Game Day: Southlake Carroll 38, Richland 0

“Who are these guys?” a bewildered Southlake Carroll fan inquired last night as the end of the first half against the Richland Rebels neared.

It had been that kind of half, an uncharacteristically sloppy performance by the Dragons on both sides of the ball. If the normally high-flying offense hadn’t been in a coma during most of the first half, Carroll could have hung 50 on the hapless Rebels.

Instead, the score read 10-0 at intermission, and it took the high-energy, high kick routine of the Emerald Belles to bring Dragon fans out of their stupor.

When the Carroll squad was a few minutes late to the sidelines after halftime, some of us wondered if the delay had been caused by dressing-room tirades of both offensive and defensive coordinators aimed at their semi-comatose charges.

This kind of lackadaisical performance against Euless Trinity next week will be calamitous, indeed. Get lazy and soft against the Trojans, and they will hand you your head whilst kicking your butt before stepping over your twitching body to get a sip of Gatorade.

Of course, the Dragons know what’s at stake and will be ready for the Trojans, who come to Dragon Stadium next week for the game that most probably will decide who wins super district 7-6A. Both teams stand undefeated, and both squads respect and admire each other.

At least they did before they were placed in the same district. The extraordinary playoff rivalry that Trinity and Carroll have enjoyed in three meetings since 2006 has only enhanced the “hale-fellow-well-met” relationship. Yearly battles for district supremacy may transform the warm and fuzzy jabber into something else entirely. We’ll see.

But back to Richland, which had made some noise in district play, entering the Birdville Fine Arts/Athletic Complex last night with a 2-0 district record. Of course, those wins were against L.D. Bell and Haltom, both still winless in district.

But some of us feared this was a perfect trap game. It was easy to image the Dragons – coming off the emotional high of a close win over Coppell last week and with the Trinity showdown looming – could look past the Rebels.

That might be a problem, particularly since Richland’s top running back, Deandre Clark, had rolled up 200 yards rushing in each of its last two games. And when Carroll came out of the gate last night like a drunken OU or UT fan in downtown Dallas, we all shifted a little nervously in our seats.

But we needn’t have worried. Richland was overmatched in every category. Here are a couple of eye-opening statistics from the Carroll radio-broadcasting crew: The Rebels never managed more than one first down and never gained more than 17 yards on any of their offensive series. For his part, Clark only managed 20 yards, a little less than half of Richland’s total offensive gain: 57 yards.

The night belonged to the Dragons. RB Lil’ Jordan Humphrey was terrific, running roughshod over the Rebel D-Line while racking up 224 rushing yards and three TDs. Senior backup Deondre Wiltshire, Carroll’s speediest RB, came in at half and demonstrated why he should get more playing time, scoring two rushing TDs against the Rebel starters.

Quarterback Ryan Agnew, still wearing a leg brace from an injury in the Abilene game two weeks ago, showed a return to his pre-injury form in several scampers. Aloft, he completed 8 of 13 throws for 112 yards.

And let’s not forget backup quarterback Montana Murphy, who spelled Agnew at the beginning of the fourth. Murphy, Agnew’s likely successor next year, has a cannon for an arm, throws the long ball with good accuracy and ain’t a half-bad scrambler. We’ll be hearing a lot more about this lad, I’ll betcha.

Southlake fans, who probably outnumbered the Richland faithful in their own stadium, spent a lot of time last night checking weather radar on their cell phones. A cool wind kicked up the second half – dispelling the warm, humid air that had most of us sitting in sweat – but the rains held off until everyone was safely out of the parking lot and on the way home.

I choose to consider that a good omen for next week against Trinity. Go Dragons!

 

 

Game Day: Southlake Carroll 28, Coppell 24

When the final whistle had blown and the combatants had retreated to their respective corners of Dragon Stadium, either to celebrate hard-won victory or to commiserate near-run, heart-breaking defeat, I noticed an odd thing.

Yellow-shirted event staffers were lined up lengthwise down the middle of the field, forming a barrier of sorts between the players and fans of the Southlake Carroll Dragons and Coppell Cowboys.

It wouldn’t have taken much to breach that thin defensive line, to be sure, but it stood as a symbol of the past and present animosity that the Dragons and the Cowboys hold for each other.

Last night’s entry into the longest-running rivalry for both teams will do nothing to ease the competitive friction or soothe the mutual dislike.

