A new season. A new beginning.

High school football season begins anew this evening, and it’s a time of hope and celebration, a time of renewal and pursuit of excellence.

With quickening pulse, I’ll be at Dragon Stadium tonight to watch the Southlake Carroll Dragons take on the potent Tulsa Union Redskins and launch their annual pursuit of a ninth state title.

Some might think it strange – perhaps even a little weird – that a man entering the middle of his sixth decade on the planet could get so excited about a high school football game.

What’s the attraction, you say, particularly in this era of heightened concern over concussions and safety of players?

As I’ve pointed out before, I love the pageantry and color of Friday Night Lights in Texas. The booming discipline of the marching bands. The glittering precision of the drill teams. The cheerleaders and inflated helmets and running of the flags. Student councils exchanging gifts before the game. Proud parents cheering their kids from the stands. Hell, I even like the almost-food served in the volunteer-operated concession stands. I love it all.

But it’s something more, something I can’t really describe without sounding corny and trite. In an age marred by cynicism and suspicion, malfeasance and distrust, insincerity and distain for almost everything, there is a purity in high school athletics, over which football still reigns supreme.

Money hasn’t spoiled it yet. And although the glory of Friday night reflects brightly in the halls of high school on Monday morning, most of these kids know that fame is fleeting. The players know that only a tiny percentage of them will play at the next level. They do what they do because they love it. They enjoy the thrill of achievement, the gleam in their parents’ eyes and, yes, the pride of representing their school.

I warned you it would sound a little corny.

Of course, I’m leaving something out. Something deeply personal.

I love Dragon football because it saved my life – or at least my sanity.

Five years ago, Southlake’s unlikely, nail-biting championship march provided a welcome distraction during one of the lowest periods of my life. When I was laid off by The Dallas Morning News after 26 years, I embraced the Dragons, which I had followed faithfully since my daughter entered high school, like a drowning man seizes a floating log.

I confronted an uncertain future with an abundance of self-doubt, even fear. Would I ever work again? Did I have the energy, talent and imagination to start another career at age 60? Certainly, I had too many responsibilities to just lay down and molder. There was a mortgage to pay, one kid in college and another in high school. But who in hell would hire a man who had spent 37 years in newspapers?

Thank God for the Dragons. For at least a few hours each week, I could put those retched concerns out of my mind and concentrate on football and Southlake’s chase of a state championship. The Dragons were a diverting bunch that year, that’s for sure.

The 2011 team, like the current version, was led by a quarterback with proven skills. Sophomore Kenny Hill, now TCU quarterback, had taken over in the third game of the 2010 season, leading a demoralized Dragon team to the fourth round of the playoffs. Hill won his spot after the Daxx Garman affair ended when the UIL disqualified Southlake’s highly regarded move-in quarterback six hours before the first game of the season.

In 2011, the Dragons struggled during the regular season, narrowly avoiding being upset by a lowly Richardson Berkner squad and struggling with Keller’s mediocre teams. While no one doubted they’d make the playoffs – despite losses to Coppell and Denton Guyer – no one believed they’d survive for long.

But with Hill at the helm and a steadily improving defense, they plowed through the post-season, surviving a first-round squeaker with Plano East, manhandling Cedar Hill, edging past Arlington Bowie, drowning Arlington Martin in a game-long downpour before confronting Dallas Skyline in the semi-finals.

Dominated by the Raiders for the entire game, they trailed by two TDs with less than 3 minutes to play. That’s when Hill took charge, driving the Dragons downfield for a quick TD. After a controversial onside kick – which drew the eventual disapproval of Dallas’ mayor pro tem – Hill again marched the Dragons to the go-ahead TD, but not before encountering a wild gray fox at mid-field. Stuffed toy foxes were in abundance the following week at the finals game in Jerry’s World against Fort Bend Hightower, another close-run victory for Southlake that captured its eighth championship trophy.

