickens, McDaniel dispensed with formalities all together. Taking the ball from quarterback Will Bowers, McDaniel bored through the line, hurtled a tackler in the backfield and muscled aside two defensive backs on a 23-yard burst to the end zone.

Call for backup

That handed the Dragons a 14-0 lead with 8:20 left in the first quarter, and head coach Riley Dodge judged McDaniel’s work was done and handed rushing duties to his backup, senior Eli Furgal.

And Furgal, who has the unenviable job of playing behind the brilliant McDaniel, didn’t disappoint. He ran 21 times for 106 yards and 1 TD, then snared a 16-yard pass from Bowers for another one.

Furgal downplayed his achievement, but admitted after the game he and McDaniel had anticipated the backup might get the call early against the one-win Chargers. He thanked the starter for being a “good guy” about being pulled early.

Dodge freely acknowledged he benched his star in order to give the senior backup his night in the spotlight.

“I so proud we were able to get him in,” Dodge said of Furgal. “He’s a workhorse in practice. He works his butt off Monday through Thursday. He deserved his time on the field tonight.”

Game over

Lots of backups got playing time last night. The game essentially was over when Carroll pulled ahead 21-0 near the end of the 1^st quarter after Glenn Mitchell (2-63) grabbed a 16-yard Bowers pass. The Dragons scored on their first 5 possessions and were deep in Charger territory on their 6^th when time expired in the first half.

The first substitutions appeared in the Dragon secondary midway through the 2^nd, a reflection of Charger quarterback Trent Smith’s ineffectiveness through the air. He completed 4 of 11 passes for 91 yards, most of that on a 68-yard pass-and-run that set up the first Central TD 4 minutes into the 3^rd period. By that time, Carroll had a 42-0 lead.

Gavyn White, who replaced Smith in the 3^rd period, was somewhat better, completing 3 of 4 passes for 79 yards, including a 50-yard TD toss that completed Central scoring long after Dragon backups had assumed all on-field duties.

Central was even worse on the ground. It managed only 78 total rushing yards, almost all in the 1^st half. Andrew Paul was its leading rusher, and he managed only 38 yards on nine carries.

The Dragon defense was super. According to The Dallas Morning News report, it made 14 tackles for losses, including four from Michael Parrish, who also made two sacks.

Bowers, who entered the game with a 69 percent completion rate, was superb last night, completing 10 of 12 passes, including 8 straight, for 191 yards and 3 TDs.

Total domination

His touchdown throw to Carson White (2-33) at the beginning of the 2^nd quarter illustrated the Carroll domination. After Mickens returned a Central punt 48 yards to the Charger 14, Bowers dropped back and rifled the ball to White, who was drifting near the end zone.

White caught the ball astride the goal line as a Charger defender closed in. Ball in hand, his feet solidly in pay dirt, White lowered his shoulder and laid out the Charger, who toppled backward like an axed tree.

Bowers’ other double-digit receivers were Eric Windham (3-34) and Julian Roe (2-35).

Mickens, who is only a junior, earned a dozen D1 offers for his phenomenal work as a defensive back. But he has turned into an offensive powerhouse, as well, excelling as both a fleet-footed, sure-handed receiver and as an elusive and deadly punt returner.

Last night, he returned three punts for a total 120 yards, handing his team short fields for two scores.

Carroll, 8-0 and the only undefeated team in District 5-6A, clinched a playoff berth last night for the 19^th consecutive year. And because it played on a Thursday, it became the first 6A school in the state to qualify for post season.

“We’ll take it,” said Dodge when informed of the peculiarity.

Tough road

But he knows better than anyone that thoughts of the playoffs must wait. Next up for the Dragons is a potentially perilous road game against Northwest ISD’s V.R. Eaton.

Eaton (5-3, 2-3) fell hard last night to Denton Guyer (5-3, 4-1), 49-21. But don’t be misled by the lopsided score. Guyer is damned good, and Eaton can be a tough nut to crack, thanks to a potent offense and stubborn defense.

Eaton still is fighting for a shot at the playoffs, and ruining Carroll’s perfect season would be simply lovely for the good folks in Haslet.

God forbid. Go Dragons!