The Cowboys, who along with Denton Guyer are the only teams to beat the Dragons on their home turf since Dragon Stadium was built in 2001, gave Carroll the fight of its life. Only last-seconds heroics by battered quarterback Ryan Agnew, ace receiver Parker Fentriss and rugged RB Lil’ Jordan Humphrey saved the Southlake squad from a blemish on its unbeaten record, providing it with its first win in District 7-6A.

Coppell’s humongous offensive and defensive lines pushed Carroll’s Big Guys around all night. Its O-line, whose members clock in at 300+ pounds at every position, blew the under-sized Dragon defenders off the line and opened the way for Coppell’s smash-mouth running game.

Cowboy running backs Charles West and Brandon Rice had a field day – literally. West carried 25 times for 236 yards, running through, over and around Dragon defenders during spectacular touchdown runs of 69 and 67 yards.

Rice also was mighty good, carrying 19 times for 95 yards, but the real damage was inflicted by West. He looked all night like a man among boys as he broke tackles, eluded pursuers and outran the Dragon defensive backfield.

If that wasn’t bad enough, Cowboy quarterback Skylar Bonneau threw for 101 yards, almost exclusively to his favorite receiver, Obi Obialo, who snagged six for 89 yards.

Bonneau masterfully guided the Cowboys’ ball-control offense, dominating time of possession and limiting Carroll to only four possessions in each half. The strategy – based on the idea that the Dragons’ high-octane offense couldn’t score if it wasn’t on the field – was successful, up to a point. The Dragons trailed, 14-7, at half.

I worried our beaten and battered defensive line would be gassed by the end of the game, allowing Coppell to widen its lead. And I had reason to worry as I watched West and Rice, running behind Coppell’s behemoths, chew up swaths of yardage.

But Southlake’s Agnew-led offense evened things up soon after the break and then proceeded to score on three of its four possessions in the second half. That was enough, but only barely.

Agnew, bearing a beg brace from an injury suffered last week against Abilene, wasn’t his usual mobile self, although he did make a couple of critical scampers to keep Dragon drives alive.

It was the aerial assault he administered that ultimately made the difference. Agnew completed 25 of 33 passes for 273 yards, one INT and one TD. Carroll’s increasingly adept receiving corps were led by Fentriss, who caught nine for 135 yards, followed by Zach Farrar (6-73) and Ryan McGiboney (5-43).

And let’s not forget Humphrey (20 carries for 116 yards), a tall, lanky runner who proved last night that he’s tough as rawhide with strength to boot. Time after time, he churned for additional yardage after first contact, often requiring a handful of Coppell’s beefy boys to bring him down.

Late in the fourth, after Coppell pulled ahead by three, Agnew engineered the Dragon’s final drive. At around midfield, facing third down and 4, Agnew – desperately searching for a receiver as the pocket collapsed – jumped in the air to see over Coppell’s Wall of Muscle and tossed the ball to Fentress, who surged for good gain. Several plays later, at the Coppell 2 with a half-minute on the clock, Humphrey got the nod. He was stopped momentarily at the goal line before twisting and jerking to pay dirt with Cowboy defenders clinging to him like suckerfish to a shark.

Truth be told, many Coppell fans didn’t expect to win this one, although some will grumble about key penalties that cost the Cowboys at least one TD. Carroll was favored by most sports writers, who predicted a close game. That they got, and the Dragons, now 5-0 for the season and 1-0 in district play, will take this one with gratitude.

I expect Coppell will make some noise come playoff time. Since it likely will end up in Division I, while the Dragons likely are headed for Division II, these teams won’t meet up later this year. Thank God for small favors.

The Dragons got a taste last night of what they can expect in two weeks, when they face the Euless Trinity Trojans in a matchup that could decide the district championship. Coppell’s biggie-size O- and D-lines, its smothering defense and crushing ground offensive look a lot like the 6-0 Trojans, who Carroll will face in the regular season for the very first time.

Before Carroll starts worrying about Trinity, it must face the Richland Rebels next week. The Rebels are 2-0 in District 7-6A, and this is a classic trap game for the Dragons, as they come off the emotional high of a nail-biter against Coppell and anticipate a similar contest against Trinity.

The temptation, which the coaches will have to fight, will be to write off lowly Richland and concentrate on mighty Trinity, with whom the Dragons have weaved football magic in their three previous contests.

