Bi-District Round: Southlake Carroll 42, McKinney 0

It wasn’t supposed to be that easy. The McKinney Lions, Southlake Carroll’s first-round playoff opponent, were supposed to be a tough nut to crack.

Everyone expected the Lions to be full of piss and vinegar after making it into the postseason for the first time since 2009. And what chance did the Dragons have, after struggling to contain lowly L.D. Bell two weeks ago, in stopping McKinney’s leading rusher, the worthy Matt Gadek?

Gadek, it must be remembered, possesses the state’s single-game rushing record for an astounding 599-yard performance earlier in the season against Plano East.

Stopping the hard-charging Gadek, who came into the game with 2,207 rushing yards and 17 TDs, promised to be a tall order. And then there was senior quarterback Damon Witmer, who had thrown for 1,360 yards and 16 TDs in the regular season. Many football wizards predicted the Carroll-McKinney contest would be an “entertaining” affair sure to the get the playoffs off to a rousing start.

Such talk filled many Dragon fans with a grim foreboding and raised a couple of haunting questions. Was Carroll’s 18^th consecutive playoff appearance doomed to be a short-lived affair? Would the struggling Dragons fail to make it out of the first round for the first time in almost two decades?

The Dragons answered at least one of those questions in a decisive manner last night, holding McKinney scoreless and limiting Gadek to a mere 61 rushing yards on 21 carries. Thus ended McKinney hopes for its first playoff victory since 1994.

For their trouble, the Dragons won the right to face the DeSoto Eagles, who destroyed the Copperas Cove Bulldogs last night to make it to the area round. Last year, the Eagles, helmed by the remarkable Shawn Robinson, eliminated Southlake in the second round of the playoffs on their way to the 6A Division II state championship.

Robinson, recruited by TCU, will be starting today for the injured Kenny Hill, a former Dragon signal caller, in a crucial game against Texas Tech. It’s a small world, ain’t it?

And in a new wrinkle for Dragon fans, the DeSoto game will be played next Saturday at The Star in Frisco. It’s a new venue, at least for Southlake denizens, but an old foe in what promises to be a classic matchup.

The Dragons would like a little payback for the results of their last two encounters with the high-flying Eagles. In addition to last year’s early exit at the hands of DeSoto, the Dragons fell before the Eagles in the fourth round in 2012.

That game was Kenny Hill’s last for the Dragons, and it ended in heartbreaking fashion for Carroll, at the time the defending Divison II state champion. In the closing seconds of that game, the Eagles staged a brilliant goal line defense, barring a desperate Hill from the end zone on three consecutive plays and ensuring their 49-45 victory.

Even now, the memory brings a flush of frustration to many of the Dragon faithful.

To put it mildly, the teams have history, and the next chapter will be written on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

DeSoto head coach Todd Peterman summed it nicely for The Dallas Morning News. “Who doesn’t want to play Southlake Carroll? Who doesn’t want to play DeSoto? Two great teams are going to go after it.”

Indeed.

As for last night, it was billed as a battle of running backs – the heralded Gadek versus the Dragons’ brilliant rusher, junior T.J. McDaniel.

In the event, it wasn’t much of a battle. Not even a skirmish. More of a dispute, really, quickly settled.

While Gadek was getting stuffed by an inspired Dragon defense, McDaniel was leading the Dragon charge, literally. He staged back-to-back runs of 70 and 72 yards in a rip-snorting 2^nd period, rushed for a season-record 311 yards, and scored 5 – count ’em, 5 – touchdowns.

McDaniel, who missed the last two games of the regular season because of injury, said in a post-game radio interview that he had something to prove last night.

“I really wanted a big game to make up for the two games I missed,” he said. “I just did what I do. I run physical and I run tough. I see green grass and I run.”

Senior defensive lineman Ryan Thompson, asked to compare Gadek and McDaniel, dismissed the opinion of many before the game that the Lions had the better runner.

“In my opinion, T.J. is the best running back in the state,” he stated flatly. “He does amazing things on the field. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Carroll controlled things from the opening kickoff, scoring on five consecutive possessions in the decisive 1^st half. It rolled up 541 total yards, compared to the Lions’ meager146.

McDaniel accounted for most of the Dragons’ 399 rushing yards, of course. Backup Tavian Gould, who performed admirably during McDaniel’s two-game absence, got 27 yards on 8 carries after the starter was pulled in the middle of the 3^rd.

Quarterback Will Bowers, who has played hot and cold in the regular season, was red-hot in the playoff opener. He peppered his receiving corps with sharply thrown passes, completing 13 of 15 (an 86 percent completion rate) for 142 yards and 1 TD.