By the title game, which always takes place on the weekend before Christmas, I had a good line on a job, things were looking up in the Gunnels household and we managed to enjoy the holidays. With plenty of time on my hands, I had developed a habit of commenting on the games on Facebook. Eventually, that turned into my blog, Dragon Tales & Other Musings, of which this missive is a part.

That brings us to today, Week 1 of the 2016 high school football season. My Dragons are hosting a very good Tulsa Union team tonight. The two programs have fought two classic battles, last year in Tulsa and the year before in Cowboys Stadium. The Dragons won both, by razor-thin margins, so the Redskins are desperate for payback tonight.

Getting it might not be so easy. The Dragons are firming up to be quite formidable.  

Senior quarterback Mason Holmes threw for 2,884 yards and 38 touchdowns last year, but he’ll be breaking in a new receiving corps this season. According to Star-Telegram writer Kevin Lunnquist, they include Hudson Taylor, a JV quarterback last year; Jackson Davis, who played cornerback; Clayton Keyes, a backup; and Cade Bell and Royce Weigel, who both saw only limited time.

Holmes, who isn’t the lethal dual-threat QB that Kenny Hill was, may be charged with running the ball more this season. Dragon coaches are hopeful, however, that Audricke Gaines, a transfer from Mansfield Timberview, can step into the role vacated by graduating Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, now at UT. Gaines’ challenge will be in making the impact on the field that the phenomenal Humphrey did.

Unlike last year, when defense bedeviled Southlake, the Dragon Big Guys are jelling into a solid unit, with senior safety Robert Barnes, an OU commit, emerging as a leader, aided by defensive back Jacob Murphy and defensive end Luke Jeter. Another defensive stalwart, Ryan Miller, playing both sides of the ball, will be joined by left tackle Carson Green.

Can the Dragons repeat the magic of five years ago? That would be nice, but the odds are long. Regardless, hope springs eternal. That’s the intoxicating allure of high school football. I’m climbing aboard for another exciting ride, and I’ll be describing it here each week.

These days, I don’t depend on the Dragons to rescue me from career despair. I’ve got a good job, working for great people engaged in important work. I’m a lucky guy.

Come 7 p.m. tonight, I’ll settle into my reserved green-back seat, Feedstore BBQ sandwich in hand, and bask in the sheer joy of it all. When the whistle blows, a little shiver of anticipation will shoot up my spine and I’ll tense for kickoff.

Go Dragons!

Rachel's Room

      I spent five days in the hospital last week with a serious digestive ailment, and it probably was a blessing in disguise.

      Yes, it was a painful, unpleasant and unsettling experience I don’t wish to repeat. But it helped take my mind off a dramatic change in the fabric of the Gunnels household that even now stabs at my heart and almost takes my breath away.

      My eldest child – sweet, darling Rachel – moved into her own apartment last week, and the house at the top of the hill in northwestern Grapevine will never be the same.

    

  It has been her home since we lifted her out of my Ford Mustang – soon to be replaced by a more practical Jeep Cherokee – straight from the hospital on a bright June day in 1992.  And there she grew into the smart, sassy, beautiful woman she is today.

      Over the years, her mother and I watched in adoration as she prepared meals on her plastic kitchen set, played with her Barbie dolls (she eventually obtained more than 20), dressed herself in costumes ranging from ballerina to Minnie Mouse and practiced the clarinet for her high school marching band.

      

     We were lucky to have her around as long as we did. She chose to live at home after college, using her teacher’s salary to buy a new car and accumulate a professional wardrobe.

      But I could tell she was getting restless as she watched her friends strike out on their own, establishing lives independent of their parents. She feared life was passing her by, and she yearned to fling herself into the maelstrom of the world.

       So when she announced a few months ago that she and a sorority sister, also a teacher, were going to look for an apartment, I heaved a heavy sigh and made a painful peace with her decision.

       Fortunately for us, she isn’t moving far, only a few miles away. We’ll still see her regularly, at least for a while, particularly on those nights when Mom is fixing one of her favorite meals for supper.

