Season’s end: Duncanville 49, Southlake Carroll 35

Sweet revenge denied

McKINNEY – For a few brief, precious minutes, revenge – sweet, soul-soothing, life-affirming, spirit-restoring revenge – seemed within their grasp.

And then, in a moment, it vanished. And the Southlake Carroll Dragons found themselves once again blocked from their pursuit of a ninth state championship by the astonishingly talented Duncanville Panthers.

It was not the disgraceful 51-7 defeat the Dragons suffered last year at the hands of the Panthers.

This year, Carroll came armed with a balanced offensive scheme and a stingy defense. They rolled up 527 total yards against a Duncanville defense that had limited opponents this season to an average of 178.

The Dragons’ 14 points at halftime was equal to about half of the total points Duncanville allowed in the first half all season.

Duncanville’s grand old man of football, head coach Reginald Samples, paid due respect to the Dragon effort in his post-game interview with The Dallas Morning News’ Callie Caplan.

“We haven’t had a lot of tough games like this,” he said.

The Panthers will face Rockwall in the semi-final round this week. Rockwall, making its first appearance in the semi-finals since 1987, defeated Prosper 59-42 last night. But it will be a heavy underdog against 14-0 Duncanville, ranked No. 1 in the state by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football and No. 3 in the country by USA Today.

Repeat performance

From here, I’d say we’re looking at a repeat of last year’s 6A-Division I state championship between the Panthers and Galena Park North Shore. Duncanville lost that one in a heartbreaking Hail-Mary pass by the Mustangs on the final play of the game. You can bet it wants a little payback.

North Shore obliterated Humble Atascosita 76-49 yesterday and will face Lake Travis this week in the semis. It’ll be heavily favored to brush past the Cavaliers.

The Dragons, meanwhile, will be spectators this week. But they will leave behind for those of us who watched yesterday’s game one of the most electrifying sequences of Carroll football in many a year, all in the span of less than 30 seconds.

The Dragons, forced to punt on their first three possessions, had trailed the Panthers by at least two touchdowns for most of the game. After Duncanville’s phenomenal quarterback Ja’Quinden Jackson scored his third rushing TD of the afternoon with less than 6 minutes left, bringing the score to 42-21, the air went out of Dragon Nation and many of us started mulling our exit out of the parking lot.

But head coach Riley Dodge urged his players not to lose heart.

“I said, ‘Crazier things have happened,’” he told The News’ Greg Riddle. “We almost made it happen.”

Bringing them back

Yes, they did. Quarterback Quinn Ewers brought his team deep into Panther territory, then lofted a 33-yard pass to Wills Meyer (8-87, 1 TD), who breezed into the end zone. Joe McFadden’s extra point narrowed the lead to 42-28.

McFadden then carefully booted an onside kick into the hands of Blake Smith at the Duncanville 46. All of a sudden, memories came roaring back of a miraculous comeback in the 2011 semi-finals against Dallas Skyline that had been sparked by a successful onside kick.

You could almost feel the electricity coursing through the Carroll side of McKinney ISD Stadium. I swear I could hear a buzzing in my ears that sounded like angry bees.

Ewers rifled a pass to speedster Brady Boyd who carried it to the Panther 24. Every Dragon fan was on their feet, and the adrenalin rush had many of us gasping.

At that point, things got a little crazy. Carroll was penalized for being offside, and the Dragon faithful responded with a roar of disapproval, deservedly so since everyone in the stadium saw it was encroachment by the Panthers. Dodge drew a rare unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty for the awful things he must have said to officials on the sideline.

The combined penalties sent the Dragons back to the Duncanville 44, where the Carroll offense faced a 1^st-and-30. The comeback could have, should have died right there, but the power of brotherhood, the will to keep the band together for one more gig, the disciplined focus to win was strong among these Carroll youngsters.

Ewers hoisted the ball to John Manero, who raced into the endzone as a wall of noise – so loud that it almost had mass and weight – swept over us.

Another extra point brought the Dragons to within 7. Another onside kick followed.

Not this time

Only this time, the Panthers pounced on it at their 49, and that’s where the fairy tale ended, not with a roar but with a sigh.

One play later, Duncanville’s Trysten Smith (19-174, 2 TDs) sped 48 yards to the end zone for the final sword thrust into the Dragon heart.

 “We talk about this all the time, tough games … and they responded today,” Samples said of his team to The News’ Greg Riddle. “In order to be a great team, you’ve got to answer the bell. You can’t fold. When you play a team like Southlake, they’re going to come back.”

Jackson, a Texas commit, lived up to his billing as one of the state’s most explosive offensive talents. He could be just what the Longhorns need to pull themselves out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves in the Big 12.

Yesterday, he completed all 8 of his passes, compiling 183 yards in the air and 2 TDs. On the ground, he rushed 12 times for 129 yards and three scores. He was, in a word, magnificent.

