Stopped short: Southlake Carroll 44, DeSoto 57

Davis Penn heads for the end zone during yesterday's losing effort against the DeSoto Eagles.

A titanic slugfest

It turned out to be the titanic slugfest everyone expected it to be. And it came down, as it inevitably must, to a single play. And a controversial one at that.

But in the end, Southlake Carroll’s dogged pursuit of a ninth state championship came up short yesterday at that hands of a DeSoto Eagles juggernaut that surged from behind to defeat one of the best teams the Dragons have fielded in many a year – maybe ever.

I’m not saying the Eagles didn’t deserve the win. They played magnificently, made the plays they had to make and showed determination, disciple and desire when it counted. They’ll give the Houston C.E. King Panthers all they can handle when the Class 6A, Division II state championship is played in AT&T Stadium next Saturday.

The Dragons, bless ’em, came close. Oh, so close. But that only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. So it goes.

The semifinal contest was everything a late-round playoff game should be – a thrilling, back-and-forth shootout between two of the state’s premier programs.

DeSoto, which has spoiled Southlake hopes before, signaled its intention to do so again by jumping to a 7-0 lead with a 56-yard TD pass from quarterback Legend Howell to Courtly’on Jackson (10-136).

Dragon QB Angelo Renda (19-39, 282 yards, 5 TDs) answered promptly with TD throws of 58 and 44 yards to splendid junior receiver Blake Gunter, who ended the contest with 111 yards and four scores.

Roaring back

With the Eagles trailing 14-7, Howell roared back in the second period with a 1-yard TD pass to Ethan Feaster (4-106) to tie things up. He performed superbly, completing 20 of 27 passes (74%) for 344 yards and three TDs. He rushed five times for 49 yards and another score.

Blake Gunter charges toward one of the four touchdowns he scored against the Eagles.

Renda responded to his rival with a 6-yard toss to Gunter and a 22-yard zipline to Brody Knowles (3-50, 1 TD), giving the Dragons a 27-14 lead at the break.

Kicker Gavin Strange opened the second half with a 42-yard field goal. But Howell kept the Eagles within striking distance with a 56-yard pass to Sarod Baker (38-366, 3 TDs), the Eagles’ rushing phenom who would take control of the game in the decisive final period.

After Renda regained the 16-point Dragon lead with a 3-yard pass to the ubiquitous Gunter, Howell scored from 28 yards to make it a single TD game after Baker’s successful 2-point conversion.

Momentum shifted dramatically toward the Eagles in the fourth. Jordan Stevens intercepted a Renda pass and ran 85 yards for a touchdown. Another 2-point conversion by Baker knotted the Division II powerhouses at 37-37.

But not for long. After fielding the Eagle kickoff at the Carroll 40, Renda handed the ball to Davis Penn (12-202), who raced 60 yards untouched to the endzone to send Carroll ahead 44-37.

That’s when Baker, who Carroll's besieged defense had been unable to stop but kept out of the end zone except for that passing TD, finally cut loose.

He tied things up by churning 41 yards to the end zone. Then, after Carroll was forced to punt the ball away, he carried the Eagles to midfield, where Howell hit Feaster with a 49-yard pass to the Dragon 1. Baker’s ensuing dash across the line sent DeSoto into a 51-44 lead with almost 7 minutes to play.

The high-scoring matchup then devolved into a defensive struggle, as the Dragons labored to regain the initiative. They turned the ball over on a failed 4^th-down attempt, then forced DeSoto to punt the ball as time dwindled away.

Aided by DeSoto penalties, the Dragons clawed their way to the Eagle 2. After three thwarted attempts, they faced a 4^th-and-goal with only 11 seconds left.

Desperate dash

Renda wanted to pass, but with his receivers covered, he was forced to make a desperate dash for the end zone. Confronted at the line by a swarm of Eagles, he fought to push his shoulders across.

Quarterback Angelo Renda is stopped short of the goal line in the closing seconds of yesterday's game.

A line judge signaled a touchdown, and Dragonheads heaved a sigh of relief that the game appeared to be headed for overtime and another shot at victory.

But the referees huddled and ultimately decreed that Renda had been stopped short. Four seconds remained on the clock.

In the chaos that ensued, an Eagle player was called for shoving an official and kicked out of the game. (He’ll sit out the state title match.) Offsetting unsportsmanlike-conduct calls were issued against the Eagle bench and against a Dragon player who had thrown his helmet down in dismay.

Finally, the two teams lined up for the last time. Baker took the handoff from Howell and – to the disgust of Dragonheads everywhere – loped 99 yards to score the final slap in the face.

57-44. An insult added to soul-jarring injury. What a bummer.

No explanation

After the game, a surprisingly composed Riley Dodge told Charles Baggarly of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he was never given an explanation from officials on why the initial call of the line judge had been overturned.