       There’s solace, of course, in the knowledge that Marice and I have fulfilled our responsibility. We’ve been imperfect, but mostly responsible parents. With Rachel’s help, we’ve raised a wonderful, loving and capable young woman who works every day at making the world a better place.

       That’s what teachers do, the good ones, that is. And by all accounts, my Rachel is a brilliant, hard-working young teacher. In her first year in the classroom, her students achieved lofty scores on the state’s standardized tests. Her supervisors were amazed and worked hard to craft a teaching assignment that would keep her in place for another year.

        One day soon, her mother and I will transform her old room from its present state of chaos into a sterile, neatly appointed guest room. We’ll keep, I’m sure, a few reminders of its former tenant. I don’t think I can bear to take down the photo montages of Rachel’s years in the Southlake Carroll Dragon Marching Band.

        But it always will be Rachel’s Room. When I pass by it on my way down the stairs, I’ll see in my mind’s eye the crib she slept in as a baby. I’ll see the bookcase filled with the dozens of “Spring Valley Kids” books I read to her before bedtime. I’ll see Rachel sitting in the middle of her bed singing to herself and playing with her dolls.

        I was 40 when Rachel was born. I thought at the time that I was too old, too settled, too selfish to be a good father. Her arrival changed my perspective completely, and I have loved every moment of being Rachel’s Dad.

       What hurts most, I suppose, is the knowledge that my role in her life, once so dominant, is fading, fading, fading as she soars from the nest to become her own person and builds her own life separate and apart.

        Time is a bandit, and I feel robbed.

     

Area Round: Denton Guyer 48, Southlake Carroll 35

As we neared Allen’s Eagle Stadium last night, after fighting our way across the Metroplex in rush-hour traffic, a sense of impending doom came over me.

That premonition, which I dismissed uneasily at the time, proved to be prophetic as the Southlake Carroll Dragons fell hard before the powerful – and unstoppable – running attack of the Denton Guyer Wildcats, thus ending their season too soon, too soon.

In the end, it came down to defense, the part of the Dragons’ game that has caused consternation all season. Young, under-sized and lacking depth at virtually every position, the weakness of the Dragon defenders in confronting the run was exposed in rather spectacular fashion by Guyer’s triple-threat ground game.

Three Wildcats rushed for more than 100 yards. Superstar junior quarterback Shawn Robinson dominated the field, rushing for 263 yards on 23 carries and four touchdowns. Following in his cleat-steps were running backs Noah Cain – a freshman, dear God, what is he going to be when he grows up – who carried 19 times for 172 yards and a TD, and Myron Mason, who ran 14 for 104 and 2 TDs.

In all, Guyer piled up 609 total offensive yards, 2 more, if you’re counting, than Euless Trinity achieved earlier this year in its 37-35 defeat of the Dragons. Most of those yards, 547 of them, came on the ground as the overwhelmed Carroll defensive unit stood virtually helpless before TCU commit Robinson, Cain and Mason.

Robinson, however, was the star among stars, engineering slow, methodical drives that ate up the clock and kept Carroll’s hard-charging offense cooling its heels on the sideline, and staging spectacular runs through the dazed Dragon D-line when the need arose.

His value was never more apparent than in the closing minutes of the first half, when a 92-yard drive by the Wildcats, ending in a 13-yard TD run by Cain, extended the Guyer lead to 20-7 with 2:30 remaining.

On the next drive, the Dragons came roaring back, putting together a three-play drive that saw senior running back Shemar Coleman sprint 39 yards to the end zone and bring the score to 20-14.

The Dragons then recovered a pooch kickoff and launched another successful drive that featured a 29-yard TD pass from quarterback Mason Holmes to Kam Duhon in the end zone, handing the Dragons a narrow lead, 21-20, with less than a minute left in the half.

But just when the momentum began to shift Carroll’s way, Robinson stepped up and shut it down.