Cade Bell, 3 catches for 54 yards, was the leading receiver, followed by Hudson Shrum, 4 of 32, and Eli Fergal, 1 for 26.  Defensive standout R.J. Mickens, who also plays on offense and special teams, snagged 2 for 14, including a TD.

But the real heroes of the night were the Dragon defenders who smothered one of the state’s premier running backs and pitched a perfect game.

McDaniel acknowledged as much when he described his phenomenal 72-yard scamper in the 2^nd, after the defense forced a Lion punt. On the first play from scrimmage at the Dragon 9, McDaniel plunged through the center of the McKinney line, veered to the right, then crossed the entire field and continued his run along the left sideline before finally being downed at the Lion 19.

That run was all the more amazing because the previous Dragon drive had ended with a 70-yard McDaniel dash down the left to the end zone. Two consecutive plays, 142 yards.

All in a day’s work for McDaniel, who said he and his offensive line work hard to get the timing right.

“When they’re clicking, I’m clicking,” he said.

Jacob Dodderidge, one of the most athletically talented players on the Dragon bench, accompanied McDaniel on his 72-yard race. Dodderidge plays everywhere, occasionally lining up as fullback in the Dragon backfield.

“I was running behind Jake,” McDaniel explained. “I don’t know how many people he blocked. He was just hammering people.”

Thompson, the Dragon defensive lineman, admitted that injuries to McKinney’s two leading rushers – one in last week’s game against McKinney Boyd and the other on the first series against the Dragons last night – forced the Lions into a one-dimensional game and allowed him and his teammates to “focus on the running backs.”

A pleased Hal Wasson, Carroll head coach, praised his defense’s success in shutting down Gadek.

“They came in snarly today,” he said in a postgame radio interview. “And I couldn’t be more proud of them.”

After a lackluster performance against Bell two weeks ago and a losing effort against Hebron last week, Wasson said he noticed a difference in his players now that the playoffs are here.

 “I saw a new attitude tonight,” he said. “I’m excited about it.”

Thompson said the Dragons will be ready for some payback against the Eagles.

“We’re going to come out with a passion,” he said. “We’re going to be ready to fight.”

Sounds good to me. Go Dragons!

Game Day: Hebron 36, Southlake Carroll 31

CARROLLTON – The Hebron Hawks, propelled by a double-threat quarterback and a host of fleet-footed receivers, finally overwhelmed a stubborn Southlake Carroll team last night, saddling the unhappy Dragons with their first three-loss regular season in many a moon.

Radio statisticians said it was the first three-loss season for Carroll since 2010, a year – it must be remembered – when the Dragons made it into the fourth-round of the playoffs, which begin next week.

A comparable finish for the 2017 squad would be a lofty accomplishment, considering its youth and athletic prowess. But such a feat, at least from where I sit, seems unlikely – although hope springs eternal, etc., etc.

I suspect head coach Hal Wasson thinks so, too. In his post-game comments with radio commentator Kelly Milligan, he cited his team’s lack of focus and shoddy tackling as a top reason for the evening’s failing effort.

“We have to be consistent in our discipline. We have to be consistent in our execution,” he said grimly. But he sounded like a man who knows that those are problems that should be ironed out by the last game of the regular season.

They were on full display last week during Carroll’s much-criticized performance against hapless L.D. Bell, turning what should have been a cakewalk into a thrilling stroll down terror lane.

Wasson, a man prone to seek euphemisms for unpleasant truths, blamed the desultory play on a “mindset issue,” meaning I suppose that his players mistakenly thought they could coast against the unworthy Blue Raiders.

They certainly couldn’t have labored under that impression last night when they lined up against the high-flying Hawks. Hebron has been a beast this season, cruising past all its District 5-6A foes, save for Euless Trinity, which clinched sole possession of the 5-6A crown last night by downing Flower Mound Marcus 21-16.

And yet, breakdowns in assignments led to at least three Hebron scores and spelled the difference in a hard-fought, back-and-forth contest that was both entertaining and infuriating – at least for the Dragon faithful who drove across the Metroplex to see the game.

Despite their lack of focus at critical moments, these young Dragons gave a good accounting of themselves against the skilled and disciplined Hawks. In the decisive 4^th quarter, with the Hawks in control, the Dragons dug deep and clawed their way from a two-score deficit twice to keep the game close.

In the end, however, after running back Tavian Gould capped a desperate 11-play, 75-yard, clock-draining drive with a 2-yard TD plunge, the Dragons lined up for an onside kick with 2:12 left.

Kicker Clayton Webb booted a perfect blooper that Hebron bobbled, resulting in a thrashing free-for-all at midfield. It took the refs a while to untangle the melee, but when they did, Hawk receiver Trejan Bridges had the ball. A relieved Hebron then ran out the clock.