It took Duncanville only 4 minutes into the game to strike first with a 49-yard Jackson TD pass to Marquelan Crowell. But the Carroll defense kept the Panthers largely in check through the rest of the quarter.

Late in the 1^st, Carroll was mired at its own 32 when two consecutive holding calls drove it back to the 12. From there, Ewers threw two incompletions, drawing a flag on the later for intentional grounding. Facing a 4^th-and-39 from the 3, Carroll punted, and the Panthers returned it to the 25. One play later, Jackson sprinted 20 yards for his first rushing TD.

At that point, fears loomed of a repeat of last year’s shellacking. But the Dragons' sophomore quarterback led the Dragons back with a 7-play, 75-yard drive powered by straight-ahead bursts by freshman Owen Allen (27-115, 2 TDs) and ending in a 42-yard Ewers pass to Boyd (11-123, 1 TD).

Stepping up again

The Dragons then held Duncanville to a 3-and-out, and Ewers (33-52, 393 and 3 TDs) once again stepped up, engineering an exciting 9-play, 55-yard scoring drive that featured a 28-yard reception by John Manero (8-141, 1 TD). From the 1, Allen tied the game with a tad more than 3 minutes left in the half.

That’s when I began to believe the Dragons actually might pull off an upset. But the Panthers dulled that optimism pretty quickly when Duncanville’s Jackson staged three consecutive, unanswered scoring drives to gain a 35-14 edge. Ultimately, that proved too steep a hill to climb, despite the Dragons' 4^th-quarter heroics.

On the first of those drives, Jackson sped 61 yards to the Dragon 8 before surging across the goal line two plays later from the 1.

The Panther scoring spree continued in the 3^rd quarter, with a 14-yard TD run by Smith and a 58-yard Jackson pass to Roderick Daniels.

While the Dragons are saying adios to the playoffs, their District 5-6A colleagues, the Denton Guyer Wildcats, made it to the penultimate round in 6A-Division II, destroying Amarillo Tascosa 48-7 yesterday. They’ll face Spring Westlake this week in the semi-finals.

Good sportsmanship suggests I should offer good luck to the ’Cats in their quest for the Division II title. So as much as it sticks in my craw, here goes. G’luck.

There were many tears on the field last evening, as the Dragons commiserated their defeat. For the seniors, the loss hurt more because it spells the end of their time as Dragons. Family break ups are hard, and that’s what makes playoff losses so emotional. Anyone who has spent any time around these players – or listened to their media interviews – knows how deeply they care for each other.

Paying tribute

Their coach paid tribute to his seniors in a post-game Twitter post.

“I can’t put into words what this Football Team means to me!” Dodge tweeted. “This group is so physically and mentally tough on and off the field! Thank you Seniors for your sacrifice and commitment when no one else is watching! I’m proud to be called Coach.”

Many of the seniors on this squad are headed to NCAA Division I schools. We’ll be hearing about some of them on Saturdays, I’m sure, but the vacancies they leave will be hard to fill.

Receivers Wills Meyer and John Manero are departing. So is tight end Blake Smith. Safety R.J. Mickens is headed to Clemson. O-line stalwarts Andrej Karic, Addison Penn and Andy Strum are headed to the next level. So are defensive standouts Graham Faloona, Preston Forney, Brandon Howell, Quinten Bunten, Dylan Thomas and Josh Sweat. (I know I’ve left out important others, and for that, I’m sorry.)

But the cupboard is far from bare. Ewers is a sophomore who ended the season just short of 4,000 yards passing and with 45 TDs. Only green pastures lie ahead for him. And he’s got Boyd returning to form the nucleus of a new receiving corps. Allen began the season on the freshman team with no expectations of playing under Friday Night Lights. The 15-year-old ended the season with 1,262 yards rushing and 23 TDs. His next three years are going to be a hoot to watch.

As always, replenishing the offensive and defensive lines won't be easy for Dodge and his coaching staff, who must replace all 11 starters on defense and eight on offense. But I have no doubt they’ll rise to the challenge.

Great programs don’t rebuild, they reload. In two short years, Dodge has led the Dragons to a 26-2 record, at the same time rejuvenating the Carroll program and reigniting interest in football in Southlake.

Good ole days

The atmosphere yesterday at McKinney ISD’s marvelous $70 million stadium (it puts Allen’s cathedral to football to shame) reminded me of the “good ole days” of Dragon football dominance. The News said it was standing room only in the 12,000-seat facility that only opened last year. And my unofficial eye test confirms it.

But more than that, the Carroll side was crowded and boisterous an hour before kickoff and the excitement and sense of community were palatable.

The future remains bright for Carroll’s heralded program, and I look forward to seasons ahead in a way I haven’t since … well, since the days that Riley’s old man roamed the sidelines.

This will be the last gridiron post on this blog until next February, when the UIL announces district realignments for the next two years. I expect I’ll have some opinions about the district mates assigned to the Dragons. Until then, may you all have happy holidays filled with cheer and happiness among family and friends.