With the aplomb of a skilled efficiency expert, Robinson put together a 3-play drive that culminated in his 55-yard streak to the goal line. That reclaimed the lead for Guyer, 27-21. It never trailed again.

During the third quarter, with victory still in reach, the Dragons pulled within 6 again, after Holmes (15 of 22, 287 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT) hoisted a 50-yard pass to WR Zach Farrar (9 receptions, 215 yards, 2 TDs).

Once again, Robinson stood tall, sprinting 47 yards for his third TD of the night and extending Guyer’s lead to two scores, 41-28. Both teams would score again, but Robinson’s heroics on that drive was the stake that pierced the Dragon breast.

Head coach Hal Wasson summed it up to the Star-Telegram, “We didn’t control Robinson. We never controlled him.”

It’s ironic, perhaps, that the Dragon season ends only a  week after one of its most impressive achievements – knocking two-time state champion Cedar Hill out of the playoffs in thrilling, last-second fashion.

But it calls to mind another Dragon playoff defeat under similar circumstances. In 2009, the Dragons fell to Arlington Bowie in the third round of the playoffs after an emotional, heart-stopping 35-34 win against the Allen Eagles in Cowboys Stadium.

Like this year’s Dragons, the 2009 team was heavy in talent and carried lofty ambitions. Flush with pride and exhilaration at its gutsy goal line stand in defeating Allen in double overtime, it entered the Bowie game with full expectations of brushing aside the Volunteers as it continued its march to state.

Bowie had other ideas. Well-coached, disciplined and playing with fierce determination, the Vols dominated the game and embarrassed Carroll in SMU’s Ford Stadium before its stunned fans.

Denton Guyer came into last night’s game the clear underdog. Most experts predicted a comfortable Dragon win. But many of the Dragon faithful saw the Guyer game for what it was – a trap game full of treacherous cross-currents.

We all feared the Dragons might suffer an emotional letdown after the histrionics accompanying their Cedar Hill win. And there was the question of overconfidence against a team that, while displaying some inconsistency earlier in the season, had a potent offensive machine fully capable of exploiting Dragon defensive shortcomings.

One thing is clear. Guyer coaches studied game film. Their strategy of eating up the clock with a steady drumbeat of Robinson, Cain and Mason worked like a charm, with Guyer controlling time of possession by a 2-to-1 margin. On the other side the ball, they devised a defensive scheme that effectively bottled up the Carroll ground game.

Dragon offensive star Lil’ Jordan Humphrey was limited to 53 yards rushing, while his hard-charging sidekick, Shemar Coleman, was held to only 51. That forced Holmes to the air, where Carroll enjoyed most of its success.

In fact, exactly half of its 378 total yardage came on four scoring plays, a 71-yard pass to Farrar, a 39-yard run by Coleman, a 29-yard pass to Duhon and another 50-yard pass to Farrar.

Humphrey ends his Carroll career just short of an achievement never attained by anyone wearing a Dragon uniform – 1,000-yard seasons in both rushing and receiving. He ends this season with more than 1,200 yards rushing but a bit less than 900 yards receiving. Don’t worry, though, you’ll be seeing plenty of him on upcoming Saturday afternoons. His future in D-1 college ball is assured.

As for the rest of the Dragons, Holmes will be back next year, but many of his offensive weapons are moving on – Humphrey, Coleman, Farrar and Duhon all graduate, as does outstanding kicker Jake Oldroyd. RB Jack Johansson and kicker Kole Ramage, who enjoyed a perfect season of PATs, will return, however.

On defense, standout safety Obi Eboh is a senior, as is linebacker IV Seacat. But linebackers Robert Barnes and Will Quillen will be back, along with noseguard Ryan Miller.

 For me, last night’s result means I’ll be putting up Christmas decorations next Friday, instead of sitting in AT&T Stadium with the rest of the Dragon Nation watching Carroll face the San Angelo Central Bobcats.

That job now will be left to the Guyer Wildcats, and frankly, I can’t decide which wretched felines to root for.