Soon it’ll be Halloween

Nothing too scary

My wife and I love Halloween. Each year, we count down the days until we can get close enough to October to decently begin the transformation of Gunnels Manse into a chamber of mild-mannered horrors.

I began cruising the craft stores in mid-August to survey the holiday merchandise with an eye to updating and expanding our Halloween décor. I ordered new orange lights for the outside, purchased materials for a new wreath on the front door and secured spray paint to spruce up the giant jack-o’-lantern that is the centerpiece of our front-yard display.

I know what you’re thinking. And you’re right. We’re nuts.

But it’s the harmless kind of crazy that fits rather nicely into the ethos of Halloween. Nothing too serious. Nothing too scary. A nod to the frightening nature of the world, but with an innocent overlay of good-natured fun.

When Marice and I had kids, we started them early on their Halloween adventure. My daughter, who was just over 4 months old on her first Halloween, was adorable as a tiny pumpkin. At 3, my son rocked as a not-so-scary clown. He loved the white makeup and insisted on applying it himself. Come to think of it, that was pretty scary.

An excuse to party

Today, they’re fairly blasé about the holiday and view it mostly as an excuse to party. But lurking in their sub-conscious is the seed of Halloween ardor planted in their brains by their mother and me when they were small. It will flower, according to my evil plan, when they have children of their own. That’s when they will become Halloween cultists like their parents.

While on my Halloween prowl through Michaels, Kirkland’s and Hobby Lobby this year, I came across a mounted wooden carving of a raven. It looks great on my mantel.

It got me to thinking about one of my favorite poems and its author, a man associated with the macabre and mysterious and one who has become a staple of Halloween.

Edgar Allan Poe published “The Raven” in 1845, and it immediately made him famous. Famous but not rich. He was paid $9 for his effort, which barely made a dent in his mounting debts. Denied financial security, he gained immortality instead.

A brilliant but tortured artist, Poe created the detective story with his atmospheric “Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Gold-Bug.” He’s often associated with Halloween because of morbid, disturbing stories like “Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “Masque of the Red Death” and “The Premature Burial.”

If some of these titles seem familiar, it’s because Hollywood crafted them into low-budget horror films. As Halloween nears, they’re already appearing on Turner Movie Classics and other late-night TV venues.

Durability of sorrow

And then there’s “The Raven,” a poem taught in most high school English classes at one point or another. On the surface, it’s about a lonely, unhappy scholar visited late one winter night by a raven with a limited vocabulary. It’s left to the reader to decide if the “nevermore”-spouting bird is a messenger from the Devil, a figment of the man’s imagination or a metaphoric representation of his longing for the lost Lenore.

What it’s really about, I think, is the durability of sorrow and its corrosive power to overwhelm and ruin us. “The Raven” is taught in school because of Poe’s masterful use of language to provoke a mood of melacholy and dread and for his skillful internal rhyming. Critics either adore it or loathe it.

I love it. Occasionally, I’ll pull out my copy of Poe’s collected works and read it aloud. Just to hear the sound of the words as they flow together into a moody, oppressive dirge. I once read it to my kids on Halloween, a performance so memorable that neither recalls it today.

  Poe’s death in 1849 – in the month of October, no less – is shrouded in mystery, highly appropriate for a writer who wrote so well about the creepy and the strange.

Here, in honor of approaching Halloween, is the full text of “The Raven.” If only you could hear my heart-rending recitation, complete with my version of a raven croaking “nevermore.” Alas, that is impossible. This will have to do.

The Raven

 Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,

Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore—

    While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,

As of someone gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—

            Only this and nothing more.”

    Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December;

And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.

    Eagerly I wished the morrow; – vainly I had sought to borrow

    From my books surcease of sorrow – sorrow for the lost Lenore—

For the rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

            Nameless here for evermore.

    And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain

Thrilled me – filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;

    So that now, to still the beating of my heart, I stood repeating

    “’Tis some visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door—

Some late visitor entreating entrance at my chamber door;—

            This it is and nothing more.”

    Presently my soul grew stronger; hesitating then no longer,

“Sir,” said I, “or Madam, truly your forgiveness I implore;

    But the fact is I was napping, and so gently you came rapping,

    And so faintly you came tapping, tapping at my chamber door,

That I scarce was sure I heard you”—here I opened wide the door;—

            Darkness there and nothing more.

    Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there wondering, fearing,

Doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before;

    But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token,

    And the only word there spoken was the whispered word, “Lenore?”

This I whispered, and an echo murmured back the word, “Lenore!”—

            Merely this and nothing more.

    Back into the chamber turning, all my soul within me burning,

Soon again I heard a tapping somewhat louder than before.

    “Surely,” said I, “surely that is something at my window lattice;

      Let me see, then, what the treat is, and this mystery explore—

Let my heart be still a moment and this mystery explore;—

            ’Tis the wind and nothing more!”

    Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter,

In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore;

    Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he;

    But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door—

Perched upon a bust of Pallas just above my chamber door—

            Perched, and sat, and nothing more.

Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,

By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,

“Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven,

Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore—

Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!”

            Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

    Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so plainly,

Though its answer little meaning – little relevancy bore;

    For we cannot help agreeing that no living human being

    Ever yet was blessed with seeing bird above his chamber door—

Bird or beast upon the sculptured bust above his chamber door,

            With such name as “Nevermore.”

    But the Raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only

That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.

    Nothing farther then he uttered – not a feather then he fluttered—

    Till I scarcely more than muttered “Other friends have flown before—

On the morrow he will leave me, as my Hopes have flown before.”

            Then the bird said, “Nevermore.”

    Startled at the stillness broken by reply so aptly spoken,

“Doubtless,” said I, “what it utters is its only stock and store

    Caught from some unhappy master whom unmerciful Disaster

    Followed fast and followed faster till his songs one burden bore—

Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore

            Of ‘Never – nevermore’.”

    But the Raven still beguiling all my fancy into smiling,

Straight I wheeled a cushioned seat in front of bird, and bust and door;

    Then, upon the velvet sinking, I betook myself to linking

    Fancy unto fancy, thinking what this ominous bird of yore—

What this grim, ungainly, ghastly, gaunt, and ominous bird of yore

            Meant in croaking “Nevermore.”

    This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing

To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom’s core;

    This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining

    On the cushion’s velvet lining that the lamp-light gloated o’er,

But whose velvet-violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o’er,

            She shall press, ah, nevermore!

    Then, me thought, the air grew denser, perfumed from an unseen censer

Swung by Seraphim whose foot-falls tinkled on the tufted floor.

    “Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee

    Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore;

Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!”

            Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

    “Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—

Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,

    Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—

    On this home by Horror haunted – tell me truly, I implore—

Is there – is there balm in Gilead? – tell me – tell me, I implore!”

            Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

    “Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil! – prophet still, if bird or devil!

By that Heaven that bends above us – by that God we both adore—

    Tell this soul with sorrow laden if, within the distant Aidenn,

    It shall clasp a sainted maiden whom the angels name Lenore—

Clasp a rare and radiant maiden whom the angels name Lenore.”

            Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

    “Be that word our sign of parting, bird or fiend!” I shrieked, upstarting—

“Get thee back into the tempest and the Night’s Plutonian shore!

    Leave no black plume as a token of that lie thy soul hath spoken!

    Leave my loneliness unbroken! – quit the bust above my door!

Take thy beak from out my heart, and take thy form from off my door!”

            Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.”

    And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting

On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;

    And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon’s that is dreaming,

    And the lamp-light o’er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;

And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor

            Shall be lifted – nevermore!

Homecoming: Southlake Carroll 47, Keller Fossil 26

Just win

Southlake Carroll quarterback Will Bowers doesn’t have the dash and flash of some of his predecessors.

His resume lacks stupendous statistics like 400-yard passing games and 4 or 5 touchdowns per night. In times of trial, he doesn’t take the team upon his back and will it to win like Riley Dodge or Kenny Hill did. His on-field exploits don’t leave Dragon Nation gasping with awe and relief.

No, Bowers does none of those things. All he does is win. Under his quiet and steady leadership, Carroll is undefeated through 7 games and poised to capture yet another district championship.

Take last night, for instance. He wasn’t even the star of the offense. As usual, that honor went to stellar running back T.J. McDaniel, who rushed for 208 yards and made three touchdowns of 39, 75 and 4 yards.