Focus, Dragons, focus!  

Game Day: Southlake Carroll 63, Abilene 28

A good memory can be a terrible burden sometimes. So when Southlake Carroll quarterback Ryan Agnew left the game last night a few minutes before halftime against the Abilene Eagles, I flashed back to another encounter with that stalwart West Texas program.

Back in 2007, the Dragons were three-peat state champions playing the Eagles in old Texas Stadium in the third round of the playoffs. Near the end of the first half, Dragon quarterback Riley Dodge, who had led Carroll to championship victory the year before, went down after a vicious, but legal, hit by an Abilene defender.

He was out for the game with a separated shoulder, and the Dragons eventually fell before the Eagles, 22-21, thus ending their storied Run of four state champions in five years.

When backup quarterback Montana Murphy took the field last night in place of Agnew, whose first-half heroics had opened a 35-21 lead over a determined, disciplined Abilene squad, I experienced that sinking feeling that comes when you see a promising season come to an anti-climactic thump.

A few moments later, my son – who was filming the game for the Carroll ISD sports marketing department – reported that Agnew’s parents were in the Dragon locker-room, news that prompted me, burdened by memories of ’07, to assume the worst.

I’m happy to report that it appears I was an alarmist and that Agnew is not seriously injured. Carroll coach Hal Wasson told The Dallas Morning News after that game, “He’s OK,” explaining he was just giving Murphy – a junior who has one of the best names for a quarterback that I can imagine – some valuable playing time.

That explanation seems a bit odd. I’m no gridiron guru, but is it normal to replace before the half a starter who has executed brilliantly, completing 15 of 20 passes for 251 yards, and guided his team to a hard-fought 14-point lead? Particularly when your opponent has demonstrated his ability to march the field at will?

 I suspect Agnew got nicked up and the Dragon coaches, understanding the importance of keeping the high-flying Dragon offense on track, exercised caution. Also possible, of course, but too terrible to contemplate, is that Wasson is fibbing madly and that Agnew really is hurt.

Regardless, Murphy performed admirably in his backup role. He led the Dragons to their final score of the first half, extending the lead to 42-21, and the Dragons never looked back. He rushed for two TDs and threw for a third, efficiently managing the two-back set the Dragon offense settled into for the rest of the game.

Carroll has a well-deserved reputation for producing talented quarterbacks that go on to success at the next level. Witness Missouri standout Chase Daniels, Alabama wizard Greg McElroy and, most recently, A&M phenom Kenny Hill.

In making his debut last night, Montana Murphy provided some reassurance that the quarterback tradition will continue, showing Dragon fans he has a good arm and is cool under fire.

It appeared at first the game was going to be a shootout. The Eagles, led by quarterback Derek Scott (22-31 for 167 yards), matched the Dragons score for score. Scott’s well-aimed passes to Eagle WR Reese Childress shredded the Dragon secondary, and running back Abram Smith punctured the Dragon D-line, which struggled throughout the half to get its bearings.

Then two things happened. First, Carroll’s Big Guys blunted Scott and company’s scoring rhythm and provided their offense a chance to surge ahead. With the score tied at 21-21, Agnew and RB Lil’ Jordan Humphrey (125 yards on 19 carries and four TDs) took advantage of the opportunity and staged a 13-play, 70-yard drive, sparking a 42-point scoring spree that doomed the sturdy Eagles.

It was during that key series that Wasson, who enjoyed the 200^th victory of his coaching career last night, showed he has acquired a gambler’s nerves this season. Faced twice with drive-ending fourth downs, Wasson threw the dice and went for it. Humphrey delivered both times, gaining the needed yard on the first attempt at the Carroll 40 and later driving for a necessary three.

Carroll even attempted an on-side kick at one point in the first half, as both sides jockeyed for an advantage in their tit-for-tat exchange of TDs. Add in the trick play that Wasson dialed up to cinch an overtime win against Tulsa Union in the second game of the season, and this is head-scratching stuff for those who have watched Wasson carefully negotiate eight years at the helm of Dragon Football.

Carroll’s scoring surge was aided by Abilene’s baffling decision to back off its successful passing game and move to the ground. Adjustments in the Dragon secondary put a damper on the aerial Scott-to-Childress heroics, but Abilene might have put up more of a fight if they had adhered more closely to the first-half game plan.

