Once upon a time in Prosper
PROSPER – So it came to pass that the football warriors of
Southlake Carroll did travel to the far northern reaches of the Metroplex to
confront the high priests of Prosper, reigning mighty and unconquered within
the walls of their great cathedral.
There, on the elysian fields of Children’s Health Stadium,
grim and dreadful in its awful splendor, the Dragon warriors did smite the
Prosper Eagles, humbling them and ending their unsullied rule over North Texas’
burgeoning plain.
And it was good.
Uh, sorry. I still must be a bit overwhelmed from spending
an evening within the confines of the Prosper Eagles’ dazzling two-year-old
stadium, a $50 million facility that would do proud many a D1 college program.
Children’s Health is a beauty, all right, gaudy and a bit
over-wrought, perhaps, but still a striking symbol of Texas’ love of high
school football.
Flash and dash
But its flash and dash didn’t intimidate the Southlake bunch
very much. The Dragons staged a brilliant defensive effort that choked the life
out of the Eagles’ high-flying, high-scoring offense, inflicting a shameful
shutout to a team that had been averaging 48 points a game.
The Carroll D forced three interceptions and a fumble,
scored one of the Dragons’ four touchdowns and held Prosper to only 41
offensive yards in the entire second half. Coach Riley Dodge said it not only
was their best performance of the year, but of many a year.
“Defense was a point of emphasis this week,” Dodge told The
Dallas Morning News’ T.J. Reid. “We had a great game plan. The kids worked
their tails off all week. When you are getting takeaways and scoring points on
the defensive side of the ball, that’s a huge momentum changer. The shutout is
important, but the win is more important than anything.”
Last night was the second week in a row that the defense has
made the difference. After allowing Rockwall Heath, considered one of the top
offenses in the state, more than 540 yards in last week’s 36-35 nail biter, the
Dragon D blocked a last-second field goal that would have cost Carroll the
game.
It performed better against the potent Prosper offense,
which rolled up 450 yards of offense last week in its 63-7 shellacking of Mansfield
Lake Ridge. The Dragons held the Eagles to only 170 total yards and were
unyielding after halftime.
Defensive standout
Dragon linebacker Nate Gall was a defensive standout. He
snagged one of Carroll’s three interceptions of Eagle quarterback Harrison
Rosar passes. Later, he sacked Rosar and set up another dramatic Dragon score.
Here’s how it happened.
As the end of the first half neared, with Carroll clinging to a 10-0 lead, Rosar and the Eagles fought their way into the Dragon red zone. Facing a 3-12 at the Dragon 15, Rosar desperately sought an open receiver. A blitzing Gall burst through the Prosper front and slammed into the quarterback, jarring the ball out of Rosar’s hands.
“I was the lead blitz and it just opened up for me thanks to my D-Line,” Gall said to the DMN’s Reid. “The quarterback had no idea I was there.”
A melee ensued as both teams scrambled for the ball as it scooted around in the Eagle backfield. Carroll defensive tackle Cade Park finally scooped it up at the 37, sprinting for the end zone as if pursued by stampeding wildebeests. He moves surprising fast for a Big Guy.
“We prepared so well,” Gall told the DMN. “We all came together as a whole. We really started playing as a team, playing together as a whole. It felt great.”
Even a 17-0 lead at halftime offered little comfort for the
Dragons.
Throughout the first half, the Prosper defense had been
successful in disrupting Carroll’s offensive plans. The Dragon 0-line had been unable
to protect quarterback Kaden Anderson from the blitzing Eagles, who sacked the
junior repeatedly. Meanwhile, the stingy Prosper D-line had held star running
back Owen Allen largely in check.
Forced to settle
Five plays into the Dragons’ first drive, a harassed
Anderson threw his first interception of the year. Even though defensive back
Josh Spaeth intercepted Rosar on the next Eagle drive, the Dragons were forced
to open scoring with a 41-yard field goal from Tyler White.
Adding to that meager total proved troublesome. Even after
defensive back Luke Ledbetter intercepted a second Rosar pass on the first play
of the 2nd quarter, the Dragons couldn’t capitalize and had to punt
after another Anderson sack.
With difficulty, they managed to fight their way into the
end zone midway through the 2nd , when Anderson – forced to play
without his favorite receiver, Landon Samson – connected on a 19-yard pass to
R.J. Maryland in the end zone.
We didn’t know it at the time, but a late-hit on Anderson
two plays before that scoring strike had caused consternation on the Dragon sideline.
Although the junior convinced his coaches to led him finish the series, he
never returned after the Maryland TD throw.
Radio commentators said he was yanked “out of an abundance
of caution” and was expected to return next week, as is Samson. Let’s hope so.
Both will be needed when the Dragons face the worthy Arlington Martin Warriors next
week in the first game of the season at Dragon Stadium.
With sophomore backup Caden Jackson standing in for the disabled
Anderson after halftime, the offensive scheme narrowed to the ground game, and
the burden shifted mainly to Allen.
Lengthening a streak
The junior, who’s been a starter since he was 14, proved up
to the task. Before last night, Allen had made two TDs in the last 5 straight
games and rushed for over 200 yards in the first two games of the season.
By the end of the night, he had lengthened one streak and
damned near extended the other, snaring a pair of TDs while rushing for 183
yards. Those two scores came in the 4th quarter, a 24-yard dash down
the right sideline and a 43-yard scamper set up by teammate Nate Call’s
interception.
The Prosper game also was the 18th time in Allen’s
career that he has both run for a TD and rushed for 100 yards.
As with most defensive fistfights, the Southlake-Prosper
affair lacked the snap, crackle and pop of many Dragon contests, dominated as
they often are with plenty of offensive fireworks. In his post-game radio interview
with Dodge, game caller Chuck Kelly alluded to the low-key nature of the game.
“It was kind of a blah game, wasn’t it, Coach?” he asked
Dodge.
“Heck, no!” Dodge quickly replied. “What do you mean blah? There’s
nothing blah about 31-0. If that’s blah, I’ll take blah anytime.”
Go Dragons!
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