“I was proud of our kids,” Carroll’s head coach told Baggarly. “We are going to win and we are going to lose – with class. The kids laid it on the line. You couldn’t ask for anything else.”

So ends the Dragons’ season and their quest for another state title. They had all the ingredients for success this year, but the football gods have decreed yet again, “Not this year.”

And with that, I end this final report on the 2025 Dragon season. Like all Dragonheads, I’m disappointed, mostly because I know how distraught the young Dragons are. They are a remarkably dedicated and close-knit group of kids. More than a few of them have played football together since they were in grade school.

For them, the defeat marked the breakup of their family – a family forged in competition and hard work and dedication to a common goal.

They’re heart-broken, but not permanently so. They’re young and resilient and have their whole lives ahead of them – lives of promise and joy and fulfillment.

This, too, shall pass. With it, I hope, will come illumination and understanding. As I tell the journalism students I teach at the University of North Texas, you can learn as much – actually you can learn much more – from your failures as you can from your successes.

For now, it’s time to embrace the season. Happy holidays to the Southlake Carroll Dragons – and to all of those who love them.

Go, Dragons! 

 

DeSoto running back Sarod Baker led the Eagle victory, scoring four touchdowns in yesterday's semifinal playoff game.

Another step forward: Southlake Carroll 51, Denton Guyer 19

 

Junior Brock Biggers cruises into the end zone on one of his two TD runs against Denton Guyer.

Muscling their way in

The surging Southlake Carroll Dragons – wielding a blistering offense and a stiff-necked defense – overwhelmed with surprising ease yesterday a feisty and belligerent Denton Guyer squad to muscle their way into the semifinal round of the Class 6A, Division II playoffs.

Most Dragonheads, myself included, expected a desperate, hard-fought contest against the 11-3 Wildcats, who always have proved to be stout and dangerous foes.

And they were, at least in the early minutes of yesterday’s fourth-round face-off.

Despite those first-quarter fireworks, which had many of us squirming in our seats, the Wildcats wilted quickly before a Dragon onslaught led by quarterback supremo Angelo Renda, his talented receiver corps and a resurgent Davis Penn at running back.

The Wildcats, led by sophomore signal-caller Carter Morgan and his elusive and sturdy running back, Kaedyn Cobbs, simply couldn’t cope with a Dragon defense that has burned brightly in the caldron of the Texas high school playoff race.

“That defense, they worked their tails off during the week and in the film room,” head coach Riley Dodge told The Dallas Morning News’ Myah Taylor in a post-game interview. “We’ve got a lot of buy-in right now.”

The buy-in is paying off, as the young Morgan discovered to his dismay. He’s got a bright future with the Wildcats, but not yesterday – and not against a Dragon team with a laser focus on a ninth state title.

On paper, Morgan looked pretty impressive. He completed 16 of 33 passes for 269 yards and a TD. Despite the numbers, Carroll’s swarming D limited the sophomore’s effectiveness, sacking him several times, disrupting his timing and keeping him scrambling for most of the contest. He fumbled at least three snaps, two of which were recovered by Dragons.

Scorched-earth offense

Guyer’s vaulted rushing defense – which before yesterday had limited the offenses it had faced to an average of 60, or much less, yards per game – wilted before Carroll’s scorched-earth offense.

Penn rushed eight times for 161 yards and a single touchdown. But his impact on the game was much greater since he regularly threaded the Guyer front line to help set up junior Brock Biggers’ second-quarter TD runs of 19 and 7 yards.

Meanwhile, Renda, a Pitt commit, sent a series of well-aimed throws to his ace receiving corps, completing 10 of 16 passes for 235 yards and two TDs. He also rushed six times for 39 yards.

Parker Harris, 6, muscles Wildcat receiver Alex Warren to the ground during yesterday's playoff clash with Denton Guyer. 

In the early going of yesterday’s showdown, however, Dragonheads had to endure a bad case of the heebie-jeebies.

After an opening Carroll drive that lasted only five lackluster plays, the Dragons were forced to punt. But Zac Hays’ kick was blocked by Wildcat defender Caleb Fowlers, and Guyer landed on the Dragon 8. Two plays later, Cobb darted 6 yards to the end zone, but the Wildcats failed to convert the PAT.

Carroll responded quickly enough. On the second play of the ensuing drive, Renda hit a racing Brock Boyd (3-116) in stride, and the Ohio State commit raced 74 yards to the end zone. Gavin Strange kicked the PAT, and Carroll edged into a narrow 7-6 lead.

That didn’t last long. Guyer roared back, with Cobb rumbling 33 yards to the Dragon 40. From there, Morgan launched himself through the Dragon line and sped untouched to a go-ahead TD.

Struggle to midfield

Carroll could only struggle to midfield, where it faced a 4^th-and-15. Time for a little Dragon trickeration. The ball was snapped to Dragon utility player Parker Harris, not to punter Hays, and Harris took off downfield instead.