In the end, they could do little to stop the Dragon offense, which rolled up 650 yards, evenly divided between air and ground. When you couple that with a rejuvenated Dragon defense that held the Eagles scoreless in the second half until the final moments of the game, you have Carroll’s recipe for Eagle fricassee.

The Abilene fans who battled the ruler-straight highway east to see their beloved Eagles can take heart at the knowledge that their youngsters never quit and show great promise. If the right cards fall into place, the Dragons could meet them again in the playoffs.

As for the 4-0 Dragons, they too can feel pretty good about themselves as they open District 7-6a play at home next week.

Their opponents, the dreaded Coppell Cowboys, ripped up Hurst L.D. Bell last night, 42-3. The Cowboys, which travel with one of the rudest and most ill-behaved student fan bases in the area, would dearly love to embarrass the Dragons at home.

Game Day: Southlake Carroll 42, Tulsa Union 41 (OT)

Southlake Carroll head coach Hal Wasson is no riverboat gambler. He’s the cautious, steady type, perfectly happy to sit on a comfortable lead and milk the clock, rather than employ the “kill-the-will” strategy of his predecessor, the great Todd Dodge, whose philosophy was to keep scoring until the other guy was thoroughly bereft of hope.

Wasson has been criticized for his lack of aggression and his risk-aversion approach, and it has at times cost the Dragons.

That’s why the closing moments in Friday’s late-night thriller between the Dragons and the visiting Tulsa Union Redskins were so astounding.

Tied 34-34 in regulation, the score stood at 41-34 in overtime after a stunning 29-yard reception in the end zone by Union receiver Robert Thomas, who had picked apart the Dragon secondary all night, followed by a Union point after. Carroll responded with a 25-yard bolt by junior running back Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, bringing the score to 41-40.

Carroll then lined up for the point-after kick, and that’s when things got interesting.

Wasson called a timeout and gestured his kicking team off the field. When the Dragons returned to play, it was clear Carroll was going for the win, not for the tie and another round of OT.

That, in itself, was shocking, and so un-Wasson-like that some of us began jabbering incoherently. But when Humphrey, and not ace quarterback Ryan Agnew, lined up behind the center, we all knew we were entering unfamiliar territory.

Carroll was about to run a wildcat play? I had never seen such a thing. No one had. It was unthinkable. But there it was.

Humphrey took the snap, rolled to his left, and we all held our breath for his expected turn toward the goal line. Then we noticed senior wide receiver Parker Fentriss coming left to right in front of Humphrey, who flipped him the ball. Fentriss kept rolling right and then lobbed the ball to Agnew, who was standing all alone in the end zone.

Two-point conversion. 42-41 Dragons. Game over.

Stunned, I had to wait for the replay on Jerry’s Jumbotron to confirm what I had seen. Sure enough, there was the trick play that Wasson had approved, executed flawlessly by Carroll’s key playmakers, who had only seconds to prepare mentally for a play that reportedly was added on the day before the game.


(Now here's the delicious part: The Star Telegram points out that it was the exact same play that Dodge-coached Austin Westlake attempted against the Dragons last week. It says Wasson was so taken with it that he decided to add to the Dragon playbook! You gotta love this stuff.)


The Union-Carroll contest will go down in Dragon lore as one of the team’s half-dozen or so classic contests, right up there with its 2006 playoff win against Trinity and the 2009 double-overtime win against Allen.

Everyone knew that Union, a perennial state contender in Oklahoma, was going to be a tough nut to crack and so it was. Its offense, helmed by senior quarterback Mason Farquhar, pressed Carroll’s sturdy defense to the limit all night.

When Union pulled ahead of the Dragons 27-17 in the fourth quarter, the grinding of teeth could be heard all across our side of Cowboys Stadium. But the Dragons fought back, eventually tying the game at 27. But with less than three minutes left, standout Union running back Tyler Adkins, a tough, straight-ahead bruiser, crashed three yards to the end zone and brought the score to 34-27. Then with time drifting toward a minute, Agnew connected nine yards to WR Zach Farrar, setting up the OT showdown.

Adkins, who is a junior for heaven’s sake, shredded the Dragon’s D-line, rolling to 192 yards on 27 carries and four TDs. Do the math: That’s more than 7 yards per carry and, trust me, it seemed like more when you watched him in real time.