Go Dragons!

Regional semi-final beatdown: Southlake Carroll 49, Midland Lee 27

A catch for the ages

Against my instincts, I ditched the three-hour drive to Abilene to watch the Southlake Carroll Dragons dismantle a proud and strong Midland Lee team in the Region 1 semifinals yesterday.

My bad. Turns out, my prediction that the Dragons would make short work of the Rebels turned out to be oh-so-true. But it was a heckuva game, nonetheless, and featured perhaps the greatest catch by a Dragon receiver in school playoff history.

Carroll’s victory in Abilene’s venerable P.E. Shotwell Stadium, reportedly the oldest high school football stadium still in use in Texas, sets up a rematch on Saturday between the 13-0 Dragons and the 13-0 Duncanville Panthers, named No. 1 in the state by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football.

Something to see

They’ll face each other in the 6A Division I, Region 1 final at 2:30 p.m. in McKinney ISD Stadium, and it should be something to see. The Dragons, of course, are eager to avenge the 51-7 paddling they got from the Panthers last year in the fourth round. And with the weapons they have on offense and defense this year, they may be able to do just that.

But Duncanville, while perhaps not quite as fearsome as the squad that fell before Galena Park North Shore in the state championship game last year, still is scary good. It put the hurt to Arlington Martin yesterday 45-17 to get to the regional game

This will be Carroll’s third straight year to reach the regional final. That’s quite an achievement in tough-as-nails Division I, where the biggest of the big boys play.

But first things first. Remember that play I mentioned earlier that had me rethinking my decision to put up Christmas decorations rather than sit on the weathered seats of Shotwell and cheer on the Dragons?

Junior WR Brady Boyd has been a stalwart member of the Carroll receiving corps all year, but he really outdid himself yesterday on a play that Dragon fans will be watching and rewatching for years to come.

Carroll had surged to a 7-0 lead on its opening drive, then held the Rebels to a quick 3-and-out.

Only a preamble

From their own 19, the Dragons battled to the 33, where quarterback Quinn Ewers hoisted a 41-yard pass to Boyd. As dramatic as that effort was, it was only the prelude. Three plays later, Ewers sent an arching pass to Boyd in the right flats. As the ball sailed over his head, Boyd leaped up, twisted his body and snagged it with his right hand, leaving Dragon fans gaping and Lee fans gasping in disbelief.

Boyd’s momentum carried him out of bounds at the 11. Four plays later, Ewers hit tight end Blake Smith in the end zone for the Dragons’ second score. For all intents and purposes, the game was over.

Boyd said afterward that he was just acting on instincts when he reached for the ball over his head. Asked on Dragon Radio if he practiced making catches like that, Boyd quickly denied it.

“Not at all,” he said with emphasis. “Sometimes we’ll be messing around, but the coaches hate it when we try to catch one-handed.”

Smith, 7 receptions for 104 yards, would catch two more TD passes for a career record. He and Boyd, 9 for 166 and 1 TD, led in receptions for the Dragons.

It was another outstanding game for the young Ewers, who completed 25 of 30 passes (83 percent) for 357 yards and four touchdowns.

He was sacked on the first play of the game, and the Dragons’ first drive seemed to stall near midfield. But when the Dragons lined up to punt, kicker Joe McFadden instead handed off the ball to Graham Faloona, who bullied his way to a first down.

The Rebels never seemed to be able to recover their balance from that bit of Riley Dodge trickery. Four plays later, Ewers drew first blood with a 14-yard scamper to the end zone.

The sophomore engineered passing scores on the next three Carroll drives, two to Smith and one to Boyd. By the middle of the 2^nd quarter, Carroll led 35-0. The sizeable crowd that traveled to Shotwell Stadium from Midland could only sit in sullen silence.

Out of hand

At that point, with the game well out of hand, the Rebels, who had been kept in check and off balance by the Dragons’ sturdy defense, seemed to stir a bit.

Facing a 4th-and-1 at its 34-yard line, Lee lined up in a wildcat formation and snapped the ball to Trent Low. Low galloped 66 yards through the middle of the Dragon D to finally put the Rebels on the scoreboard with less than 5 minutes left in the half. The extra-point attempt failed.

An emboldened Lee then held Carroll to a 3-and-out and struggled 53 yards in 15 plays to make the score 35-13 at halftime.

Rebel quarterback Mikey Serrano, who left the game with injuries in the 4^th, completed 16 of 28 passes for 181 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. He also ended the night with 59 yards rushing on 16 carries.

In addition to Low, runner Ryan Quiroz contributed 52 yards on 6 carries and Serrano’s backup, Shelmar Davis, carried 10 times for 37 yards.

A football-savvy friend opines that the Dragons are going to have to do better on defense, particularly against the run, when they face the Panthers on Saturday. After all, while the Dragons rolled up 550 yards in total offense, the Rebels managed a very respectable 433 yards for themselves.

