District 4-6A champs! Southlake Carroll 73, L.D. Bell 7

 

The undefeated Dragons demolished an overmatched and under-gunned L.D. Bell.

A merciless beating

SOUTHLAKE – Well, it’s official. The Southlake Carroll Dragons are the champions of District 4-6A, thanks to the merciless beating they inflicted last night on the nearly helpless Blue Raiders of L.D. Bell.

That will come as a surprise to no one, particularly since the Dragons already had toppled the best that District 4-6A had to offer even before the Raiders had the misfortune to poke their noses into Dragon Stadium.

To recap briefly, the Dragons – in their first district game of the year – whipped reigning 4-6A champ Byron Nelson 33-21, then slipped past Euless Trinity 56-48 a week later. Only last week, they demolished the unbeaten Northwest Texans 48-7.

Last night, the poor pitiful Blue Raiders arrived in Southlake to face a Dragon team breathing fire and fixated on capturing the district crown. That accomplished, they can now proceed to the other two season goals for any Carroll team – a deep run in the playoffs signified by holding a practice on Thanksgiving Day and, ultimately, gloriously, finally, another state championship, their ninth.

Carroll quarterback Angelo Renda was chief fire breather against Bell. He completed 16 of 23 passes for 273 yards and two TDs.

Favored receiver

He threw three of those passes to favored receiver Brock Boyd, who returned two of them for touchdowns. The first was a 20-yard zinger that gave the Dragons their first lead with seconds left in the first quarter, and the second a 38-yard arc into the endzone midway through the second.

But Renda also was Carroll’s leading rusher against Bell, carrying six times for 90 yards and another score. His success on the ground, first unveiled this season in last week’s win over Northwest, comes just in time for the high-stakes, winner-take-all environment of the playoffs.

The rushing threat posed by the quick and elusive Renda on the ground is a welcome addition to an arsenal that lost a major asset earlier in the year when a knee injury felled star running back Riley Wormley.

A mobile Renda only adds to the embarrassment of offensive riches Carroll already enjoys. Junior running back Davis Penn, a Baylor commit, has developed into a potent force – fearless, rugged and hard to bring down. Against the Raiders, Penn rushed 11 times for 44 yards and two TDs.

Penn’s 6-yard dart tied things up in the first quarter after a long 75-yard Raider drive ate up a third of the clock. Facing a 4^th-and-2, quarterback Cameron Johnson barreled into the endzone to give Raider fans an ever-so-brief glimmer of hope.

That hope had been ground to dust by the time Penn, with only 25 ticks on the clock, rolled to his second score, a 1-yard dash across the line that gave the Dragons an unassailable 35-7 halftime lead.

Senior Christopher Glenn also is seeing additional duty in the backfield and has shown great potential. He was the Dragons’ second leading rusher last night, running six times for 76 yards and one score, a17-yard scoot into the endzone.

Not finished yet

Despite a four-TD halftime lead, the Dragons weren’t finished. Not yet. Not by a long shot.

Glenn’s TD and a 34-yard field goal by Gavin Strange were the only scores in the third quarter, a quiet precursor to what turned out to be a wild and woolly fourth.

Despite the game’s lopsided margin, Carroll did not appear to be trying to run up the score on a hapless foe. But how can a coaching staff in good faith put backup players in the lineup and then not expect them to play all out?

To me, it’s ridiculous even to think they should.

To their credit, Carroll coaches didn’t attempt to hold the backups in check. And the kids went for blood, on both sides of the ball. Not only did the defensive second team force an interception from Raider quarterback Aden Madsen, who replaced Johnson the starter late in the game, but it immobilized the Raider offense.

Offensively, the Dragons didn’t stop exercising their will over the bedraggled Raiders even after the second team began filtering into the lineup late in the third quarter.

Backup running back Sal Esposito was the third leading rusher of the night (7-60) and scored twice. Backup defensive back Taevin Kunz scored a pick-6 exactly 1 minute after Carroll had widened its lead to 52-7 when backup Jack McCaskill scooted 8 yards for the Dragons seventh (!) touchdown.

Here’s how ridiculous it became: In the final period, the Dragons’ second team, now in command of the field, scored 28 unanswered points.

Heart-clutching run

Four TDs! McCaskill’s 8-yard dash, Kunz’s pick-6, and Esposito’s two TDs, which included a heart-clutching 49-yard bolt to the endzone to end scoring for the night.

Beating up on an overmatched opponent may not be the best way to prepare for the playoff caldron ahead. Given their druthers, the Dragons probably would prefer to face a tough opponent who can challenge them and help them sharpen their claws for the post.

But in high school football, you play the opponent in front of you. And the Dragons have faced some worthy opponents this year in addition to creampuffs – I’m being rude, but you know it’s true – like the Blue Raiders, now 2-6 for the season and 1-5 in district.

Carroll faces another weak sister next week, when they travel to Keller to end the season in the dimly lit confines of KISD Athletic Complex.

Under normal circumstances, I’d say it won’t be much of a contest. And I doubt very much that the Chargers are looking forward to the encounter. But this is high school football, folks, and anything can happen.

That said, I’ll make a prediction: Head coach Riley Dodge will have his young charges fired up and ready to shake the foundations of Keller’s disgrace of a stadium. The Dragons ought to do the stingy folks of Keller a favor and knock it to the ground. But that’s just my opinion.

Go, Dragons!

One more game before the playoffs, and Dragonheads are ready!