Bower’s performance contributed mightily to the Dragon victory over a spirited and determined Fossil Ridge team. But while his 18 of 23 passes for 209 yards and two touchdowns were admirable and praise-worthy, they were hardly eye-popping.

Bowers says he’s fine with all that. Football, after all, is a team sport.

“This team is all about consistency and efficiency,” he said in a post-game radio interview. “Statistics are not a significant thing with me. This is a team effort. We win together.”

Fossil Ridge had designs on spoiling Homecoming for the Dragons, and it played tough football for most of three quarters. But the Panther defense, although it managed to corral McDaniel at times, could never really counter his ability to blow open a game in a single play.

Take the first drive of the game. The Panthers forced Carroll to fight for every yard to its own 39. At that point, Bowers handed off to McDaniel, who bolted unhampered straight to the end zone.

Later, when Ridge cut the Dragon lead to 3, McDaniel took the ball at his own 25 and swooped around the right end, hitting the flat at full speed. By midfield, it was obvious no Panther defender would get near him. He coasted across the goal line untouched.

Ridge stayed in the game for most of the way. At half, it was 16-6. Early in the 3^rd, Panther Brandon Lewis’ 33-yard TD sprint brought his team within 3, 16-13.

That would provide the last drama of the night. Later in the quarter, Carroll scored the first of three unanswered TDs that finally overwhelmed the Panthers. Those scoring drives demonstrated the balance in the Dragon attack, ending in a 4-yard burst by McDaniel, a 3-yard plunge by Eli Furgal and a 15-yard toss from Bowers to R.J. Mickens.

Mickens played brilliantly on both sides of the ball.

On defense, he was a major disruptor in the Dragon backfield, batting away passes from Panther quarterback Scottie Collis (14 of 24, 144) and crushing Ridge runners who had the temerity to enter his range of play, which is the length and breadth of the field. Is it any wonder he has offers from a dozen D1 schools?

On offense, he was the Dragons’ leading receiver, snaring 9 passes for 126 yards.

Ridge was hampered by the absence of its best receiver, Jaylen Hearst, out with an injury. It also suffered the loss of its best defensive player, Wyatt Rohmer, when he was booted from the game for his second unsportsmanlike conduct call on the play before McDaniel’s 4-yard TD run ignited Carroll’s decisive offensive push.

Collis, who handled most of the signal calling for the Panthers, spent most of the night throwing to Aharanne Pacheco, who caught 9 passes for 165 yards and 1 TD.

That TD was Ridge’s first and set up an unusual series of events as the Panthers attempted the point after. On their first try, the Dragons blocked the kick, then recovered the ball and carried it to the 40-yard line. A penalty, however, gave Ridge another shot.

But Dragon defender Michael Parrish blocked the second attempt, too, and Graham Faloona scooped it up and ran it back for 2 points.

For Parrish, another Dragon defensive standout, blocking extra points and field goals has become old hat. Not even his coach knows how many he’s accomplished.

“He’s relentless,” head coach Riley Dodge said of Parrish “He’s always well-prepared, he pays attention to what’s going on. He’s got 4 or 5, I don’t know how many, this year. It’s really amazing.”

The Dragon defense excelled, limiting Ridge to 112 rushing yards. Panther runner Brandon Lewis, arguably Ridge’s offensive stalwart last night, ran 11 yards for 78 yards and 1 TD, snaring a 25-yard pass for another.

Ultimately, however, the Panthers simply were outclassed. They couldn’t handle the Dragons efficient and lethal balanced attack, headed up by Bowers and McDaniel.

A Ridge misstep in the 4^th period, when it already trailed by 3 TDs, put the matter finally to rest. A Panther receiver coughed up the ball at midfield, and Dragon Griffin Gumm pounced on it. That turnover set up a 26-yard run by Fergal and ended in Mickens’ 15-yard TD reception that put the Dragons ahead by 4 scores.

So Southlake takes another step toward the District 5-6A championship. Three games remain on its regular season schedule, road trips to Keller Central next week and V.R. Eaton the week after. It ends the season at home, facing Keller Timber Creek on Senior Night, Nov. 9.