 It’s worth noting, however, that all 27 Lee points came after the final result no longer was in doubt, with Carroll holding a formidable lead and total command of the field.

No miraculous comeback

Midland fans, perhaps already thinking about that depressing drive home, might have hoped for their heroes to stage a miraculous comeback after halftime adjustments.

But the Dragons stifled Lee’s first 2^nd-half drive, then rolled 80 yards behind Ewers’ pinpoint passes and freshman Owen Allen’s hard-charging rushes to widen the lead to 42-13. Allen would end the night with 23 carries for 116 yards and a TD.

On the next Lee possession, Carroll twisted the knife when Faloona – back at his regular linebacker post – intercepted a Serrano pass and returned it 44 yards to the 7. Three plays later, Smith caught his third TD of the night, and McFadden’s PAT ended scoring for the Dragons.

Lee would make two meaningless TDs in the fourth, the later long after Carroll started widespread substitutions.

Once upon a time, West Texas teams dominated high school football and regularly made trips to the state championship. But those days are long gone, probably never to return. Suburban programs like Allen, Katy, Duncanville and, yes, Southlake now rule the day.

However, I don’t feel nostalgic about the days when the giants of high school football strode the sandy plains of West Texas. And here’s one of the reasons why.

When I was in high school, Big Spring shared the same district with behemoths like Midland Lee, Abilene, Odessa Permian and San Angelo Central. Our district was called “The Little Southwest Conference” because of the strength of the programs there. As the smallest school in the district, Big Spring was perennial cellar dweller.

Rare position

In my senior year, however, Big Spring was in the rare position of contesting for a district championship. It came down to the last game of the season against, you guessed it, Midland Lee. The mighty Rebels, arrogant and sure, came to town convinced they would bury the lowly Steers.

As it turns out, the game hinged on an extremely controversial officiating call, the details of which long have escaped my aging brain. Suffice to say, the call went against Big Spring, and Lee won the game and the district title.

The Big Spring play-by-play radio announcer was so angry about the call, and so forthright in his condemnations of the officials, that his FCC license was suspended for a time.

More serious than that, an unruly gaggle of kids gathered under the stands and threw rocks and chunks of concrete at the Midland Lee buses, breaking most of the windows. No one was hurt, but the UIL considered banning Big Spring from UIL competitions.

It didn’t, but the whole affair initiated much soul-searching by the Big Spring community. The following year, the high school initiated a goodwill campaign that resulted in the school and its student body receiving a special good sportsmanship award from the UIL. All’s well that ends well, I suppose.

Big Spring never contended for a district title again until shrinking enrollments pushed it into a smaller classification. I hate what happened to the Lee buses back then, but I still don’t harbor any warm and fuzzies for the Rebels.

Some old wounds never heal, ya know?

Go, Dragons!   

Thanksgiving peace

Marice is rocking downstairs as she sets the table and performs culinary miracles in the kitchen. I’m upstairs at the computer trying to think of something profound to share on this overcast, misty Thanksgiving afternoon.

Normally, the kids would be here, hanging out and waiting impatiently for the big spread later on. But their lives are more complicated now, their holiday time to be shared with the families of their significant others.

They’ll all be here later this evening, and for that I’m extremely thankful. For a time, this big old house will be noisy and chaotic again, as it should be on this family-oriented holiday. I’ll sit back and soak in the love and happiness like a warm bath.

Some of you are experiencing crushing loss today, and my heart goes out to you. I pray you have peace and are comforted in your grief. For the rest of you, my devout hope is that this holiday will bring you joy and fulfillment and the satisfaction of a life well lived.

If you’re traveling, do so safely. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Passing an Area round test: Southlake Carroll 37, DeSoto 15

Accepting the dare

ARLINGTON – Southlake Carroll quarterback Quinn Ewers, a sophomore making his first playoff appearance in the grandeur of AT&T Stadium, refused to be intimidated yesterday.

The DeSoto Eagles’ game plan was designed to cow Ewers by shutting down the Dragon running game and daring the youngster to take to the air, all the while putting him in a pressure cooker by overwhelming his outnumbered offensive line.

Accepting the dare, Ewers calmly faced the loaded box and shattered the Eagles’ man-to-man coverage, rifling precision passes – 5 for touchdowns – to his fleet-footed and soft-handed receiving corps.

Here’s how intimidated he was.

“I love it when they bring the heat,” he told the Fort Worth Star Telegram after the game. “It tells us that they don’t think we can beat them in coverage. It was a lot of fun.”

Said head coach Riley Dodge of his cool-headed signal-caller, “He didn’t panic.”

Revenge is sweet

This is the third year in a row that Carroll has ejected DeSoto from the playoffs. It bulldozed the Eagles 41-20 last year and whipped them 33-15 in 2017, both in the area round.

That avenges somewhat the 2012 regional finals game between the two rivals in SMU’s Ford Stadium. The Dragons were reigning state champions with the redoubtable Kenny Hill at quarterback.

