Spectacular performance
The Southlake Carroll Dragons demonstrated with brutal
efficiency last night the reason they’re ranked the No. 1 Class 6A Division II
program in Texas – and one of the nation’s best.
Propelled by quarterback Angelo Renda’s spectacular
performance, the Dragons systematically dismantled the over-praised San Angelo
Central Bobcats in the area round of the 6A Division II playoffs.
Carroll now advances to a third-round faceoff with the
Prosper Eagles (11-1), who defeated Richardson Berkner last night 50-24.
It probably won’t be a blowout like last night’s clash
turned out to be. Prosper is a quality program whose only loss was a 31-30
squeaker against Allen.
Outclassed and outgassed
The outclassed 8-4 Bobcats, on the other hand, entered
the playoffs after an up-and-down season in which they lost to district foes Abilene,
Midland Lee and Odessa Permian. One of their eight wins came when Amarillo was
forced to forfeit.
The San Angelo-based announcers fielded by the NFHS
Network to call the game worked hard to portray Central as a top-shelf program determined
to regain its status as one of the state’s premier football teams.
But it didn’t wash. The outcome of last night’s
playoff mismatch was never in doubt. And their amateurish homerism – streamed
to an Internet crowd that included as many Dragonheads as it did Bobcat
fanatics – made them, and NFHS, look ridiculous and unprofessional.
When the bedraggled Bobcats – facing Dragon
substitutes – finally managed to get on the scoreboard in the final quarter,
the announcers’ giddy response made me cringe. The score following that much-celebrated
touchdown? 59-7. Puh-leese!
That meaningless score was the first touchdown
Carroll’s stubborn defense had allowed an opponent since the 57-7 Dragon slaughter
of Justin Northwest on Oct. 17.
First-team Carroll defenders kept the Bobcats well in
check. They limited Central to 291 total yards, while Renda and
company were rolling to 729. Bobcat runners could manage only a paltry 150
hard-won yards.
Bedeviling Smith
The Dragon D bedeviled Central quarterback Micah Smith,
smothering his receivers and intercepting him three times – four if you count a
pick-6 by Luke Bussmann negated by a penalty. Other Dragons picking off the
harassed and harried Smith were Parker Harris, Robbie Ladd and Brody Bourgeois.
For instance, as the second quarter opened, with
Carroll holding a 14-0 lead, Central’s O-line collapsed and Dragons swarmed
Smith, sacking him behind the line and forcing a fumble.
On the very next play, Renda sailed a 49-yard pass to
Brock Boyd (8-139, 2 TDs), who calmly cruised into the end zone. It was the star receiver's second TD of the night, after he opened Dragon scoring with a 31-yard reception.
Kicker Gavin Stranger soon added a 27-yard field goal
to the Carroll lead. Renda then closed out Dragon scoring in the first half
with TD passes to Brody Knowles (3-71), for 36 yards, and Blake Gunter (7-68),
for 16.
For Renda, it was a glorious night to be a Dragon.
Everything he touched turned to gold. He completed 23 of 28 passes (a stunning
82%) for 366 yards and five touchdowns.
True, he also tossed an INT (in the end zone, no
less), but Bussmann got it back for him three plays later.
Renda also was the Dragons’ leading rusher, carrying
the rock eight times for 91 yards. Most of his runs were planned keepers. But
on a couple of occasions, his quick feet and elusive moves kept him out of the
clutches of desperate Bobcat defenders.
Furious onslaught
The second half offered no letup in the furious Dragon
onslaught. On its first possession, Carroll moved to the Bobcat 42. Then Luc
Jacquemard, normally a sure-handed receiver, lined up in the backfield, seized
the ball from Renda and raced down the right sideline to the goal line,
widening the Carroll lead to 45-0.
Head coach Riley Dodge, going for the Bobcat jugular, ordered
an onside kick, but Central managed to cover the ball, for all the good it did.
Stopped cold, the ’Cats punted, pinning the Dragons at their 14. Renda methodically
moved his team to the Central 6, where Davis Penn (8-68) darted untouched into
the end zone. Score 52-0.
Three plays into the next Bobcat drive, Smith threw the interception snagged by Bourgeois. On the first play from scrimmage, Renda
handed off to Gunter, who like Jacquemard was taking a turn at running back.
The junior, noted for his determined, hard-driving
runs after catch, bolted 43 yards to the end zone. Score 59-0.
The final period saw widespread substitutions by Carroll.
That decision contributed no doubt to Central’s only successful drive of the
night. After the ’Cats fought their way to the Dragon 26, Smith lofted a TD pass to Jimmy Edwards.
Carroll responded immediately. On the second play of
the next possession, backup quarterback Preston Perazzo handed the ball to
backup runner Gavin Gooden, who rumbled 59 yards to the end zone.
End of scoring
Perazzo later ended Carroll scoring with a 6-yard toss
to backup receiver Cade Holmstrom. The final: a humiliating (for Central, at
least) 72-0.
“It was really complete – in a lot of ways,” Dodge
told Fort Worth Star-Telegram sportswriter Charles Baggarly. “We took
what they gave us, defensively. Once again, I thought we played lights out. Our
One Defense hasn’t given up many points this year.”
Dodge said the Dragons succeeded in getting the ball
to their playmakers.
“We kept it simple,” he told Baggarly. “Being okay
with 4 yards and understanding that those 10-, 20-yard explosions were going to
come.”
And come they did – leaving the West Texans beaten, bruised
and bleeding.
In making it to the third round of the playoffs, the
Dragons have achieved the second of their three yearly goals. The first was to
win district. The second was still to be in the playoff hunt on Thanksgiving (the
holiday practice is a cherished Dragon tradition). Done and done.
That leaves only Goal No. 3, the most important one of
all: To win a state championship.
The road from here only gets rockier. If the Dragons
get past Prosper, they could face either Denton Guyer or Byron Nelson in the
regional finals (Round 4). And if they leap that hurdle, DeSoto could be
waiting for them in the state semi-finals (Round 5).
For the Bobcats, the hunt is over, a bitter pill that
doesn’t go down well with a program that back in the day struck fear and envy
into the hearts of every team it faced.
Return to glory?
NFHS' San Angelo homers spent a lot of hot
air last night, when they should have been calling the game, yacking about
the prospects of Central – and other members of the so-called “Little Southwest
Conference” like Abilene, Midland Lee and Odessa Permian – returning the region
to its rightful place in the forefront of high school football.
Such a development ain't likely – frankly, it’s
a ludicrous idea – for a variety of reasons I won’t go into here. As a result,
the bad blood brewing on the dusty plains of West Texas likely will continue to
bubble, with no satisfaction in sight.
One of the NFHS announcers observed with a
chuckle that West Texas teams don’t particularly like Metroplex teams. In fact,
he said, “They hate them.”
It’s easy to understand why. Suburban Dallas-Fort
Worth teams like Southlake regularly kick the snot out of West Texas squads that
once ruled the roost. Long may the trend continue. If that sounds harsh, I’m
sorry. (Not sorry!)
You see, I still remember the arrogance and distain
showered by the bullies of the Little Southwest Conference on my hometown of
Big Spring, the district’s perennial cellar-dweller.
Old wounds heal slowly. And some don’t heal at all!
Go, Dragons!
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