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!

Cruising to the playoffs: Southlake Carroll 56, V.R. Eaton 17

Take the ball and run with it

The best moment of the game last night between the Southlake Carroll Dragons and V.R. Eaton Eagles didn’t result in numbers on a scoreboard, but it’ll be remembered by those of us who watched it long after the particulars of the Carroll-Eaton mismatch are forgotten.

Late in the 4^th quarter, with backups at almost every position, the Dragons were on their own 23, struggling to keep possession and run out the clock so we all could go home and get warm.

That’s when senior running back Jack Crafton took a handoff from quarterback Davis Clapp and headed for the end zone, accompanied by a gaggle of Dragons. When he reached it, he was mobbed by his teammates, who pounded him on the back, slapped him on the helmet and gloried with him during his moment in the spotlight.

Take it to the house

What was so unusual about a Carroll running back taking it to the house, generating a melee of Dragons celebrating the success of their brother-in-arms?

Jack Crafton has Down syndrome. But he hasn’t let that stop him from contributing to the program he loves so much. He attends every practice, works his tail off like his fellow Dragons and suits up for every game. He is, in the words of his coach, Riley Dodge, simply another member of the team.

Earlier in the season, Crafton was put in for a single play. It was Dodge and his teammates’ way of acknowledging Crafton’s dedication and demonstrating what he’s meant to them.

But the head coach had something bigger in mind.

“We’ve been looking for an opportunity where we could give Jack a chance to make a touchdown,” Dodge explained after the game to Dragon Radio. “That opportunity came last night.”

Eaton coaches had to sign off on the play, Dodge said, and to their everlasting credit, they did. And they did so despite the desperate butt-whipping they were suffering at the hands of the Dragons.

“I went up to him and I said, ‘Jack, do you want to make a touchdown?’ " Dodge explained. "He immediately said, ‘Oh, yes!’ So we did it. I’m so grateful we could do this for him and for the team.”

So on Senior Night, on his last regular season home game at Dragon Stadium, Jack Crafton grabbed the ball and ran with it, surrounded by the brothers he loves and who love him. It was a moment to be proud to be a Dragon, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I had a hard time watching him cross the goal line through the tears in my eyes. I wasn’t the only one blubbering, either.

Short work

It was the perfect exclamation point to the Dragons' last home game in regular season. They made short work of the 4-5 Eagles, who were eliminated from the playoffs last night.

Carroll took only 21 seconds to score its first touchdown, a 6-yard scamper by quarterback Quinn Ewers set up by an ill-considered onside kick by Eaton on the opening kickoff.

Ewers had a great night, completing 21 of 32 passes (66 percent) for 265 yards and throwing TD passes to John Manero (5-98), Brady Boyd (4-81) and Meyer (10-44).

On the ground, he ran for another score while compiling 55 yards on 5 carries.

Freshman phenom Owen Allen also performed admirably, missing another 100-yard game by only 7 yards on 12 carries and making 3 touchdowns of his own.

Worth noting is the play of senior Blake Smith. He’s listed on the roster as a tight end, but he also lines up as a receiver. And last night, the Texas A&M commit made several key plays as a rusher, including a 3-yard push into the end zone in the wild 2^nd quarter.

The Eagles were overwhelmed from the opening kickoff and could only stare helplessly as Carroll scored on its first six possessions. During the Dragons’ third scoring drive, they made six consecutive first downs before Ewers connected with Boyd for a 19-yard TD pass.

 By the middle of the 2^nd quarter, Carroll led 42-0 and eased its foot off the pedal a bit, allowing the Eagles their first offensive breath of the night.

As a result, Eagle kicker Dakota Lamb booted a 44-yard field goal, and quarterback Braden St Ama lofted a 44-yard pass to receiver Charles Whitebear.

In the cool-names-of-players category, the Eagles were clear winners.

Eaton managed one more score in the fourth. With Carroll’s D-line filled with backups, Isaac Jones broke free for a 63-yard sprint that was the longest gain of the night for either team.

 The Dragons will finish out the regular season against the 3-6 Keller Timber Creek Falcons in another Thursday game at KISD Athletic Complex. The short week probably won’t make much difference to the Dragons, who are chasing their second consecutive undefeated regular season under Dodge and should make short work of the Falcons.

By virtue of their humiliation of Eaton last night, they’ll have top seed in District 5-6A’s Division I. As such, they’ll host the first round of the playoffs at Dragon Stadium. Guyer has locked up the top seed in Division II. Second seeds will go to Keller in Division I and Keller Central in Division II. We’ll deal with the playoff picture in more detail next week.

Lone Star Cup

Another significant event occurred last night that only partially concerned the football team. During halftime, the UIL presented Carroll with its seventh Lone Star Cup, an award the organization gives to the high school that ranks first in points compiled during the UIL’s competitive season in athletics, academics and the arts.

While the band formed the outline of the state of Texas, always an impressive sight, the scores of Carroll students who participated in UIL events – and thus were responsible for the award – gathered in the center.

The Lone Star Cup rewards excellence not in one sport or one event, but for the cumulative effort in all of them. It reflects the skill, creativity and hard work of an entire student body and teaching staff. Only a few schools win one. Southlake Carroll is tied for third in all-time wins.

“This was a great achievement,” Dodge said after the game. “I’m proud to be the head coach here. And I’m proud to be an alum. To be called the best athletic program in the state is a great honor. We just have to continue to work to be that.”

Go Dragons!