A loud noise amounting to nothing
Please note: This post has been edited to correct inaccurate information about the Sept. 16 game. Apologies.
SOUTHLAKE – Southland Carroll’s pre-district schedule ended
on a high note last night.
And I'm not talking about the noise coming from the visitor’s
side of Dragon Stadium, where the Cedar Hill Longhorn Marching Band was making
a damned nuisance of itself.
On the field, the
Longhorns, now a disappointing 0-3 for the season, were rendered largely
speechless by a merciless Dragon team, which now sails into District 4-6A with
a spotless record.
Carroll head coach Riley Dodge told The Dallas Morning
News he couldn’t be happier with his team’s hot 3-0 start.
“We still have a lot of things to clean up, but we
accomplished what we wanted in non-district,” he said. “We got a lot of
questions answered, so I really like where we are at heading into district.”
Carroll capitalized on a series of Longhorn miscues, running
roughshod over the Cedar Hill defense, limiting the proud Longhorns to a single
score, then rudely stuffing the Longhorns’ curious attempt at a 2-point
conversion. They trailed 40-6 at that point.
Operating behind his superb offensive line, Southlake quarterback
Kaden Anderson (9-13, 116 yards) passed for three touchdowns, one each to
receivers Jacob Jordan, Clayton Wayland and James Lehman.
Running amok
Lehman rushed for an additional TD, as did star running back
Owen Allen, who rolled to 109 yards on 11 carries, and junior backup
quarterback Parker Thompson, who closed out Dragon scoring late in the game with
a 17-yard sprint behind a substitute front line.
Even kicker supremo
Tyler White got into the act, booting a pair of field goals, including a
48-yarder early in the first period to begin Carroll’s march through Cedar
Hill’s finest.
Dragon defensive leader Cade Parks was everywhere, providing
the spark for the surging Carroll D. He recovered a couple of Longhorn fumbles
and spent more time in the Cedar Hill backfield than starting quarterback
Anthony Edwards. Parks and his comrades kept Edwards (9-21) on a short leash,
holding him to a puny 71 passing yards.
From where I sat, it looked like Longhorn running back
Jaylen Jenkins had a decent night, scoring Cedar Hill’s lonely score. Then I
looked up his stats. He gained only 38 yards in 14 carries. Pitiful for him,
brilliant for the Dragon D.
“We played lights
out defensively,” Dodge told The News. “The defense gave our offense
short fields all night, so we didn’t have to do a whole lot. Sometimes it
doesn’t have to be flashy or cool; you just have to get the job done.”
At times, the Longhorn looked completely hapless. After a
3-and-out on their first possession, their kicker flubbed the punt, setting the
Dragons up on their own 43.
Cedar Hill managed to hold the Dragons to White’s field
goal, but Edwards quickly fumbled the ball on the following first snap from
center. While Cedar Hill managed to fall on the ball, Edwards was sacked on the
very next play.
Heavy pressure
Forced to punt, the Cedar Hill kicker, under heavy pressure,
folded again, and the Dragons started their next drive on the Cedar Hill 49. They
extended their lead to 10-0 after Anderson connected 14 yards with Lehman in
the end zone.
Cedar Hill then seemed to come out its coma momentarily. On
its next series, Edwards led his team into the Dragon red zone, despite the
harassment his receivers were getting from Dragon defensive back Logan
Lewandowski.
They got as far as the Carroll 5 before the Dragons dug in
and pushed them back. But when the Longhorns attempted a 26-yard field goal,
Carroll lineman Wyatt Duffy blocked it and fell on the ball at the 25. Allen
took over, capping a bruising series of runs with a dramatic 34-yard surge in
which he broke free of the enveloping arms of a Longhorn defender and staggered
another 10 yards to the Cedar Hill 27. From there, Anderson found Jordan in the
left end of the end zone.
Now leading 17-0, the Dragons never looked back.
Cedar Hill, on the other hand, couldn’t seem to tell its backside from the hole it was digging for itself.
When it began its next drive from the Dragon 25, Edwards
promptly fumbled the ball, which Parks claimed as his own. The Dragons were
forced to settle for a 36-yard field goal by White, extending their lead to
20-0.
But Carroll’s beatdown was far from over. The next play, in
fact, harkened back to the days when Todd Dodge, father of Riley, was Southlake
coach. The elder Dodge promoted the idea of “killing the will” of opponents by
piling on the points until he broke their spirit. It was a factor in the four
state championships he brought to Carroll.
Dad’s philosophy
The younger Dodge is known to espouse his dad’s philosophy,
and he demonstrated it last night.
On the next kickoff,
White sent an onside kick squibbing Cedar Hill’s way, and the race for the ball
was on. The Longhorns initially fielded it, but in the subsequent scrum, Dragon
Michell Paulson ended up with it.
Five plays later, Allen took it 8 yards for yet another
Dragon score. To add insult to injury, Carroll tried for a 2-point conversion,
the kind of knife in the gut the senior Dodge would have loved. It failed, but
when the half-time buzzer rang, the scoreboard read 26-0. Carroll had made its
point.
Now, a few words bout the damned Longhorn band.
It didn’t show up at Dragon Stadium until the end of
the first half, whether because of traffic or merely bad planning.
As a result, perhaps it felt it had to made up for its tardiness.
Or perhaps that’s just the way it performs at all Longhorn games to give
support to the team, distract its opponents and inspire its fans. I don’t
attend those games so I don’t know. Frankly, I don’t care.
Full volume
What I do know is that during most of the second half, the
band, seated in the western section of the visitor’s side of Dragon Stadium,
blasted one freaking song after another at full volume, mostly when Carroll had
possession of the ball.
I probably sound like that crusty old coot who’s continually ordering the neighborhood kids off his lawn. And I know, I know it’s not uncommon for a team’s band to offer musical support from the stands. Like most fans, I love it when the Carroll band gets involved in the game.
But most programs refrain from deliberate attempts to impact
play on the field. They moderate the volume or don’t perform at all when play is
in progress on either side of the ball. Not last night.
The Cedar Hill band fully intended to be painfully loud. To
be utterly obnoxious. To be totally irritating.
Mission accomplished.
I was only mildly put out at the boorish behavior until the
visitors launched another full-throated number that completely overpowered the
Dragon band’s version of “Hey, Baby,” a popular signal of another Dragon
victory.
THAT, pardner, was a step too far.
It wasn’t a coincidence or merely an unfortunate example of
bad timing. It was an in-your-face f-you to our kids on the field and their
parents, relatives and friends in the stadium. It showed, in my opinion, a
definite lack of class.
Cedar Hill has a rough road to travel as it enters district
competition. District 11-6A is one of the state’s toughest, including
powerhouses like Duncanville, DeSoto and the Mansfield schools. Given the state
of its program at this point in the season, Cedar Hill is likely to get
battered unmercifully.
My friends and family know that I believe in kharma – what goes
around comes around. If I’m right, the Longhorns, bless ’em, could be headed toward
a needed lesson in humility.
As for the Dragons, they begin district play next Friday, meeting Keller Timber Creek in Dragon Stadium. It's Homecoming, folks, and that means mums -- and plenty of 'em. Forget the days when mums could be pinned on your date's blouse.
These days, many of the girls need sturdy ropes to hang them around their necks. John Prine said it best: "It's a big old goofy world."
Go Dragons!
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