It was a classic matchup, hard fought and bruising until literally the last second of the game. The Dragons, trailing by 4, fought their way inside the Eagle 5, where Hill was stopped three straight times as time expired.

I still say he made it over the goal line on the final play, but the *!%$# refs disagreed, may they rot in … oh, well, never mind.

Carroll’s next opponent – either Arlington Lamar or Midland Lee – will be decided by their game this afternoon. If Lamar wins, we’ll be back at AT&T next Friday night. If it’s Midland – well, who knows? Please God, not a venue in the desolate west. Puh-leeze.

As for last night, DeSoto is drawing a lot of fire for its failure to adjust to the Dragons’ offensive success. True, it smothered Carroll’s ground game, limiting freshman phenom rusher Owen Allen to a mere 68 yards on 18 carries, many of those on the last Dragon scoring drive.

No answer

But it had no answer to Ewers’ air attack, sticking stubbornly to its concentration of forces at the line of scrimmage long after that strategy failed to stop the aerial bombardment.

Ewers finished the night with 363 passing yards, completing 18 of 28 passes for a 64 percent success rate. It was the second week in a row, and the third time this season, that Ewers has thrown for 5 TDs, and the fifth time he’s thrown for more than 300 yards.

As impressive as his performance was, equally satisfying was the success of the Dragon defense in stifling an explosive DeSoto offense that has averaged 44 points per game.

While Ewers was leading Carroll to a 17-0 lead, the first four Eagle drives ended in three punts and a turnover on downs. DeSoto quarterback Samari Collier (12-23, 121) was sacked repeatedly and under constant harassment.

Dragon defenders Brandon Howell and Dylan Thomas picked off two Collier passes, both in the end zone. Each resulted in eventual Carroll scores. For Thomas, who has made four interceptions in the last three games, it solidified his growing reputation as a ball hawk.

Only success

Collier’s only real success of the night came late in the first half, with the Dragons ahead 17-0 and threatening to put the game away. Facing a 3-and-4 at the Dragon 49, he broke free for a 39-yard dash to the 10. On the next play, he zipped the ball to Lawrence Arnold in the end zone.

The Eagles would score only once more, with 12 seconds left in the game, when Joshua Jackson sped 11 yards to the end zone against a sub-filled Carroll defense.

In post-game interviews, Dodge praised his squad’s achievement against a worthy foe.

“Our guys were just relentless all night versus a very explosive offense that put up a ton of yards and a lot of points against a lot of people,” Dodge told The Dallas Morning News.

To the Star-Telegram, he said, “Statistically, they’re the most explosive, and by yardage, the best in the area. We knew it was going to be a challenge for our secodndary, but I think we had a good night.”

The Dragons got off to a slow start, at least by the standards they’ve set this season, when on more than one occasion they’ve scored within seconds of the opening bell.

On a 12-play series, the overloaded Eagle D-line held Allen in check, and Ewers’ completed only 3 of his first eight passes. But thanks to a 24-yard reception by Wills Meyer and a 38-yard grab by defensive/offensive star R.J. Mickens, the Dragons fought their way to the DeSoto 4.

Never surrender

Two incompletions and a run for no gain later, kicker Joe McFadden booted a 22-yard field goal to hand the Dragons a lead they never surrendered.

After the Carroll D prevented the Eagles from venturing much beyond midfield on their next two drives, the Dragons fielded a punt on their own 24.

Two plays later, Ewers sailed a pass to Meyer, who charged 76 yards to the end zone. He was the Dragons’ leading receiver with 5 catches for 138 yards.

 Later in the half, Carroll would bolster its lead with a 30-yard TD pass from Ewers to speedster Brady Boyd (3-43), his first of the night. Boyd would add a second in the 4^th quarter, a 4-yard zing to finish out Dragon scoring.

Just as many of us were settling back in AT&T’s padded seats with satisfaction, DeSoto countered with its own TD, demonstrating it planned to make a game of it. With the Dragons nurturing only a 17-7 lead at half, most of expected a donnybrook the rest of the way.

Except it didn’t happen.

On DeSoto’s first series after halftime, Collier was sacked twice and the Eagles had to punt from their own 9. Taking over at the DeSoto 42, Ewers ran it to the 30, then hoisted the ball to Mickens, a Clemson commit, in the end zone.

With a 24-7 lead 2 minutes into the 2^nd half, the Dragons never looked back.

DeSoto would struggle in 15 plays to get near the Dragon red zone before turning it over on downs. The following Dragon drive ended with tight end Blake Smith making a dramatic 13-yard catch along the left edge of the end zone while somehow keeping his big toe in bounds.

Final drive

The final Dragon drive was set up by Thomas’ INT in the end zone and propelled by Allen’s first rushing momentum of the night. It also was aided by two personal-foul penalties by the increasingly frustrated Eagles and ended when Boyd bolted to his second TD, a 4-yard pitch from Ewers.

