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 4th-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 4th-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!
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