They will be strong favorites in all those contests, and a perfect season culminating in a district championship doesn’t sound unreasonable at all.

It’s too early to think about the playoffs, of course, but who can resist? Carroll almost certainly will end up in Division I, the “large school” classification. This year that's the hardest route to the state finals, but the Dragons will play the teams that the UIL says they must play.

One possible opponent in the first round? The hated Coppell Cowboys, an old and despised Dragon foe. There’s no love lost between Coppell and Southlake fan bases for reasons now obscured by time. Could it be because they're so much alike? But enough of such heresy. If that’s what comes to pass, so be it.

First up, another trip to shabby Keller ISD Stadium. Oh, boy.

Go Dragons!

Easy cruising: Southlake Carroll 41, Byron Nelson 17

A welcome respite

JUSTIN – Winless Trophy Club Byron Nelson, trapped in the cellar of District 5-6A, perhaps for the season, announced early last night that it wasn’t going to make it easy for visiting Southlake Carroll.

For the high-flying Dragons, 5-0 at the top of district standings, the bout with the Bobcats seemed a welcome respite from the trifecta of tough opponents they’ve overcome of late, including last week’s donnybrook against the Denton Guyer Wildcats.

In truth, the Bobcats eventually submitted rather meekly to the Carroll onslaught. But not in the beginning.

 During the first possession of the night, Byron Nelson managed to bottle up the Dragons’ hard-charging running back, SMU commit T.J. McDaniel, and forced Carroll into two 4^th-down situations and an apparent punt as it fought for every yard.

The few of us who braved the threat of rain to witness what we assumed would be a slaughter of the innocents shifted uncomfortably on our benches and pondered the possibilities of big-game let-down, over-confidence and excessive hubris.

But under Riley Dodge, who celebrated his 30^th birthday yesterday with his sixth-straight win as a freshly minted head coach, the Dragons responded to the Byron Nelson challenge with an aggressive display of offensive might.

Carroll went for it on both 4^th-down attempts, making both, and faked the punt to keep the drive alive, eventually setting up a 4-yard TD surge by McDaniel.

They scored on their next two possessions, the first a 19-yard dash by McDaniel and the second a 19-yard pass from quarterback Will Bowers to receiver Glenn Mitchell, his first of three TD receptions last night. That opened up a three-score chasm between the teams that the Bobcats never came near to closing.

Interestingly, the Dragons went for 2 after McDaniel’s second TD, an unsuccessful effort that signaled nonetheless that a new sheriff is roaming the Southlake sidelines.

I concluded from that decision that Dodge subscribes to his father’s philosophy of “killing the will,” an approach to winning that the elder Dodge used to devastating effect during his years as Dragon head coach. As the name suggests, it calls for complete domination of your opponent until they mentally surrender to the inevitable.

It was an alien concept to Dodge’s predecessor, Hal Wasson, who liked to gain the lead and then protect it, playing to not lose rather than to win. That outlook cost the Dragons a few ballgames and drove many Carroll fans nuts, me included.

Despite Byron Nelson’s success in keying on the worthy McDaniel, he still managed to gain 111 yards on 14 carries and three touchdowns, including a 59-yard bolt down the right sideline near the end of the 3^rd that put the Dragons ahead by four scores.

That run came after Byron Nelson had scored on the previous drive, an effort made easier by a bobbled snap by punter Joe McFadden. Taking over on the Carroll 48, Bobcat quarterback Hudson White, with the help of a roughing the passer penalty, ran consecutive keepers of 22 and 16 yards to give Byron Nelson its first TD.

Carroll responded with a 3-play, 49-second drive capped by McDaniel’s electrifying run. Taking the ball from Powers, he burst through Byron Nelson’s front line, broke a tackle in the backfield and then veered right, outrunning a cluster of Bobcat defenders.

The Dragon passing game, relatively nascent thus far this season, made a dramatic entrance last night. Bowers, 20 of 30 for 207 yards, threw in double digits to four receivers.

Mitchell caught 6 passes for 107 yards and 3 TDs. His 2^nd-quarter TD catch was only the fourth passing TD for Carroll thus far this season.