I’ve hated the Bobcats since the days they humiliated my Big Spring Steers in the dusty, windswept West Texas stadiums of my youth. But the haughty Guyer is a hard program to support, particularly if you’re a Dragon fan. The Wildcats humbled Carroll twice in 2010, defeating it once during the regular season in Dragon Stadium and again in the playoffs. And they did so with arrogance and distain. A pox on them, then and now.

For Carroll fans, any season that ends in the second round of the playoffs is a letdown. But I’m very proud of these young Dragons, a special band of brothers who faced one of the most difficult road schedules of any Carroll team and did so with grace and much success. May their futures be full of promise and achievement.

Happy holidays everyone, and … Go Dragons!

Bi-District Round: Southlake Carroll 37, Cedar Hill 33

Ironically, the decisive drive of last night’s epic contest between Southlake Carroll and Cedar Hill in the first round of the 6A Division II playoffs was one in which they didn’t score.

Clinging to a 2-point lead in the draining minutes of the fourth quarter, the Dragons, held scoreless to that point by a stingy Longhorn defense, staged their first sustained drive of the half, an 11-play, 82-yard effort powered by an electrifying 50-yard run by Lil’ Jordan Humphrey that propelled them into Cedar Hill’s red zone.

It was there that things got sticky. Faced with a fourth down, quarterback Mason Holmes handed off to Humphrey, who smashed his way to the 7-yard line for the Dragon’s fourth straight successful fourth-down play of the night. There the Longhorn defense, with the game and their hopes for a third straight state championship on the line, dug in.

Holmes and company were only able to claw their way the 4-yard line where they faced yet another fourth down decision with about a minute left.

What to do, what to do? Kick a field goal and extend your lead to 5, then hand the ball over to the explosive Cedar Hill offense? Or push your chips into the center of the table and go for it all?

The problem was that 5 points might not be enough to hold off the Longhorns, who had bounced back from a 35-21 halftime deficit with a pair of efficient workman-like drives in the third quarter. Even with no timeouts remaining, a minute was plenty of time for Cedar Hill quarterback Avery Davis, who had shredded Carroll’s defensive squad all night, to engineer a last-second miracle for the Longhorns.

In the end, Carroll offensive coordinator Clayton George gave in to his riverboat gambler instincts and kept his offense on the field. Holmes tossed the ball to Humphrey in the end zone, but a Longhorn defender snagged it at the 1 and fell to the turf.

And on the next play, Davis, standing 5 yards in his end zone, couldn’t corral an errant snap, which bounced off his chest and out of the end zone for a safety. Carroll recovered the resulting onside kick, and Cedar Hill’s quest for a third straight Division II state title ended in the chill of a November evening.

By defeating Cedar Hill, Carroll avoided the ignominy of exiting the playoffs in the first round, a feat it has managed for the last 20 years or more. And it proved it can play with the state’s best teams and beat them.

The Dragons have every reason to expect a long playoff run this year, but absolutely no one believes it will be easy. Division II is packed with talent.

Next up is Denton Guyer, a familiar foe who holds the distressing distinction of being only one of two teams to beat Carroll in Dragon Stadium. (Coppell is the other.) The Dragons will face the Wildcats in Allen’s Eagle Stadium next Friday.

Southlake was the only team from District 7-6A to advance into the Area Round. Shockingly, Euless Trinity fell to South Grand Prairie 24-21, ending the proud Trojans’ perfect season. DeSoto defeated Coppell 35-31, and Mansfield easily handled Colleyville 45-22.

Last night’s game was thrilling high school football. The first half featured rapid-fire offensive displays by both teams. The Dragons scored on their first five offense drives, completely dominating the crucial first quarter, where they jumped to a 14-0 lead that proved decisive.

The Dragons never trailed, although even a 14-point lead offered them little comfort because of the Longhorns’ irresistible combo of lighting ground attack and aerial bombardment, all centering on the amazing Davis.