Meanwhile, Farquhar passed for 252 yards, completing 23 of 32 passes. His favorite target was the afore-mentioned Thomas, who caught 15 passes for 183 yards and one TD in regulation.

For the Dragons, questions remain on offense. The beleaguered O-line, which allowed Agnew to be sacked seven times last week against Austin Westlake, faired somewhat better this week. Even so, Agnew completed only 54 percent of his passes (20 of 37 for 295 yards), a paltry outcome when compared to his success rate last year.

Union’s burly front line sacked him three times and forced him to scramble frequently when he should have been working his progressions and finding open receivers. Even more alarmingly, Union’s Big Guys held Agnew, who last year arguably was more of a threat with his feet than with his arm, to negative 43 yards on 14 carries.

The porous shield wall that protects Agnew and opens running lanes for him and his talented running backs must be plugged and quickly. Carroll’s next two games are with Midland Lee and Abilene, with a bye week in between. It should have few problems in handling both squads before it enters tough-as-nails District 7-6A play. Perhaps that three-week stretch will give its young O-line some time to jell, mature and just get better.

Humphrey was the rushing leader for Carroll, carrying 23 times for 162 yards and three TDs. Fentriss was Agnew’s chief target, nabbing seven throws for 159 yards.

It’s a long road trip next week for the Dragons. They travel west across the dusty plains to oil-rich Midland to face the Lee High Rebels, who Carroll whipped handily not once but twice last year. Six hours on Interstate 20 to watch a likely blowout? Hmm. Tough call.

Game Day: Southlake Carroll 17, Austin Westlake 14

Todd Dodge didn’t get the victory he wanted when he came to Dragon Stadium last Friday with his Austin Westlake Chaparrals. But he came damned close, and he left Southlake with the immense satisfaction, I suspect, of knowing that his determined lads scared the bejeezus out of the Dragons and their coaches.

It started badly for the Dragons and didn’t get a whole lot better after that. After receiving the opening kickoff, senior quarterback Ryan Agnew, working behind a young, inexperienced and – as the night would demonstrate – outclassed offensive line, could manage nothing better than a sputtering three-and-out.

It then took the Chaps only four plays to march smartly to the end zone.

The shellshocked Dragons never were able to establish an offensive rhythm. Agnew scrambled all night and never had the chance to establish timing with his new batch of receivers. He completed 11 of 18 passes for only 100 yards and was picked off twice. Those aren’t the kind of stats we expect from the supremely talented Agnew.

But the offensive problems didn’t stop there. The O-line couldn’t deal with Westlake’s swarming defensive line, failing to open rushing lanes for junior running back Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, who is poised to have a stellar year. Instead, Humphrey, a 6-1 speedster who has bulked up over the summer, managed only 76 yards on 12 carries. Even the slippery Agnew, a skilled scrambler who gave D-linemen fits last season, was held to only 92 yards on 21 carries.

As a result, the Dragons could only manage a field goal by Jake Oldroyd in the first half.

Thankfully, the Dragon’s defensive squad, led by tackle King Newton and safety Andy Chelf, stepped up big time, shutting down the Chaps’ offensive firepower after their initial heroics until late in the fourth quarter.

In the critical third quarter, Agnew and Humphrey managed a rushing touchdown apiece, and that was enough to ensure a Dragon victory. But not before some last-minute histrionics by the Chaps, who staged a vintage Dodge-inspired rally that kept Dragon fans’ stomachs in knots until the final seconds.

A late score brought Westlake to within three points, 17-14, and everyone knew what was coming next. Despite the inevitability of the on-side kick, the Chaps managed to recover it, and moans were heard in my section of the home stands. But the Dragons’ Big Guys kept a lid on things and Westlake was held outside field-goal range.

Todd Dodge has reason to feel good about his young squad, which faces a tough district that includes powerhouse Lake Travis. He has a talented bunch of kids who fought hard and never quit. And it goes without saying that they are well coached. Don’t be surprised if they do well down Austin way, and make some noise in the playoffs.

As for the Dragons, defensive coordinator Tim Wasson has some work to do with the O-line, which needs to come together quickly to give Agnew both time to find his receivers and openings he can slice through to daylight.

If it doesn’t, this could be a very long season in District 7-6A for the Dragons, who meet Oklahoma’s Tulsa Union on Friday at Cowboys Stadium. The problem with being considered one of the best programs in Texas, and that means the country at large, is that you must defend that reputation every Friday night.

