A brag without much power
On paper, Wolfforth Frenship looked pretty intimidating.
Frenship emerged from District 2-6A – the modern-day version
of the legendary Little Southwest Conference that dominated Texas high school
football in the 1960s and ’70s – with a share of the district title and only
two loses: a squeaker against Odessa Permian and its season opener against
Lubbock Coronado.
Until they met their betters last night in the second round
of the UIL 6A Division II playoffs, the Tigers averaged 432 total yards a game,
thanks to an explosive offense led by dual-threat quarterback Hudson Hutcheson
and his two 1,000-yard receivers, Tate Beeles and Leyton Stone.
All things considered, Frenship could legitimately regard itself
as among the cream of the crop of West Texas programs.
As it turns out, that’s a brag that doesn’t hold much power
these days.
It took only the first Tiger possession to reveal the ugly
truth. The cream of the West Texas crop sours rather quickly when confronted by
the premier programs of Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and Houston areas.
Caging the offense
With brutal efficiency, the Southlake Carroll Dragons
dismantled Frenship, caging its heralded offense and daring its overwhelmed
defense to stop Owen Allen, the Dragons’ irresistible force.
Did the Frenship D rise to that challenge? You be the judge.
Against the Tigers, Allen rushed for 149 yards on 14 carries
and scored – wait for it – five touchdowns. That’s a remarkable
feat all by itself. But when you consider it’s the second time this season he’s
done it, well, that’s enough to give you the vapors, ain’t it?
Allen averaged almost 11 yards a carry, but his most
crowd-pleasing moment came during Carroll’s second scoring drive. After the
Dragons pushed into Frenship territory, a procedural penalty knocked them back
to the 50. From there, quarterback Graham Knowles handed the rock to Allen, who
darted around the right end and outraced the Tiger secondary to the end zone.
And the senior was just getting started. Allen would add
scoring runs of 5, 21 and 12 yards before retiring for the night at half-time.
As much as I enjoyed seeing Allen embarrass the Frenship
defensive line, I understand the reason for his early departure. The Dragons
are fortunate they can afford – at this point in the playoffs – to rest their
most important offensive asset to keep him fresh for the treacherous road
ahead.
Nobody really expected the Tigers to carry the day against
the Dragons. They were heavy underdogs. But I don’t think many expected them to
fold up like a card table with a bad leg, either.
Unfolding disaster
Signs of the unfolding disaster came early for Frenship.
Quarterback Hutcheson was sacked by Carroll lineman Dustan Marks on the first
play of the game. It would be the first of six sacks Marks would make last
night.
Although Hutcheson recovered sufficiently to guide his team
into Dragon territory, the drive ended when a Dragon defender snatched an
errant pass and gave Carroll the ball at its 46. That’s when Allen took over,
marching the Dragons to the 1 before bullying into the end zone to begin the scoring
avalanche.
The Dragons would score on all seven of their first-half possessions,
taking advantage of the excellent field position they enjoyed all night. They carried
a 42-7 lead into the dressing room. Carroll punted only once, and then got a
new set of downs on a roughing-the-punter call.
It was that kind of night.
Knowles managed the Dragon offense with his usual steady
hand. While the Carroll game plan called for Allen, and still more Allen,
Knowles got his licks in, completing 10 of 11 passes for 173 yards.
Jacob Jordan was excellent as well, handling kickoffs and
leading the receiver corps with 3 catches for 82 yards. Interestingly, his only
TD came on the ground, the result of a pitchout from Knowles, which Jordan took
25 yards to the house. Plug this kid in anywhere. He’s a baller.
When the Dragon offense wasn’t slapping around its High Plains
opponents, the defense was busy nullifying, stupefying and generally
mystifying the Frenship offense. Hutcheson managed to complete 21 of 30 passes
for 284 yards, a respectable night’s work. But it all amounted to nothing much.
The Dragons blunted the Frenship offense and rampaged through its defense at will.
He was sacked 10 times by the Dragon D, which spent almost as much time in the Tiger backfield as Hutcheson did. It also forced one interception and three fumbles, although it fell on only one.