He credited his success to film work and good preparation.

“We studied tape all week,” he said in a radio interview after the game. “We knew that the middle was going to be wide open so we exploited it.”

Meanwhile, John Manero caught 2 for 44, R.J. Mickens snagged 6 for 35 and Eric Windham got 5 for 17.

Carroll’s success in the air was all the more remarkable because of its injury-depleted receiving corps. Some of its best and most experienced receivers are hurt. Patrick Trainer is out for the season and Wills Meyer remains sidelined. Alarmingly, Carson White was seen limping near the Dragon bench. His status is unclear.

The Dragon defense performed well, dousing the expected offensive fireworks by White and receiver Calvin Wiggins, who managed only 3 catches for 31 yards.

Byron Nelson managed only two sustained drives all night. The first came at the end of the first half. The Bobcats drove to the Carroll 7, where the Dragon D kept them out of the end zone on six consecutive plays and forced them to settle for a 22-yard field goal as time expired.

After the game, Dodge praised his defense’s inspiring goal line stand.

“They stepped up in a big way,” he told radio announcer Chuck Kelly. “They made the stop, and we kept the momentum.”

The Dragons also were playing without the services of talented linebacker Connor Patterson, who is hurt. Dragon players said his absence was felt, but adjustments were made during practice this week.

“We worked through it,” linebacker Sam Matin said. “We had confidence in the people we had out there. If we didn’t have confidence in them, they wouldn’t be there.”

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is as succinct and cogent an expression of the “next man up” mindset as you can find.

Byron Nelson’s sophomore signal-caller provided Bobcat fans with the only bright spot of the night. He was almost totally responsible for the Bobcats’ only legitimate TD, his 3^rd quarter 16-yard sprint. He threw 13 of 23 for 100 yards, and ran 12 times for another 78.

The Bobcats added a final score in the closing seconds of the game, long after Carroll had cleared the benches and given its attack squad stalwarts a few moments under Friday Night Lights.

For Dodge, this has to be an immensely satisfying beginning to his head-coaching career. At 6-0, he’s already had the best start of any head coach in Southlake history. He turned 30 yesterday, a milestone that had particular significance for the guy who many believed was simply too young and too inexperienced to lead a premier program like Carroll.

“Well, I’ve turned 30,” he told radio announcer Chuck Kelly. “I guess I’m old enough to coach now.”

Kelly then asked him about his decision, with the game well in hand, to give back-up players a chance to perform before their fans, friends and family. His answer speaks volumes to me and offers compelling evidence that Carroll trustees made the right decision in choosing the young Dodge to lead the Dragons.

“That was the best part of the night,” Dodge said. “These guys play hard all week on the attack squad helping us prepare for the game. They earned their time on the field tonight. “I hope we can do this again.”

Hal Wasson's failure to show the love for his back-up players, those who labor in practice to prepare the starters, represented a significant failure in his leadership. Wasson lavished all his attention and affection on his starters, and he and his staff never attempted to make the back-ups feel part of something bigger, never made them feel their hard work and sacrifices were appreciated or acknowledged.

Todd Dodge, Riley Dodge’s dad, understood the importance of making every one of his players believe their contributions were vital to Dragon success. Which, of course, they were and are.

That kind of thinking – along with football savvy, good instincts and an ability to connect with kids – will go a long way to keeping the Carroll Dragons at or near the top of the Texas high school football pyramid.

Next up, the Dragons host Keller Fossil Ridge in Dragon Stadium next Friday. It's Homecoming, and mum’s the word. Fossil Ridge is no simple pushover. It beat Keller Central 38-21 last night, giving it a 4-2 season record, 2-1 in District 5-6A.

 It’s a trap game, and let’s hope Sam Matin, the Dragon linebacker, was right when he said that Carroll prepares for each game like it’s facing Allen. If it does that this week, all will be well.

 Go Dragons!

District slug-fest: Southlake Carroll 33, Denton Guyer 29

Not this year, coach

Denton Guyer head coach John Walsh, in a pre-game interview, reveled at the prospect of becoming the only Southlake Carroll opponent to defeat the Dragons on their home turf twice.

