Dragon defenders scramble to cover a loose ball during their shutout performance.
How good are they?
COPPELL – The Southlake Carroll Dragons continued their unassailable
march through the UIL 6A Division I playoffs yesterday, shattering with
impunity the potent offense of the Lewisville Fighting Farmers and strangling mercilessly
the Farmers’ sturdy defense.
Having swept aside with distain their opponents in the first
three rounds of the playoffs, the Dragons now face the first true test to
determine just how good they really are. Most of us who have watched them
battle to a 13-0 record would judge them pretty damned good.
That belief will be tested when Carroll faces the Allen
Eagles at 2 p.m. next Saturday in UNT’s Apogee Stadium.
And while the 11-2 Eagles are having what is considered for them
to be a down year, they showed their potential for murder and mayhem yesterday by
destroying a solid Euless Trinity squad 59-21.
Allen, having digested the Trojans like a roasted
Thanksgiving turkey, will not have as easy a time with the Dragons, not if
Carroll puts on the defensive and offensive show that it displayed yesterday at
Coppell’s Buddy Echols Field.
The Farmers had hoped in vain to avenge the 84-6
obliteration they suffered at the hands of the Dragons in the opening round of
the 2019 playoffs. And while they fielded a better team than the one dismantled
by Carroll two years ago, they still were slaughtered like kittens. (Apologies
to cat lovers for that grisly image.)
The Dragon D shut out a powerful Farmer offense that had
been averaging almost 40 points a game. Dragon defensive backs Avyonne Jones and
Logan Anderson performed superbly, pacing a defense that limited the Farmers to
89 rushing yards (on 31 carries) and 64 passing yards.
Coming into the game, Lewisville’s talented running back,
Oregon State-bound Damien Martinez, had rolled up 1,660 rushing yards and 26
touchdowns. He had 200-yard games four times this season. Against the Dragons,
Martinez could manage only a paltry 52 yards on 16 carries.
Lewisville’s 4-star wide receiver, Armani Winfield, until recently
committed to UT, entered the game with 60 catches, 961 yards and 8 TDs. But
Jones and company held him to only six receptions and 45 yards.
Disruptive juggernaut
Carroll’s special teams were magnificent, forcing the
Farmers into a series of costly mistakes that derailed promising drives and
handed the opportunistic Dragons great field position all afternoon. One punt
was blocked, another attempt ended in a fumble recovered by Carroll.
Head coach Riley Dodge heaped praise on the disruptive
juggernaut that is the Dragon defense.
“We’ve been outstanding all year, just very consistent,” he
told The Dallas Morning News’ Greg Riddle. “It’s a group that trusts
each other, who understand what the pieces to the puzzle are. It’s a veteran
group that has played a lot of football together. They continue to get better.”
Better? Holy moly,
what a prospect!
While the defense was humbling the proud Farmers, who were
playing in their first 3rd-round playoff game since winning state in
1996, the Dragon offense hungrily was prowling Nichols Field with impunity.
Forced to punt on its first possession, the Dragons scored
on the next six (five TDs and a 45-yard Tyler White field goal). Junior
quarterback Kaden Anderson had perhaps the best game of his young career,
throwing four TD passes for the first time in one game, while amassing 130
yards in the air on 13 of 20 attempts.
He targeted R.J. Maryland (5 for 102) for two scores and
Landon Samson (3-34) for another pair. Maryland began Carroll’s scoring spree
with the most spectacular catch of the afternoon. Racing for the end zone,
Maryland stretched high for a soaring Anderson pass, tipping the ball with his
fingers into a one-handed grasp as he crossed the goal line.
The debacle continues
The next Dragon scoring drive was set up when Logan Anderson
blocked a Farmer punt at the Lewisville 32. Six plays later, Samson, tucked
into the extreme left corner of the end zone, nabbed an Anderson throw.
Lewisville faced a 3-and-out on the next drive, and punted the ball to Jacob Jordan, who sped 51 yards to the Farmer 27. That’s when White, 9 for 10 in field goals this year, booted a 42-yarder to hand Carroll a 17-0 lead. Unfortunately for the miserable Farmers, the debacle showed no signs of easing.
Lewisville turned the ball over on downs during the next
drive. From their 35, the Dragons marched downfield behind powerful running
star Owen Allen. He moved the ball to the Lewisville 17, where Anderson again found
Samson in the end zone.