What a way to open the season

His name still is mentioned with reverence in the watering holes and backyard patios of Southlake.

Todd Dodge, the coaching legend who led the Carroll Dragons to five straight state championship games between 2002-2006, winning four and compiling a stunning 79-1 record, is coming home Friday. Sort of.

Dodge, the brand-new coach of the Austin Westlake Chaparrals, will be welcomed with cheers and probably a standing ovation when he appears on the opposing sideline.

Then the cheers will fade, and it’ll be time for the admiring Dragons to dismantle the Chaps and send Dodge back to Austin with a stinging rebuke on his debut as Westlake coach.

At least that’s the way Dragon fans would like to script the game. Dodge, who knows the Dragons’ offensive and defensive schemes better than any other foe they’ve faced, would like to write things differently.

We’ll see. Regardless, it’s likely to be a wonderful show, the perfect way to start a new season of Texas high school football and a new era for Southlake Carroll.

As a result of last winter’s UIL realignment, the Dragons’ new district, 7-6A, could very well be the state’s toughest. Some have even referred to it as the “little SEC.” It includes, believe it or not, both the Euless Trinity Trojans, who the Dragons have faced in three legendary playoff games since 2006, and the Coppell Cowboys, their blood enemies for more than four decades.

District 7-6A also includes Colleyville Heritage, a perennial playoff team that has never defeated the Dragons, and L.D. Bell, another playoff regular who greatly covets, and probably deserves, more respect that it receives.

Unlike the last few years, the Dragons are not the favorites to win district. That designation goes to the Trojans, who have won 59 consecutive district games and eight straight titles. In the statewide AP poll, Trinity ranks 5, followed by Carroll at 6. It’s going to be that kind of year.

The two teams’ playoff battles have resulted in one win and two defeats for the Dragons, but they all have been epic, back-and-forth struggles with the outcome uncertain until the final minutes. Moving such games inside district play will not change the dynamics, but it could interfere with the mutual admiration the Trojans and Dragons have shared over the years.

District rivalries can be intense and the animosities generated long-running. Take Coppell, for instance.  It and Southlake have been bitter district rivals off and on for many years, from the days the two schools fielded small 3A programs to recent years when they have battled in the top category. The hated Cowboys are one of only three teams to whip the Dragons on their home field since Dragon Stadium was built in 2001. Make no mistake, there is bad blood between these two.

Which brings us back to Westlake. The last time the Dragons and Chaparrals faced each other was in the 2006 state championship game in the Alamodome. Southlake, coached by Dodge and led on the field by his son, Riley, whipped Westlake handily, 43-29.

Friday night looks to be no different. Westlake has a new coach – a legend, yes, but one still finding his sea legs at a new school – a squad depleted of returning starters and a sophomore quarterback playing in his first varsity game.

The Dragons, on the other hand, have returning quarterback Ryan Agnew, who rolled up 4,500 yards in total offense last season, including 1,250 on the ground. He ran for 20 touchdowns and threw for another 31. The Star Telegram reports the senior powerhouse already has six D-I offers, and he could garner more if he has the kind of season the Dragons need him to have. He is the key.

Missing from last year’s potent offensive attack are experienced receivers. WR Parker Fentriss, sidelined by injury most of last season, likely will be Agnew’s chief target. In addition, defensive back Tariq Gordon could be pulled into double duty as a part-time receiver. Kevin Lonnquist of the Star-Telegram reports that head coach Hal Wasson compares Gordon to two-way phenom Sabian Holmes, a hero of the Dragons’ last state championship team.

The Dragon running game will be in the hands of juniors Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, who ain’t little at all, and Grant McFarlin, who is.  Humphrey’s height – he grew 3 inches over the summer, have led some armchair observers (ahem) to observe he might serve time in the receiving corps. But he also added muscle in the off-season so he is primed to exceed the 600 yards rushing he compiled last year.

The defense returns five starters, including standout tackle King Newton. The Star-Telegram’s Lonnquist says Wasson is pleased with the progress of senior inside linebackers Clark Parr and Joel McClellan. At safety, Andy Chelf rolled up 100 tackles last year and leads the secondary.

