Pre-district sweep: Southlake Carroll 31, Arlington Martin 7

 

Owen Allen smashed the 4,000-yard career rushing mark, and he's not near finished.

What’s the excuse this time?

SOUTHLAKE – To hear Arlington Martin head coach Bob Wager tell it – and tell it and tell it – Southlake Carroll’s dramatic 30-26 win over the Warriors in last year’s third round of the playoffs was a self-inflicted injury.

“We beat ourselves,” he said last night in a pre-game interview on Dragon Radio, repeating the mantra he chanted after last year’s defeat. “I mean no disrespect to Southlake Carroll’s team. I have a lot of respect for the Southlake program, and its team last year was brilliant, as all Carroll teams are. But the simple truth is that we allowed our emotions to get the best of us, and we committed too many penalties.”

It’s true that last year’s Warriors were a mouthy bunch who played dirty and pouted like spoiled brats when a stubborn Dragon defense refused to yield to a last-gasp comeback effort. I guess it’s too much to expect a Martin team to fess up to the simple truth – that in a hard-fought game, the Dragons remained disciplined, focused and professional. And oh, yes. They benefitted from the return of their five-star quarterback Quinn Ewers from injury just in time to face the Warriors. He would go on to lead the Dragons to the state championship game.

Make no mistake, the best team won last year.

And the best team won last night’s pre-district rematch, too – handily.

Desperate struggle

The Carroll kids remembered the desperate struggle last year and the Martin trash talk that accompanied it, and they prepared for the Warriors accordingly. The pre-game chatter they have come to expect from the strutting Martin crew provided added incentive.

“Martin is an amazing team and proud program,” Dragon running back Owen Allen told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Brian Gosset. “They have some hard hitters, but when you come to our house, talking the way they were talking, you’re going to get a beating on you.”

Sophomore James Lehman fights for yardage.
Allen ran for 163 yards and two TDs last night. His gritty determination against Martin’s stubborn defense pushed him over the 4,000-yard career rushing mark and was the seventh straight game he’s run for two scores.

Coach Riley Dodge heaped praise on his junior phenom.

“People will one day see it -- what we got,” Dodge told The Dallas Morning News’ Arianna Vedia. “We’re very blessed that he wears green, black and white.”

The most telling praise came from his quarterback, junior Kaden Anderson.

“When we need a big play, I know he’s going to go get it,” said Anderson, who had a stressful night, completing 11 of 23 passes for 196 yards and two TDs. But Martin’s pressuring defense hampered his timing and accuracy. Uncharacteristically, he threw two interceptions, both snatched up by Warrior defensive back Josiah Charles.

Open the door

 The Martin secondary succeeded in blanketing Anderson’s leading receiver, senior WR Landon Samson, who was held to a single reception. That left the door open for R.J. Maryland to have the best game of his career.

He caught six passes for 153 yards and two TDS. The first was a lofting 38-yard pass from Anderson into the left corner of the end zone in the closing seconds of the half. Maryland leaped with outstretched hands to grab the soaring pass, which gave Carroll a nervous 17-7 lead going into halftime.

His second score came late in the game, with the Dragons now leading 24-7, after the Warriors went 3-and-out against Carroll’s immovable front line. Anderson’s 63-yard bomb, which Maryland caught in stride and took to the house, erased any lingering doubts about the outcome.

To add insult to injury, Martin muffed Carroll’s ensuing pooch kick. The Dragons recovered at the Warrior 41, and that signaled the end of the night for the starters.

Like last year, the Warriors were their own worst enemies, committing four turnovers – three fumbles and a Ford interception -- and probably giving Wager more excuses for losing.

A critical series midway through the 2^nd quarter was telling.

Edging ahead

Martin had just edged ahead 7-3 when Anderson, working from his 31, tried to connect with a receiver at the Warrior 44. Charles, the Warrior defensive back, stepped in front of the ball and moved toward the end zone. Stopped short, he then arrogantly spiked the ball in front of a Dragon player.

