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 4th 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 2nd
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 2nd 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!
No comments:
Post a Comment