As coaches sometimes do before big games, Walsh was living large with a reporter from the friendly Denton Record-Chronicle, observing as he must that the Wildcats’ first priority was to win their second district game. They were coming off a District 5-6A win against Keller Central, 34-13.

Then he got down to his team’s true motivation.

 “The icing on the cake would be winning at Dragon Stadium again,” he said with relish. “We like playing there. I’ve kind of thrown that stat around because it’s a fun stat. They’ve lost four times there since it opened in 2001, and we want to be the only program that’s done it twice.”

I’m not sure how aware the Carroll Dragons were of Walsh’s dreamy reverie, but it was just the kind of bold, arrogant remark that energizes a program and helps coaches focus players’ attention on beating the snot out of the presumptuous A-hole who said it.

Frankly, the Dragons needed all the inspiration they could muster – and the magic of a “trick” play – to remain undefeated last night and turn back a talented, determined Wildcat squad led by phenom sophomore quarterback Eli Stowers and his elusive, hard-charging running back, Kaedric Cobbs.

Cobbs and Stowers tore Carroll’s defensive front line to tatters, repeatedly carving out large chunks of yardage before being subdued by Dragon linebackers R.J. Mickens, Preston Forney and Graham Faloona, who all had big nights.

Cobbs, who missed the first three games of the season because of injury, is making up for lost time. After an impressive game against Keller Central last week, he ran 28 times for 169 yards and two TDs against Carroll. Stowers ran 19 times for 134 and two TDs.

Time after time, Southlake countered the Wildcat assaults in a seesaw battle that saw multiple lead changes.

Decisive play

The decisive play came with 11 seconds left and the score knotted 27-27. Here’s the setup:

After stifling a Guyer drive, the Dragons fielded a punt at their 38-yard line with a tad over a minute left and no timeouts. Quarterback Will Bowers, 13 of 19 for 108 yards, tossed a couple of passes to John Manero (4-33), then hoisted a critical 22-yarder to Eric Windham, who leaped out of bounds at the Guyer 23.

Initially, Carroll lined up for a 40-yard field goal attempt by kicker Neal Koskay, who earlier had botched a 50-yarder. Guyer called a timeout, and both sides retreated to make plans.

When the Carroll offense returned to the field, it was led by Bowers and not by Koskay.

“What the …,” I murmured when it appeared head coach Riley Dodge had decided to take another shot at the end zone instead of gambling on a winning field goal by the normally dependable Koskay.

When Bowers received the snap, he quickly turned left and threw a lateral to Manero, who then lofted the ball to backup quarterback Blake Smith. In the deep left corner of the end zone, Smith wrestled for control with a couple of Wildcats before coming down with the ball.

My side of Dragon Stadium erupted in cheers driven by pent-up emotion as the Dragons edged ahead 33-27 with 6 ticks left on the clock.

Guyer provided the only remaining drama when Wildcat defender Lawrence Norton blocked Joe McFadden's extra point, then scooped up the ball and ran it back for 2 points.

Such a thrilling finale was a fitting end to the gameplay that preceded it.

Dodge, who now stands 5-0 in his career as a head coach, admitted the desperate, hard-fought nature of the game had been a taxing affair for everyone.

“Man, I’m sweating my butt off,” he admitted in a post-game radio interview. “This was back and forth all night. First they had the momentum, then we had the momentum, then they had it and we got it back. I’m very proud of my guys. They never quit, they never let down.

“My hats off to Guyer. They played a real physical game. They are a tough, tough opponent. We’ll enjoy this one.”

 The teams were tied 13-13 at half. Carroll surged to a 20-13 lead at the end of the 3^rd when SMU commit T.J. McDaniel crashed 28 yards to paydirt after an 11-play, 88-yard drive set up by a Cobbs fumble.

That laid the table for a wild 4^th quarter that left both sides of the stadium gasping for breath, one in triumph and the other in despair.

Guyer came charging out the gate with Stowers engineering back-to-back scoring drives in which he and Cobbs alternated running duties. Both series ended in TD sprints by Cobbs, the first for 21 yards and the second for 35, which handed the lead back to the Wildcats with 5:32 left to play.

A worried murmur ran through the Dragon faithful as Bowers began the next drive at his own 25. Did the Dragons have enough left in the tank to overcome a 27-20 deficit?

