A rocky road with a few potholes
BEDFORD – The Southlake Carroll Dragons, shaking off a
first-half lethargy that had Dragonheads shifting uncomfortably on the hard
benches of Pennington Field, clinched their second consecutive District 4-6A
title last night – outgunning, out-coaching and generally out-classing the
dismal Hurst L.D. Bell Blue Raiders.
And while the end was never in doubt, the road to
victory wasn’t without a few rocks and potholes.
Missed tackles, dropped interceptions, off-target
passes, the inability to penetrate a mediocre Bell defensive line – you name it
and the Dragons endured it during that sloppy, sluggish and slovenly first
half.
The facts speak for themselves. Consider this embarrassing
factoid: With 5:50 left in the first half, the Dragons still were clinging to
an abysmal 7-0 lead against the lowly Raiders (5-3, 3-3). The score at the
halfway point: 14-0.
Oh, to have been a fly on the wall of the Dragon
locker room at the break. A safe bet would be that more than several Dragon
behinds this morning are resting not-so-comfortably on inflated donuts. (Wink,
wink; nudge, nudge.)
It did the trick
Whatever happened between coaches and players at
halftime, it did the trick. The Dragons came roaring into the third quarter
with fire in their eyes and murder in their hearts.
The hapless Raiders had to know what was coming and proved
helpless to stop the devastating Dragon mayhem.
Carroll quarterback Angelo Renda (23-29, 380 yards) needed
less than a minute and a half to march his team to the Raider 3. He launched a
flurry of pinpoint passes to his bevy of sure-handed receivers: a 7-yard
missile to Luc Jacquemard, a 14-yarder to Blake Gunter (4-92), a 30-yard arc to
Caden Mackey (4-53) and a 17-yard bolt to Brock Boyd (9-171), the leading
Dragon receiver.
At the 3, Renda called his own number and breezed
across the line.
He would score twice, both on the ground, becoming the
night’s second leading Dragon runner with 82 yards on five carries.
Interestingly, none of Carroll’s seven scores were in
the air. Not only that, but the two leading Dragon rushers were Renda and
dynamic receiver Blake Gunter, who ran twice for 86 yards and a touchdown. More
about that a bit later.
Renda’s second TD came in the all-important third
quarter, when a Raider punt had pinned the Dragons at their own 1. On the first
play of the drive, Renda swept around the left end and raced 46 yards down the
left sideline.
He then connected with Brody Knowles (4-33) for 11
yards and Boyd for another 10. After Penn fought his way to the 14, Renda went
the rest of the way himself, extending the Carroll lead to 35-0.
No scores through the air
Despite the anomaly that no scores occurred through
the air, the Dragons wielded their usual balanced assault against the Raiders.
They compiled 701 total yards, 395 by air and 306 by land.
The suffering Raiders could manage only 161.
Parker Harris, who usually lines up in the defensive
backfield, was added to the Dragons’ already bulging quiver of offensive arrows
last night.
Harris accounted for two Carroll scores, both
operating from the wildcat formation. The first came late in the lackluster
first half when he bolted two yards to paydirt after receiving a direct snap
from center.
The second, which came in the third quarter, was
overshadowed by a 55-yard catch and run by Gunter that set up a 3-yard dart by Harris,
once again operating out of the wildcat.
Gunter, a junior, is fun to watch. He has a knack for
getting open and running hard after the catch. Last night, he showed his
running prowess on two spectacular plays that left Dragonheads nodding their
heads in admiration.
During that third-quarter scamper to set up the second
Harris TD, Gunter shed Bell defenders on
three – or was it four? – separate encounters on his way to the Bell 3.
Gunter struggled desperately to stagger those remaining
3 yards, but the trio of Raiders clinging to his back and gripping his legs
denied him the glory. Trust me, though, his run and his titanic fight for those
last 3 yards – not Harris’ TD – will be what Dragonheads remember.
Later, in the final period, with the Dragons leading
42-0, Carroll launched a drive from its 25 after forcing a Bell punt. On the
first play, Gunter lined up in the backfield, snatched a lateral from Renda and
raced 75 yards to the end zone. Along the way, he outpaced a couple of Raiders
who looked like they had the right angle to intercept him as he ran along the
right sideline. Nope, he just quickened his pace and cruised into the end zone
safely.
Adding the wildcat
Dodge told the Mike Waters of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
that the Dragons added the Harris wildcat play during practice this week.
“Parker and the offense executed it perfectly,” he
said with satisfaction.
Harris was still a bit giddy about his offensive debut
when he spoke to Waters after the game.
“We game-planned that this week,” Harris said of the
wildcat. “And it worked in the game just like in practice.”
Davis Penn, the premier Dragon runner, scored two TDs,
carrying the rock 15 times for 66 yards. Injured badly last season, Penn has
been handled carefully by the coaching staff this season to facilitate his
recovery. His number of carries has been closely monitored.
Last night signaled his return to full-scale
operations, Dodge told Waters.
“The training wheels are off for David Penn,” he said.
“He’s full throttle ahead.”
“I feel great,”
Penn said to Waters. “I’m excited to part of this team. Full speed ahead. It feels
better and better each game.”
Penn played a key role in a razzle-dazzle play at the
beginning of the 4th quarter that sent the Dragons up by six TDs.
After Carroll got the ball on downs at the Raider 30,
Renda pitched the ball to Boyd in the backfield, who then tossed it to Penn
coming in the opposite direction.
Penn sped 25 yards to the 5 and reached paydirt on the
next play.
Staying for the third
For the first time all season, starters stayed in the
game until the beginning of the final quarter last night. But when the backups did
show up, they performed well.
Second-team defenders staged a dramatic goal-line
stand that stopped the Raiders on four successful plays inside the 10, coldly
denying them a face-saving TD.
Quarterback Preston Perazzo then led his action-squad
teammates downfield where he had them within 3 yards of an eighth TD when time
ran out.
In interviews after the game, Dragon players sought to
call attention to the final result, not the problematic first half.
“This was just a great team effort,” Boyd told the Star-T.
“The offense came out big in the second half, and our defense was lights out
the entire game.”
“The second half, our offense really came on,” Renda
said to Waters. “Our defense was amazing the entire game, but we played much
better offensively in the second half.”
According to the worthy Waters, this is the 31st
time the Dragons have won a district championship. That doesn’t seem like
enough titles to me, but I offer it up for your consideration, nonetheless.
Not season’s end
Even though the Dragons clinched the district crown
with yesterday’s lopsided victory, it’s not the end of the regular season. That
comes next Friday at Dragon Stadium when your hometown heroes meet the Keller
Central Chargers.
According to Waters, if the Dragons beat the Chargers,
and they should, it will be the 21st undefeated season for Carroll,
the sixth undefeated season in Dodge’s eight-year tenure as Soutlake head
coach.
If accurate, that’s a pretty impressive record,
wouldn’t you say?
For my money, the Dragons shouldn’t take the Chargers (5-3.
3-3) too lightly. Over the years, they have proven to be tough opponents upon occasion.
Not that the Dragons really have much to worry about.
They are too smart, talented and disciplined to get successfully jumped by a
team like Keller Central. And after last night’s uninspiring first-half
performance, I suspect the Dragons will be frisky and fierce for their final
regular season home game.
After all, who wants to need an inflatable donut to
sit on at Saturday breakfast?
Go, Dragons!
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