The fakery failed miserably. Harris, last week’s bright and shining star, managed to make it to the Guyer 40, well short of the first down. The confident ’Cats lined up, determined to widen their razor-thin 13-7 advantage.

And they did. Almost. Five plays later, Morgan carried the ball 22 yards across the goal line. That’s when the earth began to shift underneath Guyer. A holding call wiped out the TD, and the Wildcats ill-advisedly tried and failed to convert a 4^th-and-16.

The Dragons took over on the Guyer 32. Penn ran for 16, and Renda pitched a 21-yard pass to Boyd. Perhaps sensing a subtle shift in momentum, Carroll indulged in a little razzle-dazzle: ball to Renda, Renda to Boyd, Boyd back to Renda, who then hurled it 31 yards to Luc Jacquemard in the endzone.

Thus began a 38-point unanswered scoring run by the Dragons, in which they took control of the game and slammed the door on Guyer hopes.

 “I think we weathered the storm early,” Dodge told the DMN’s Taylor. “They didn’t flinch all night, especially early in the ball game. They just stayed steady. But we’re very capable of doing that.”

The second period was punctuated by Biggers’ TDs on successive drives. With less than 2 minutes left in the half, with the Dragons ahead 28-13, the Wildcats staged a desperate drive downfield. They got as far as the Dragon 19, where the Carroll defense asserted itself.

A menace

Linebacker Marcus Brouse, a menace all afternoon, sacked Morgan at the 29. With 8 seconds left on the clock, the Wildcats lined up for a 46-yard field goal. But they faked the kick, and the Guyer runner was shoved out of bounds.

Time had run out for the Wildcats – in more ways than one.

The pace slowed in the second half, with Gavin Strange’s 31-yard field goal the only score by either squad in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, the Wildcat offense sputtered and stalled. Its first drive ended in a failed 4^th-down attempt, as did its second. The Dragons – behind Penn’s strong running – moved to Guyer 7, where Harris – a fierce presence on both sides of the ball all day – sprang up the middle to paydirt. Carroll now held an insurmountable 38-13 lead.

Give credit to the Wildcats – they were no quitters. On the next kickoff, the receiver grabbed the ball at the 2 and rolled 97 yards before Gavin Strange, the kicker, made a TD-saving tackle at the Dragon 1.

That’s where Morgan – beaten, battered and bruised – fumbled the snap, and Harris – now playing defense – fell on it.

Renda and company then could get no farther than the 39, where Carroll punted the ball away. But Morgan again fumbled the snap a after soul-jarring collision with Brouse. Lineman Crawford Taylor snatched up the ball and took it 30 yards for the score.

Angelo Renda looks for a receiver downfield as a Guyer defender closes in.

Morgan would redeem himself somewhat when he culminated a long, tortuous Wildcat drive with an 8-yard TD pass to Zaye Rowe. It was the first Guyer score since the first quarter.

After a failed onside kick by Guyer, the Dragons ended scoring with Penn’s 1-yard TD plunge.

A critical point

After the game, Penn spoke to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Charles Baggarly about the mindset of the Dragons at this critical point in the season.

“Just keep improving,” he said. “Don’t get complacent. We won in the fourth round, but the job is not over. We still have two more games against great opponents. We’re still hungry. No complacency.”

That’s the right attitude, particularly in light of the Dragons’ next opponent. They’ll face the 11-3 DeSoto Eagles, another old and respected foe, later this week at a time and venue yet to be announced. The Eagles defeated the Willis Wildkats 60-41 yesterday to reach the semifinals.

This week’s contest will be a rematch of the 2023 state semifinal contest between Southlake and DeSoto, a clash the Eagles won 45-38.

The Dragons have reached the fourth round every year that Dodge has been head coach. That’s quite an accomplishment for the program and for Dodge.

He’s aware of the legacy he represents. His father, the legendary Todd Dodge, brought four state championships to Southlake. Riley Dodge played on two of those championship teams. He was the winning quarterback in 2006, his father’s last season in Southlake.

A special place

During his eight-year tenure, the younger Dodge has reinvigorated the program and brought it to the state finals twice, losing to his father in the COVID-era Dodge Bowl in 2020 and falling to Austin Vandergrift last year.

“This place has a special place in my heart,” Dodge said to Taylor of the DMN. “To hold the standard of this place has been a lot of fun.”

The secret to his success? I dunno.  I strongly suspect it’s his ability to connect with his players. To inspire and teach them about success. About integrity. About discipline and hard work.

If you listen to them, you begin to understand the dynamics of leadership.

“We go by a certain standard every day and that standard doesn’t change,” an ebullient Harris told the DMN. “The culture’s unbelievable.”

Go, Dragons!

Coach Riley Dodge holds aloft the regional final trophy for his exultant players to admire.