On to the playoffs: Southlake Carroll 45, Keller Fossil Ridge 21

 

Here come the playoffs!

Taking care of business

(This post has been edited, and erroneous playoff information corrected. Apologies!)

The Southlake Carroll Dragons had little to play for last night when they took the field against the lowly Keller Fossil Ridge Panthers.

They already were District 4-6A champs and a top-seeded Division I team in the playoffs, which secured them a first-round home berth next Friday. In the chaotic last few weeks, they had swept their district foes before them with considerable ease, except for the Haslet Eaton Eagles, who put up a struggle before being strangled.

And now they faced a team winless in district with a new coach who had taken over the program in the midst of the COVID-19 crackdown and had been fighting for his life ever since.

Under those circumstances, its hard to believe – impossible, in fact – that Dragon players and coaches weren’t looking beyond last night’s matchup and considering the playoffs that await them.

But they didn’t look like it. Rejecting the lure of complacency, they took care of business with a vengeance. Helmed once again by senior Hunter Holden, standing in for the injured Quinn Ewers, the Dragon offense scored on its first six possessions. In fact, The Dallas Morning News reported that it took Carroll only 15 plays to amass a 35-0 lead by the early 2^rd quarter.

Credible statistic

I didn’t count ’em, but the dominance the Dragons demonstrated on the field makes that statistic not only credible, but inevitable.

During the scoring spree, the Carroll defense denied the Panthers a single first down and held them to negative yardage. At that point, the Dragons eased their foot off the pedal a bit, and the Panthers engineered a scoring drive that finally put them on the board. At the half, Carroll led 42-7, and the game was essentially over.

Fossil Ridge, who didn’t attempt a single forward pass during the entire game, would score twice more in the second half, but only after Carroll cleared the benches to give its seniors time under the Dragon Stadium lights.

One of those seniors, tackle Jack Cunningham, spoke of the excitement his teammates felt to get some playing time on their home field.

“There’s so much energy out here,” Cunningham told Dragon Radio. “Everyone is cheering for you. There’s really nothing else like it. Nothing.”

Honor and respect

Holden is an example of the value of treating backup players with honor and respect, something coach Riley Dodge’s predecessor never bothered to do, with predictable results. Holden flowered when he stepped forward for his moment in the sun.

He has kept the Dragons on track during Ewers’ absence, slipping seamlessly into his starting role with style and grace. That doesn’t happen by accident. It comes with proper training and motivation. Take away the careful preparation of backups to take over as starters – a hallmark of Dodge and his father, legendary coach Todd Dodge -- and the concept of “next man up” just doesn’t work.

 If, as expected, the brilliant Ewers returns next week for the playoffs, Holden will have left quite a final act for himself. Last night, he threw for four touchdowns and ran for another, completing 10 of 11 passes for 157 yards,

Haltom Buffalos are coming to town.

He would have gotten more, but Dodge – viewing the prostrate foe before him – took the opportunity to give his impressive sophomore quarterback, Kaden Anderson, some playing time.

In fact, Anderson (8 of 10, 94 yards) took the field for the Dragons’ third possession. He was joined by backup running back Kannon Kadi, who subbed for Owen Allen during the remainder of the night.

Anderson didn’t waste much time, lofting a 39-yard pass to RJ Maryland, who raced it to the end zone for his third TD of the game. Maryland caught only three passes all night – two from Holden and the last from Anderson – but all resulted in touchdowns on consecutive drives.

Caretaker role

Holden would return for the rest of the first half. Anderson handled the caretaker role from there.

Kicker Joe McFadden provided the only real diversion for Dragon fans during the desultory second half. When an Anderson-led drive stalled during the final period, McFadden booted a 48-yard field goal, his longest of the season.

By virtue of its District 4-6A championship, Carroll will host its first playoff game at Dragon Stadium against the Haltom Buffalos (5-4, 5-2 in District 3-6A). If it wins that contest, and it surely should, it probably will face a team from my past, the legendary Permian Panthers.

The Panthers (7-2, 5-1 in 2-6A) captured the district crown in the West Texas district known in my youth as the Little Southwest Conference, falling only to the Abilene Eagle in district play. They aren't the formidable juggernaut they were years ago, however, and the Dragons have defeated them handily in more recent matchups. If we get past Permian, Carroll could face Arlington Martin in Round Two and, if they're still pumping and jumping, perhaps the Allen Eagles or Euless Trinity Trojans in Round Three. 

Beyond that, well, who knows? Best to focus on the opponent before them and let the rest come as may. Suffice to say, a rugged road lies ahead, but then, it always does in Division I.

Loaded with talent

Division I, the UIL’s big-school category, always is loaded with talented, well-coached teams. It will take luck as well as skill to survive that gauntlet all the way to state.

Carroll certainly has the offensive firepower to make the journey with Ewers and his receiving corps and with the hard-charging Allen. But can its under-sized defense, although vastly improved from the beginning of the season, corral the offensive behemoths of Division I?

That remains to be seen. Carroll has captured lightning in a bottle before so who knows what can happen. Realistically, however, the odds are long.

It was chilly in Dragon Stadium last night, and only a relatively sparse crowd braved the cold for the prospects of a blowout. But it was good to be back in my green seat. COVID and some family responsibilities have prevented me from attending many games this year. I didn’t realize how much I had missed them until last night.

With the darkest days of COVID ahead, I hope we can get through the playoffs without disruption. They’ll already stretch beyond Christmas for perhaps the first time ever.

But worrying about it won’t help, so let’s focus on the first round. It’s the Dragons versus the Buffalos next Friday in Dragon Stadium. What fun!

Stay safe everyone, and … Go Dragons!