Next Thursday, most of us will sit down with family and friends to turkey and dressing, with cranberry sauce and sweet potato casserole on the side. The Dragons, however, will be on the practice field, getting ready for the regional semi-finals.

It’s both a Dragon goal – and a cherished tradition. Practicing on Thanksgiving means a deep run in the playoffs, and Carroll’s gridiron heroes have achieved that. With two pre-season goals down – a district title and Thanksgiving practice – only one remains: a state championship.

Such a delightful scenario seems a bit far-fetched, given the formidable obstacles ahead, which could include such juggernauts as Duncanville, Allen, Katy and North Shore.

But don’t count out completely this Dragons squad. Here’s what their coach says about them.

“They have that look in their eyes,” Dodge told radio announcer Chuck Kelly. “They play for each other. They’re special.”

Go Dragons!

Bi-District rout: Southlake Carroll 84, Lewisville 6

The blood of helpless lambs

To borrow a phrase, the Southlake Carroll Dragons announced their presence with authority last night in the 6A Division I playoffs.

They put on a stunning display of skill and dominance on both sides of the ball, setting a school record for points scored in a half (63-0) and tying a Carroll record for total points scored against an opponent. In raining 84 points on the humiliated Lewisville Fighting Farmers, Carroll tied the number of points scored by a 1988 Dragon squad against Whitesboro back in Southlake’s 3A heyday.

The thing to remember about this game is that the 7-4 Farmers – an athletic and well-coached team from a tougher district than 5-6A– are not as bad as the Dragons made them look. And let’s face it, they looked damned bad.

After all, this is the same team that scored 50 points against Lewisville Marcus last week. And its worthy quarterback, junior Taylen Green, has a strong arm and a cadre of speedy receivers. He’s also a purposeful and effective runner.

And yet the Dragon defense limited him to a negative 14 yards rushing and held the entire team to a paltry 49 total rushing yards. When Green turned to the air, the Dragon D continually harassed him as he sought to connect with receivers downfield.

Astounding receptions

The junior still managed to complete half of his 31 passes for 203 yards, and his receivers made several astounding receptions. But in the end, the Farmers were held scoreless until midway through the 4^th quarter – long after the Carroll defense had been taken over by substitutes.

Once they wash the blood of helpless lambs from their hands, the Dragons take the next step in their hoped-for goal of a record ninth state championship. For the fourth straight year, they’ll face the DeSoto Eagles in the area round. This is beginning to get tedious.

They’ll face the 9-2 Eagles at 4:30 p.m. Friday as part of a playoff double bill at Cowboys Stadium. That’ll be pretty rough for those of us who still work for a living. But it very well could be worth playing hooky to see. (Cough, cough. Gee, I feel a fever coming on…)

Carroll ran over DeSoto 41-20 last year with a team lacking the offensive firepower and defensive might that this year’s squad possesses. The eyeball test convinces me – and buddies more knowledgeable about the Xs and Os agree – that this team can play with anyone.

My-oh-my, wouldn’t I love to see a replay of last year’s fourth-round contest with Duncanville in the next couple of weeks. Payback for that dismaying ass-whumping would be delicious.

No pushovers

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The Eagles will not be pushovers, and I suspect they too would like a little payback for the 2018 shellacking at the hands of the Dragons.

Carroll players displayed little swagger after the lopsided score against Lewisville. Instead, they demonstrated a fierce focus on the task ahead, a result I strongly suspect of the mental conditioning they’ve received from head coach Riley Dodge and his coaching staff.

 “Tomorrow, we’re going to put this behind us and get back to work,” said wide receiver Wills Meyer (6-133), who caught two touchdown passes last night. “It’s definitely a great thing, but it’s just one step closer to our ultimate goal.”

Nobody expected the bloodbath that ensued last night. The first round is usually easy going for first-seeded teams like the Dragons. But everyone expected the Farmers to give a better accounting of themselves.

It got to the point where I was hoping that Carroll wouldn’t score again. That doesn’t happen very often, believe me. Come to think of it, it has never happened. Dodge admitted after the game that he was trying to keep scoring down. But restraining eager backups during their brief time in the spotlight is difficult – and even a little unfair.

“You approach a game like this, and you never expect an 84-6 score,” he told Dragon Radio. “Looking at this game, looking at the film, we really thought this was going to be the best team we faced this year. It got out of hand fast.”

17 seconds

The first hint of the tsunami to come arrived 17 seconds into the game.

After Carroll fielded the opening kickoff at its own 34, quarterback Quinn Ewers took the first snap of the night, dropped back and zipped the ball to speedy Brady Boyd.

Boyd, who would finish the night with 3 receptions for 94 yards, then bolted 66 yards for the end zone, ringing up the first score of the night before a good many tailgating Dragon fans had made it to their seats.

It wasn’t the first time Carroll has scored early against an opponent. In fact, this Dragon squad has made that its signature move.