Davis, a top D-1 college recruit, was 10 for 14 for 172 yards and three TDs. He also ran 15 times for 73 yards. Interesting tidbit from the radio broadcast: Davis has played in only two losing games since he started peewee football – the defeat by Mansfield earlier in the season and the loss to the Dragons last night.

The second half was an offensive shootout, with both Carroll and Cedar Hill mounting big-play drives. During one particularly dizzying period that spanned the second and third quarters, five touchdowns were scored in only 13 offensive plays.

As usual, Carroll’s offensive standout was Humphrey, who carried 23 times for 164 yards and two touchdowns, and caught 5 passes for 113 yards and another TD. He was ably complemented by Shemar Coleman, who rushed 21 times for 134 yards and one TD.

Holmes completed 13 of 16 passes for 182 yards and two touchdowns, a formidable 81 percent completion rate only marred by a single INT. He can thank his sturdy offensive line for giving him plenty of time in the pocket to pick apart the Cedar Hill secondary.

But the real heroes of the night might be the Dragon defenders, who took a huge step forward, asserting themselves at the perfect time in the season, when every stop can be a game changer.

Carroll coaches have been tinkering with the defensive line all season, trying to find the right talent mix and chemistry to meld the squad into an effective unit. Standout safety Robert Barnes, the Dragons’ leading tackler, moved to linebacker to play next to IV Seacat, the team’s second-leading tackler. For last night’s game, defensive end Luke Jeter and nose guard Ryan Miller switched jobs.

Something must have clicked.

With Carroll leading 7-0, the Dragon defense stopped Davis and company on the Longhorns’ first possession, graciously handing the ball back to its offense, which took advantage of the opportunity to carve out an insurmountable two-TD lead. Although it couldn’t completely shut down Cedar Hill’s quick-draw offense, Carroll’s defense made plays when the Dragons needed them the most.

For instance, in the fourth quarter, Carroll defenders, aided by a flurry of Cedar Hill miscues, protected the Dragons’ fragile 35-33 lead by forcing the Longhorns to punt it away, leading to the clock-gobbling drive that ultimately sealed Carroll’s win.

The playoff atmosphere at Dragon Stadium was electric last night, although I wonder at the official pronouncement that it was a sell-out. There were plenty of seats in the new wings at either end of the home side, and Cedar Hill didn’t come close to filling its side of the stadium. We were told that 200 standing-room tickets were sold in the west end zone, but it was empty as a ghost town.

I like the new policy the UIL is testing this year, which awards a first-round home game to the top seed in each division within a district. Cedar Hill coach Joey McGuire expressed dismay before the game that his team, which like the Dragons finished No. 2 in its district, was forced into the inhospitable confines of Dragon Stadium because of the UIL’s complex rules.

I might feel the same way if the Dragons had traveled south to play in Cedar Hill. And, who knows, the difference in venue might have impacted the final result. All I know is last night was simply grand, a great game played by two of the state’s best programs in absolutely perfect football weather. Nobody got hurt, and the good guys won. What’s not to like?

Beware, Guyer. The Dragons are breathing fire and heading your way. Go Dragons!

Game Day: Southlake Carroll 56, L.D. Bell 7

Not much drama accompanied last night’s drubbing of the lowly L.D. Bell Blue Raiders by the Southlake Carroll Dragons. The Dragons scored on their first six possessions, pulled their starters after the first half and turned their full gaze toward next week’s playoffs opener against reigning state champions, the Cedar Hill Longhorns.

And it’s with more than a little trepidation that the Dragons confront the Longhorns on their own home ground. But more about that later.

All went as expected against Bell last night. Carroll’s reserves ruled the second half, just as it should be on Senior Night. As such, it’s only fitting that the leading rusher for the Dragons wasn’t superstar Lil’ Jordan Humphrey, only Lord knows he had a stellar night. That honor belonged to 5-foot-6, 150-pound senior reserve running bank Alex Simpson, who piled up 146 yards on 20 carries during his best outing under Friday night lights.