We need not have worried. McDaniel at that point took his team on his back and accounted for virtually all of an 8-play, 75-yard drive that evened the score once again when Bowers barreled a yard over the goal line.

McDaniel had to work for every yard he made, but he made them when they counted most. His 154 yards on 17 carries included TD runs of 10, 22 and 28 yards.

Now came the hard part – blunting the Cobbs-Stowers battering ram and keeping Guyer off the board. In a brilliant defensive stand, the Dragon D-line dug deep and allowed Stowers and Cobb to travel only 11 yards in 7 plays.

From there, Bowers and company set in motion the pulse-pounding final drive and its ensuing theatrics.

Dodge said after the game that he had intended all along to call the double-pass play at some point in the evening. When Guyer called the timeout as Carroll prepared for the field goal attempt, the opportunity presented itself.

“Some folks thought we were going to run it,” Dodge said. “But I was just dialing up the special play we’ve been working on all week. Guyer did us a favor when they called the timeout. It gave us some time to thing about it. And we went out and executed it.”

Manero told radio announcer Chuck Kelly that he wasn’t nervous when his coach ordered up the play, even though he’s never once played quarterback.

“I was so excited,” he said. “We had been practicing it all week. I’m glad it worked.”

McDaniel and the trick play garnered all the attention on offense. But Bowers, too, excelled, despite being denied the services of two of his best receivers because of injuries. Patrick Trainor is out for the season, but Wills Meyer could return.

Even so, Bowers completed almost 70 percent of his passes and threw in double figures to five receivers, including Carson White (4 for 37), and McDaniel (1 for 17). He rushed 13 times for 68 yards, a threat that eased pressure on McDaniel.

Defensive standouts included the aforementioned linebacker corps. Michael Parish blocked an extra-point attempt for the second week in a row, his third for the season so far.

Mickens who displayed his usual brilliance on both sides of the ball, said it felt great to win such a bruising battle.

“We prepared all week for a physical game, and they gave us one,” he said. “It was a very hard-nosed game.”

The key to the Dragon victory?

“We just had to work hard in preparing for it and to come out here and play hard. Simple,” Mickens said.

Guyer came into the game with a 2-2 record, but the Dragons recognized to their credit that was a misleading statistic. The Wildcats are a solid, disciplined and well-coached team, most likely headed for a playoff berth. Stowers, meanwhile, is scary good. What will he be like as an upperclassman, particularly if as excepted, Guyer makes a playoff run?

The next step

By defeating Guyer, Carroll takes a big step toward the district championship, but nothing’s guaranteed at this point. District 5-6A is loaded with talent, despite being dominated by Keller schools, once considered creampuffs in 6A competition.

Also to be considered is whether Carroll goes Division I (big school) or Division II (small school). That picture still is exceedingly murky and even thinking about it makes my head hurt.

But for the third week in a row, Carroll has played tough, smack-mouth football against sturdy opponents and emerged victorious. That’s the best preparation you can have to ensure post-season success, which is the goal of the Dragon program in all sports.

At this point, I’d like to acknowledge a mistake I made in a previous post when I said Guyer was the only Dragon opponent to win twice at Dragon Stadium. That’s obviously not correct, and I apologize for the error.

What I had in mind, I think, was the 2010 season, when the two programs met twice – once in regular-season district play at Dragon Stadium and later in the fourth round of the playoffs at Newsome Stadium in Mansfield. The Wildcats came out on top both times.

Those two games each were memorable. The regular-season 28-14 defeat broke a 47-game winning streak for Carroll at Dragon Stadium. The playoff game, which Guyer won 24-14, was played on a frigid, windy day in November and was followed by several unpleasant encounters between rowdy Wildcat fans and Dragon supporters just trying to their cars and out of the cold.

 Both encounters served to create an acrimonious rivalry between the two schools, which periodically find themselves, like this year and next, in the same district. As far  as I know, there were no incidents before, during or after last night's contest.

Next up for the Dragons is Byron Nelson. Can they go undefeated during the second half of the regular season, which starts next week? I dunno, but that sounds pretty good to me.

Go Dragons!