Not to be outdone, the Dragon defense stepped up on the Farmers’ very next possession. After Carroll corner James Miscoll sacked Lewisville’s Green on his first play from scrimmage, Green sent a missile downfield. But Miscoll’s partner, Dylan Thomas, who grabbed two interceptions last week, intercepted the pass and raced to the Dragon 28.

Two plays later, Ewers connected with Meyer, who cruised into the endzone. And exactly 1 minute and 21 seconds from the opening kickoff, Carroll led 14-0.

At that point, I turned to the guy behind me and said, “This could get ugly.”

And indeed it did. I’ve seldom seen a Dragon opponent collapse so early and so completely, particularly in the playoffs. But the Farmers simply were overwhelmed, out-played and out-coached.

Carroll scored on 12 consecutive possessions, moving up and down the field with ease. On a couple of occasions, it scored TDs within a minute of each other.

The sophomore Ewers was superb, completing 85 percent of his passes (11 of 13) for 306 yards and 5 TDs.

First time on offense

In addition to Boyd and Meyer, Ewers also connected on TD passes to John Manero and R.J. Mickens, the latter on a 67-yard scamper that reminded us he’s a potent threat on either side of the ball. Last night was the first time he’s lined up for the offense all season.

Freshman running back Owen Allen (11 carries for 177), who turned 15 two weeks ago, had a phenomenal night, shredding the middle of the Farmer D-line again and again, chewing up huge chunks of yardage and making four touchdowns. His stats would have been even more impressive but for a penalty call that negated a 50-yard TD run.

Also participating in the Dragon scoring binge were reserve running backs Cade Wood, who carried 8 times for 86 yards, and Jack Abram (3-58), playing in his first game since the Odessa Permian matchup. Backup quarterback Hunter Holden, a junior playing in his first varsity game, scored Carroll’s final TD, a 6-yard dash in the 3^rd.

Lewisville finally crept onto the scoreboard midway through the 4^th quarter, with the Dragons leading 84-0, when Green engineered a nice drive against Carroll’s attack squad, eventually connecting with Tony Thomas on a 49-yard TD pass. But kicker Julian Perez missed the extra point, an apt punctuation mark perhaps to the Farmers’ playoff debacle.

A final point

One final observation. There was some grumbling in my section of the green seats when Carroll, then leading 42-0 in the 2^nd, booted an onside kick that the Dragons recovered around the Farmer 38.

Some folks nearby questioned what they saw as an effort to run up the score against an outmatched foe and darkly predicted it would only invite retaliation by Lewisville.

The onside kick occurred after a personal foul penalty against the Farmers – on the Dragons’ scoring play that featured a 57-yard reception by Meyer – had advanced the kickoff tee to the Lewisville 45.

It hadn’t been the first extracurricular activity directed at Dragons by Farmer players obviously smarting from the brutal ass-kicking they were receiving.

McFadden could easily have booted the kickoff into the end zone, making any penalty yardage meaningless. Some of us saw the onside kick as Dodge’s message to the Lewisville bench that actions against his players would have consequences.

If that was in fact the explanation for the onside kick, it didn’t work. Or did it? The Farmers committed several personal fouls on the kickoff play, resulting in a 30-yard walk off and the Dragons taking possession at the Lewisville 8-yard line. On the next play, Allen crashed over to bring the score to 49-0.

On the ensuing kickoff, Carroll kicker Joe McFadden was knocked over, drawing a roughing the kicker flag against the Farmers. They began that drive on their own 9.

Actions have consequences.

From here on, the road gets steeper and the competition gets tougher. Whether this team can make it all the way is anyone’s guess. I asked a friend of mine, a clear-eyed realist who normally eschews Dragon green-colored glasses, “Are we this good, or are they that bad?”

He answered immediately, “We’re a good team.”

Go, Dragons!

Undefeated season: Southlake Carroll 49, Keller Timber Creek 8

Warming things up

KELLER – I-I-I-It was a miserable 41 degrees at kickoff last night, with a stiff 20-mph wind whipping out of the north to make life wretched for the hardy few of us who showed up to see Southlake Carroll and Keller Timber Creek wrap up their regular seasons.

But once the game started and Carroll exerted its will upon the beleaguered Falcons, things warmed up a bit – at least on the Carroll side of the house.

Both coaches downplayed the weather as a factor. Indeed, with the exception of a couple of miscues that might be blamed on the cold, the Dragons quickly asserted themselves, leaving the Falcons to twist helplessly in the not-unsubstantial breeze.

The Dragons finish the 2019 season with a perfect 10-0 record, the second consecutive year they have done so. That hasn’t happened since 2005-2006, during Carroll’s heralded – and hallowed – Run of state titles.

Is it a coincidence that head coach Riley Dodge played on both those championship teams, carrying the Dragons in 2006 to their fourth state trophy in five years?