R.J. Maryland goes high in the end zone for one of his two TD catches.
The following penalty set the Warriors up at the Dragon 22. Promptly moving to the 11, Martin called a running play, but Dragon defensive lineman Max Reyes punched the ball loose and linebacker Allan Kleiman fell on it at the 24.

Allen then rumbled 19 yards to the 43, struggling desperately for every foot. Anderson zipped a ball to Maryland, and he fought and clawed to the Martin 28. Two plays later, Allen burst through the middle and angled right 27 yards to the goal line. The Dragons led 10-7 and never trailed again.

Dragon defensive dominance was complete. It held the hard-charging Warriors to only 149 total yards. The capable Cydd Ford, who does everything for Martin, including return kickoffs, was held to only 59 passing yards.

The Warriors’ sole score came in the opening seconds of the 2^nd when Martin’s five-star cornerback Javien Toviano darted 4 yards across the line. That drive began when Carroll turned over the ball on downs after a failed 45-yard field goal attempt by ace kicker Tyler White. White had already nailed a 42-yarder to open Dragon scoring.

Linebacker Allan Kleiman, No. 15, celebrates his fumble recovery.
In Carroll's pre-district march, accolades have been showered on its defense -- with good reason. Linebacker Nate Gall lead a stellar cast last night, including defensive back Avyonne Jones and lineman Cate Parks. Last week against Prosper, Gall forced a fumble that Parks snatched up and carried to the house.

This week, Gall got the glory all to himself.

Excellent position

When a short Carroll kick gave the Warriors excellent field position at their 43, they moved efficiently to the Dragon 33. Ford then tossed a pass that Gall intercepted at his own 24.

Asked after the game which he preferred – to strip a caught ball from an opponent or to snag the pass himself – an ecstatic Gall didn’t ponder long.

“Both are pretty great,” he told Dragon Radio.

Radio color man Justin Padron, a former Dragon defensive star during Carroll’s famed run of state championships in the early aughts, said during last night’s broadcast that the Dragon defense is playing “state championship-caliber football right now.”

“I know it sounds strange to say that this early in the season, but it’s true,” he said.

Without doubt, much of the credit for last night’s win belongs to the defense, which has played a dominant role in the last three games – deflecting the winning field goal against Rockwall Heath and stoppering Prosper’s explosive offense last week.

But in honoring the defense, it would be wrong to overlook the development of the Dragon running game, thanks in large part to the remarkable  Allen, who as a junior is playing in his third year on varsity. As I’ve noted before, he joined the starters when he was a blushing 14.

He’s now passed the 4,000-yard mark after only 29 career games. He had to fight for every one of the 163 yards with which he’s credited against the Warriors.

Comfortable lead

A 98-yard scoring drive in the 4^th that gave Carroll a comfortable 24-7 lead illustrates the tenacity, dedication and skill of the youngster.

After fielding a Martin punt at their own 2, the Dragons faced a long field and a desperate Warrior line. At that point, a 10-point lead seemed precarious at best.

Anderson gained some breathing room with a keeper to the 11, then turned the game over to Allen. On successive runs, the junior pushed against stiff resistance to the 30, then the 39 and on to midfield and beyond. Leaving the game briefly to catch his breath, teammate James Lehman, a sophomore, fought to the 27 and on to the 17.

At that point, Allen reentered the game and, to no one’s surprise, finished the drive he had willed to completion.

“I’ve played with a whole bunch of coaches and a whole bunch of linemen, and different quarterbacks...I just trust my line, and when you do those things, 4,000 yards comes easy,” Allen said to the Star-T’s Gosset.

No one really believes that 4,000 yards comes easy in the UIL’s top division of high school football. This kid earned every inch of those yards. But I honor Owen Allen – in the first blush of victory, with the adrenalin pumping and amid his teammates’ celebrations – for saying it and believing it and living it.

Next up: District 4-6A play opens next Friday for the undefeated Dragons when they face the 3-1Trophy Club Byron Nelson Bobcats at Dragon Stadium. It’s homecoming, y’all. Make way for the mums!

Go Dragons!

Quarterback Kaden Anderson held steady despite heavy pressure and two interceptions.