Meanwhile, an offensive line low on experience remains a question mark. In the superheated competition the Dragons will face both in pre-district and district play, its progress will determine early Dragon success and its ultimate fate in what undoubtedly will be the state’s showcase district race.

Meanwhile, there’s a lot at stake in tomorrow’s contest for the two head coaches.

 Dodge now works in the district where his father-in-law was head coach and athletic director for many years. In fact, the Chaps’ stadium is named after him. The pressure is on Dodge to prove his phenomenal run in Southlake wasn’t a fluke. He would love to silence his critics who point out that he enjoyed a mediocre coaching career in the years before and after his Carroll tenure. A victory over his former team would be a good start on that redemptive road.

Wasson, on the other hand, has enjoyed great success in Southlake, compiling an envious 79-15 record as he enters his eighth season here and winning a state championship in 2011. But he doesn’t enjoy the immense popularity of his predecessor, with parents or with his players. A stumble against his former boss, for whom he coached before moving to Keller Fossil Ridge in 2004, and a rugged start in the new district could start the clock ticking against him, rightly or wrongly.

Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. The game is a sellout.

The meaning of it all

Forty years ago today, Richard Nixon became the first American president to resign from office, thus ending a shameful period of American history when the president of the United States betrayed his oath of office and attempted to cover up crimes committed in his name and with his approval.

During that bitter final summer of Watergate, I was a cub reporter at the Lubbock Avalanche Journal, covering night cops. I hated the beat and I hated Lubbock. Feeling trapped and isolated, I used the gripping drama of Nixon’s fall from grace as a welcome distraction.

The year before, I had watched the televised Senate Watergate hearings with college friends, drinking beer while cheering the good guys and tossing an occasional empty can at the bad guys.

Watergate was the national soap opera running in the background for most of my college career. In the summer of 1972, only a few weeks after the Watergate break-in, I was an editor on the North Texas Daily when it became the first student newspaper in the country to call for Nixon’s resignation. Most of us believed even then that Nixon had a hand in orchestrating the burglary.  As evidence mounted, we felt a delicious surge of vindication and triumph.

So as the long, hot summer of 1974 neared its end, the finale of the Nixonian saga also came into view.

On the day before his resignation, when rumors were flying that Nixon was bailing, several of us on the A-J night shift went to our favorite watering hole after work, getting to the upstairs bar of the Brookshire Inn a little after midnight.  The late Austin singer/songwriter Allen Damron was performing, and the joint was jumping.

The crowd was in a celebratory mood, and Damron played to it, never mentioning Nixon by name but crafting an upbeat set full of songs that celebrated subversive behavior and taking it to The Man. Nixon would have hated it, but we embraced it with wild abandon. The last song of the night was a rousing rendition of Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.” All of us were standing on chairs and on tables, clapping, stomping our feet and singing full-throatedly along with Damron.

 It was an amazing, spontaneous outpouring of emotion, fueled by alcohol and by the prospect for many of us that the hated Nixon – the man who had lied about his “secret” plan to end the Vietnam War, who had compiled an Enemies List that included almost every person we respected and admired, who lied about Watergate and tried to subvert an election, who held in utter contempt a generation of idealistic young people who sought to end war and extend equal rights to all, a vile, vulgar and odious villain – was headed for oblivion and perhaps, eventually, jail.

The next day, Aug. 8, Nixon did indeed announce his intention to resign in an evening speech to the nation in which he listed his accomplishments, admitted vaguely to some mistakes and steadfastly refused to admit wrongdoing. His successor, Gerald Ford, spoke for many of us when he said, “The nation’s long national nightmare is over.”

Later that night, we decided to make a return trip to the Brookshire, where Damron still was playing. If last night was wild, we wondered, what will tonight be like?

What a difference a day makes.

When we arrived, the bar was mostly empty, a few patrons sitting quietly and nursing their drinks, heads down and only half listening to Damron, whose songs fit the somber and low-key vibe. Lots of sad, moody ballads, full of shattered dreams and heartbreak. Once again, Nixon never was mentioned. But the full measure of his betrayal seemed to have settled over his countrymen like a shroud, and the good folks of Lubbock, Texas, were not exempt.

Damron, a wise and perceptive performer, understood his role that night was less to entertain and more to soothe and comfort. He ended the night with several stirring songs about country and family and keeping the faith, nothing overt but all vaguely patriotic. Then we got up and went home to contemplate the meaning of it all.