Perhaps. But what can’t be questioned is that the 31-year-old Dodge enjoys the best start of any head coach in Southlake Carroll history, crafting back-to-back undefeated seasons in his first two years as a head coach.

As usual, Dodge was low key about his stunning accomplishment, keeping the focus on his players and praising their hard work and dedication.

“It’s a great way to end the regular season,” he said simply in a Dragon Radio post-game interview. “They worked hard for this, and they can enjoy being district champions.”

The playoffs!

The focus for the Dragons turns immediately to the playoffs. By virtue of their first-seed finish in District 5-6A, they will host the second-seed Lewisville Fighting Farmers of District 6-6A in the bi-district round at 7 p.m. Friday.

Carroll players clearly had their eyes on a bigger prize than their unsullied regular-season record.

“We had three goals at the beginning of the season,” said Cade Wood, who staged a stunning 67-yard TD run in the 4^th quarter to finish scoring for the Dragons. “To win district, play after Thanksgiving and win state. We accomplished the first of those goals tonight. It’s feels great to achieve something that you’ve worked all season for.”

The Dragon defense shined brightly last night, crushing any attempt by Timber Creek to get something started. It held the Falcons to minus-10 total yards during a first half that saw Carroll roar to a 35-0 lead.

Timber Creek could manage only a paltry 17 rushing yards the entire night and fared only a little better in the air. Quarterback Jason Akers completed 12 of 26 passes for 110 yards, most on Creek’s only scoring drive that ended in a 37-yard pass from Akers to Jefferson Hutchinson midway through the 4th.

Timber Creek failed to make a first down until the third quarter, and only after the Dragons started wholesale substitutions on both sides of the ball.

Run for his life

Akers ran for his life all night, his timing disrupted and unable to establish any semblance of rhythm. He threw three interceptions, and backup Colt Gayor threw one.

Dragon corner Dylan Thomas seemed to be everywhere, snagging two Akers throws and taking both to the house, the second on an electrifying 67-scamper that rewarded Dragon fans who remained after a sizeable half-time exodus.

Dodge showcased the play of his defense in evaluating the Dragons’ lopsided victory.

“The defense played lights out,” he said. “We got, what, four interceptions? And we ran two of them back for touchdowns? That’s great execution.”

The Dragons’ balanced offense was on full display last night. On the initial Dragon drive, the Falcons managed to bottle up Owen Allen, Carroll’s freshman phenom running back, so quarterback Quinn Ewers switched to the air, eventually connecting with Wills Meyer on a 19-yard TD pass. He tossed a second TD pass for 16 yards to John Manero in the 2^nd period.

But Carroll never gave up on the run, and Allen, a tough, dogged runner, finally got on track, finishing the night with 25 carries for 125 yards and 2 scores. On the Dragons' first scoring drive in the second quarter, he carried the ball 10 straight times to move Carroll almost the length of the field.

Ewers completed 6 of 12 passes for 89 yards, a bit below his usual output. He fumbled the ball on the goal line at the end of one 1^st-quarter drive, ruining a scoring opportunity set up by a Brandon Howell interception of an errant Akers pass. However, Thomas’ 30-yard pick-6 on the subsequent Falcon drive helped redeem the sophomore’s mistake.

Good news

There also was good news on the injury front. Nose guard Quinten Bunten returned to the lineup, where his disruptive presence contributed to Dragon defensive dominance all night.

And just in time for the playoffs, junior running back junior Kannon Kadi, out with a leg injury since the Odessa Permian game, was back, running 11 times for 28 yards.

Carroll now has a trio of sturdy rushers – Allen, Wood and Kadi – to bolster an offensive arsenal that features a talented and experienced receiving corps. To survive in the tough and deadly Division I playoff race, it’ll need all the firepower it can muster.

If Carroll survives its first-round matchup with Lewisville, which it should, its route through the playoffs from there could look very similar to its passage last year.

Likely second-round opponent would be DeSoto, which fell to Cedar Hill last night in a 28-27 heartbreaker that decided the District 7-6A championship. If it defeats the Eagles, Carroll could then face Euless Trinity in the third round and mighty Duncanville in the fourth.

Those were, in fact, the Dragons’ second-, third- and fourth-round opponents in 2018. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Time will tell

My meager prognostication abilities take me no further than the fourth round. Can the Dragons equal their phenomenal first season under Riley Dodge’s leadership? Can they go all the way?

I dunno. But consider this. By most accounts, this Dragon squad is more talented than last year’s team. It’s disciplined and focused, and many of these kids have been playing together since grade school. They are a family in almost every sense of the word, and they don’t want the trip to end.

The same can be said, of course, for other Dragon teams over the years, perhaps for most of them. But these kids seem different. More committed to each other. More mature. More confident. Is that what Dodge and his staff have contributed to the program? Has the Dragon mystique returned after years in hibernation or exile?

Time will tell. Meanwhile, glory be, it’s the PLAYOFFS!

Go Dragons!