The Dragons ended the half with a 24-0 lead. Allen finished
the night with 29 carries for 128 yards, just 30 yards short of the seasonal
2,000 rushing mark.
Despite time to regroup, Lewisville’s troubles continued in
the 2nd half, when a Farmer drive stalled at its 48. Lining up for a
punt, the kicker instead threw a pass that ended a yard short. Working from his
41, Anderson eventually hit Maryland at the 10, and the Boston College commit,
with two Farmer defenders clinging to him, fought his way into the end zone.
The very next drive lasted only two plays before Martinez
coughed up the ball, and Carroll recovered at the Farmer 33. An incomplete pass
to James Lehman, who returned to the Dragon lineup after an extended injury convalescence,
and four rushes by Allen later, the junior phenom gained his only TD of the
evening, extending the Dragon lead. And to add insult to injury, the Farmers
fumbled on the next punt attempt, vividly illustrating the disarray into which
the Farmers had plunged.
There would be 2 final Dragon scores, one of them a 60-yard drive powered entirely by Lehman, whose welcome return gives the Dragons a speedy and adroit counterpoint to the hard-driving Allen. And finally, a 55-yard TD sprint by backup Maddux Reid ended the slaughter.
This is the fifth straight year that Carroll has reached the
regional playoff round, the ninth time in a dozen years. But it yearns for a
ninth state title to end the 10-year drought since its last championship.
To the promised land?
It came close last year in the much-hyped Dodge Bowl. The
Dragons, coached by Riley Dodge, fell to the Austin Westlake Chapparals,
coached by Riley’s father, Todd Dodge – who, by the way, led Southlake to four
state titles in five years during his legendary tenure as Dragon coach.
Will this be the team to lead the Dragon faithful to the
promised land once again? Maybe. But the next big hurdle standing in the way
will be the Allen Eagles.
When Allen and Trinity faced off yesterday, many of us
expected a rerun of last year’s shootout between the two powerhouses, a 49-45 second-round
squeaker won by Trinity, largely thanks to a standout performance by rushing star
Ollie Gordon, who ran for more than 400 yards.
But this year, the Eagles were ready. They held Gordon to
only 138 yards and no TDs, twice stopping 4-and-short plunges by Gordon that were
key to the Eagles jumping to a 38-7 halftime lead.
The Eagles also have a dual-threat sophomore quarterback who rushed for 2 TDs and threw for another. There has been a lot of loose talk about how erratic Allen has played this year. What happens on Saturday, say some sages, will depend on which Allen team suits up.
There’s also history to consider.
The Eagles and Dragons have met six times in the playoffs. Southlake
has won every contest, including a heart-stopping 35-34 win in 2009 when the Dragons
stopped a 2-point conversion in double overtime. I wasn’t the only person in Cowboys
Stadium that day who had tears in their eyes after that one.
On the other hand, in the teams’ last two contests, Allen
has won handily. So who the hell knows what to expect.
Keep the family together
All I can say is that I like this Carroll team very much. In
post-game interviews, Dragon players exhibited character, poise, grace – and a
spirit of teamwork and family that is impressive and inspirational.
In talking with Dragon Radio, Kaden Anderson directed
attention away from his 4-TD performance, pointing out he had things he needed
to improve. Then he spoke about the defense, stating how inspired he was by their
work on the field.
“I love to watch them play,” he said about his defensive
teammates. “They’re so good, it’s fun to watch them. They’re incredible.”
In another radio interview, Avyonne Jones credited the defense’s
success to the fact that it gets to practice against one of the state’s best
offenses. “They test us every day,” he said. “If we can be successful against
them, we can beat anybody.”
It’s like Dodge said in his DMN interview: These Dragons
understand how the pieces fit together to make a stronger whole. They truly do consider
themselves a family.
And why not? In some cases, these kids have been playing
together since Dragon Youth Football. They know that once the playoffs end –
whether in total victory or despair – their days as a family are over.
“We love going out there and doing what we can to try
continue and keep the family together as Coach Dodge always says,” Jones said
to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Darren Lauber. “Keep them together for one
more week.”
Go Dragons!
Owen Allen ran for 138 yards, just 30 shy of the 2,000-yard seasonal mark.
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