It did the old ticker good to see the reserves, guided by senior quarterback Montana Murphy and powered by Simpson’s downhill running, push the ball downfield during the Dragon’s final TD drive, which ended with Simpson smashing 5 yards into the end zone.

Although the end result was never in doubt, last night’s slaughter offered the Dragons an opportunity to fine-tune both offense and defense in preparation for their high-stakes contest against Cedar Hill on Nov. 13. And Carroll took full advantage of it.

I’m happy to report that the offense over the last two games has come out with guns blazing, in sharp contrast to the lackadaisical efforts that characterized first-half performances earlier in the season. Of course, some of that can be credited to the quality of its opponents. But the change in attitude of late was in full evidence last night, when junior quarterback Mason Holmes and company operated against the Blue Raiders with crisp efficiency and maximum effectiveness.

For instance, when the Dragons closed out scoring in the first half with the recovery of a high snap during a Bell punt attempt and a 1-yard TD run by Humphrey, radio commentators reported Carroll had scored its last four touchdowns in only 11 plays. I wasn’t counting, but that sounded right to me.

Holmes completed 11 of 15 passes for 246 yards and two TDs before taking his rest. Humphrey ran 102 yards for three TDs and caught two passes for 67 yards. Shemar Coleman ran for 62 yards and a TD, and he caught a Holmes pass before scampering 50 yards for another TD in the first quarter.  Senior receiver Zach Farrar was another offensive standout, catching four passes for 88 yards and a touchdown.

It’s harder to judge the progress of Carroll’s defense, a youth-dominated squad that suffers from the perennial Dragon problem of being undersized compared to most of its opponents.

Hal Wasson, who enjoyed his 100^th win last night as Carroll head coach, has been tinkering with defensive assignments during the last two games, looking for the right mix and chemistry to take into the playoffs.

Last night, for instance, Wasson moved standout safety Robert Barnes to linebacker, where he performed admirably.

Except for a momentary lapse by the reserves in the third quarter last night, when they allowed Bell quarterback Shaun Daniels to slip around the right corner and speed 75 yards to the end zone, they have held their last two opponents scoreless. But once again, you have to consider the quality of Haltom and Bell when citing that achievement.

The proof of the pudding, for both offense and defense, will come next week, when the Dragons host the Longhorns in Dragon Stadium for the bi-district round of the playoffs.

The proud Longhorns, who whipped stout South Grand Prairie last night 39-28, have something to prove. Denied a district championship in 8-6A by the upstart Mansfield Tigers, who defeated Cedar Hill in a shootout two weeks ago, 46-43, the state champs come into next week’s game in Southlake with a sizeable chip on their shoulder.

And based on the historical record, they must feel pretty good about their ability to handle the Dragons.

In 2008, the 8-2 Dragons faced the Longhorns in the second round of the playoffs in venerable Texas Stadium, falling to them 31-18. More recently, in the fourth round of the playoffs last year, the Longhorns booted the Dragons from post season with a 62-42 defeat, overwhelming a game Dragon squad with their high-powered offense.

This isn’t the same Cedar Hill team that schooled the Dragons last year, but it’s pretty damned close. And it is defending back-to-back state championships, which give it plenty of reasons not to be particularly intimidated by the home-field advantage Carroll will enjoy next Friday.

Elimination in the first round this year would be Carroll’s earliest playoff exit in recent memory. But it’s a very real possibility, based on the strength of its bi-district opponents in District 8-6A, one of the state’s toughest, most talent-laden districts.

As the first seed in Division II (small school), Carroll faces the second seed in 8-6A in the first round. Last year, it narrowly avoided elimination by Mansfield, and it would have faced an even more potent Tiger team this year if Cedar Hill had managed to slip past its district rival.

If it does manage to whip Cedar Hill next week, an outcome to be devoutly wished but hardly counted upon, Carroll might look forward to a deep run into the playoffs. A sell-out crowd at Dragon Stadium is anticipated. I’ll be in line for tickets first thing Monday morning.

Go Dragons!