As mentioned above, Marks was a rampaging beast, but his brilliant
performance was aided and abetted by outstanding effort from his defensive comrades,
who easily turned in their best game of the year. And for this bunch, that is
saying a lot.
Under a pile
The Dragon D held Frenship to a modest 279 total yards, well below its usual output. the Tigers' rushing yardage stood at -30, a result of
Hutcheson spending much of the night under a pile of Dragons.
Hutcheson’s highlight reel won't include any plays from
this game, save perhaps one.
Near the end of the first half, after the Dragons had
cruised to a 35-0 lead, Hutcheson began the ensuing Tiger drive by completing a
73-yard pass and run to Leyton Stone (3-118), which landed Frenship on the
Dragon 5. Three plays, Hutcheson found his brother, Landon (12-116), in the
end zone.
The score gave shivering Tiger fans something to cheer about
– oh-so-briefly – as they endured the icy West Texas wind sweeping across San
Angelo Stadium. Frenship would manage one more score, a 34-yard TD pass from
Hutcheson to Stone (3-118) in the final seconds of the third period.
That was long after Carroll had cleared the field of its
starters to give its backup players some time in the limelight.
These kids, sometimes
referred to as “the 2s and 3s,” are the stalwarts who labor largely unheralded
to prepare the starting squad for each game. Also known as the action squad,
they are an essential – but too frequently overlooked and unappreciated –
ingredient in Dragon success.
Head coach Riley Dodge understands their value and works
hard to spotlight their contributions. And to let them know how essential they
are.
It’s a lesson he learned at the knee of his father,
legendary coach Todd Dodge, who led Carroll to four state championships in five
years in the early 2000s. And it’s a lesson Riley’s predecessor, Hal Wasson,
sadly never learned.
Given a chance
After the game, the younger Dodge spoke of his ability to
give his secondary players a taste of gridiron glory, a luxury not often possible
in the post season.
“At this point in the playoffs, you don’t anticipate that
you’ll have this kind of opportunity,” he told Dragon Radio. “But our guys went
out and got the job done tonight so we were able to do it. It was awesome.”
For their part, the backups did themselves proud.
Running back Davis Penn, who like Allen is starting his
varsity career as a freshman, scored on a 3-yard run during the Dragons’
opening drive of the second half. I expect we’ll be seeing a lot of this
youngster in coming years. It’s clear the coaches have their eye on him and
have been giving him an opportunity to stick his toe in the water during the
last couple of games.
Backup quarterback Parker Thompson, a junior, also got into
the scoring act. The tall and lanky Thompson, a facile and elusive runner,
warmed up the Dragon side of San Angelo Stadium with blood-pumping TD runs of
67 and 41 yards.
Lord, this kid is fun to watch. When he gets the chance, he
makes the most of it. And while his achievements occurred long after the game
was decided, he was running against Frenship starters.
In between Thompson’s electrifying runs, senior Todd Mallory
also added to Carroll’s massive lead with a 3-yard bolt to the blue.
Four TDs by backup players. You don't see that very often. Maybe ever.
A confession
(I feel the need to confess. I passed up the long trek to my
old West Texas stomping grounds in favor of watching NFHS Network’s live stream
of the game. I had to endure the play-by-play commentary of two San Angelo
yahoos, who were painfully inept and ill-informed, but I did so in the warm
comfort of my home office. For the hardy souls who did venture west, they were
treated to frigid blasts of mist-filled wind and a nighttime drive home on
lonely West Texas highways. No thanks. I’m an old man and should start acting
like it.)
And so the Dragons have achieved another of their seasonal
goals. The first was to win the district championship. Done. The second was
still to be playing on Thanksgiving. That, too, has been accomplished.
The Dragons will face the McKinney Lions next Friday at
Choctaw Stadium, the new moniker for old Rangers stadium. McKinney breezed past
Dallas Jesuit to reach the third round. They won’t have as easy a time with the
Dragons.
As for the final goal – a state championship – we’ll have to
wait and see. It won’t be easy, but good things rarely are.
Happy Thanksgiving, all. And go Dragons!
Your inner sportswriter keeps revealing himself in such good form. That lead photo, too, is great. You and I could gave made some yards through a hole that size.
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