Stellar Hawk quarterback Clayton Tune, fleet-footed and rocket-armed, set up the exciting climax with a 3-play, 65-yard TD drive that ended in a perfect pass to Jaren Mitchell (9 catches for 130 yards and 2 TDs). In an eyeblink, the speedy Mitchell raced 57 yards down the right sideline to his second TD of the night.

Tune was phenomenal, completing 24 of 36 passes for 236 yards and 2 touchdowns. He only managed 31 rushing yards, but that’s deceptive since he made them at critical times, including a 2-yard TD lunge in the 2^nd after Carroll had scored twice in 41seconds and led 14-3.

He was particularly effective on 3^rd-down plays, repeatedly defeating efforts by the scrappy Dragon defense to get off the field.

Deadly in his own right, Tune had some potent offensive weapons in his arsenal. RB Jatyn Taylor scampered 118 yards on 11 carries, including a dramatic 55-yard TD run.

And the aforementioned Mitchell preceded his dagger-to-the-heart TD catch in the 4^th with a 28-yard catch-and-run in which he fought his way inside the 10, outmuscled the defender and plunged across the goal line.

In many ways, that play epitomized the winning Hawk strategy against Carroll – using Tune’s pinpoint accuracy and smash-mouth football to beat down the Dragons.

Perhaps the most painful thorn in the Dragon side was Bridges, who dashed their desperate hopes with his onside kick recovery. His jaw-dropping 70-yard punt return in the 2^nd, aided by shoddy execution along the length of the field, served notice to Carroll that it might be a long night.

To their credit, the Dragons were never out of it. They led, in fact, 17-15 at the half. And when the Hawks slipped into the lead and kept it, they fought to the end. Their epic 4^th-quarter struggle to overtake the Hawks is a worthy entry in the Carroll football archives.

For the second straight week, they were hampered by the absence of standout running back T.J. McDaniel. Losing a difference maker like McDaniel had an impact on the results, no doubt. But a trio of Dragons – Gould, quarterback Will Bowers and defensive back Jacob Doddridge – stepped into McDaniel’s role and performed outstandingly.

Yes, you heard that right, Doddridge, a mainstay on Dragon defense, was moved to running back for several crucial plays, and he was a charging bull, carrying 7 times for 47 yards.

On a series in the 3^rd quarter, after the Hawks seized the lead 22-17, he plunged three straight times through the Hawk front line, dragging multiple tacklers, to make 21 precious yards and keep the drive alive.

The single proudest moment of the game for me came later in that series.

The Dragons faced a 4-4 at the Hawk 39. Doddridge took the handoff from Bowers and powered his way forward. Three Hawks met him at the line of scrimmage, and soon the entire defensive line converged on the struggling Doddridge.

But he refused to go down and continued to push, inch-by-inch, yard-by-yard, forward. Finally, inevitably, he was forced to the turf, first to his knees and then on his face. A measurement revealed he was inches short, and Hebron took control of the ball.

Gould led in rushing for the Dragons, showing a graceful power as he carried 18 times for 108 yards and 1 TD. He will be a solid asset for the Dragons when McDaniel returns for the playoffs next week. The tandem of McDaniel and a confident, hard-charging Gould should give the Dragons a formidable ground game in post-season play.

They’ll need it, I’m afraid. The Carroll aerial attack still leaves much to be desired. Bowers performed well last night, rushing 93 yards on 14 carries. In the air, he was less successful, completing 12 of 21 for only 134 yards, most of those in the 4^th.

Cade Bell (5-49) was his favorite receiver, but they had trouble connecting all night. Some of Bowers passes sailed over the worthy Bell’s head. Other catchable balls weren’t.

On the other hand, five of Bowers’ receivers compiled double-digit yardage, and two – Preston Forney (1-18) and Hudson Shrum (3-24) – scored TDs. Moreover, in the desperate 4^th quarter, Bowers kept the Dragons alive, completing 6 of 9 passes for 84 yards.

So the regular season ends on a down note. Lacking the momentum they had hoped, the Dragons must shake off their disappointment quickly. They host the McKinney Lions from District 6-6A at Dragon Stadium next Friday in the bi-district round.

At least, I think they do. Confusion reigned supreme last night about whether the Dragons will get a home game in the first round, as I so confidently stated last week.

I could go through the convoluted calculations that caused the knowledgeable hosts of Dragon Radio to report that Dragon Stadium would, then wouldn’t, then would, then wouldn’t, and finally, just as the radio show was signing off, yes, would indeed be the site of the Dragons’ first-round game.

But I’m not going to. In addition to the labyrinth mysteries of UIL playoff rules, each district has its own set of confounding regulations governing post-season play. Chuck Kelly and company were almost in tears by evening’s end. If they’re confused, what chance do the rest of us have?

Suffice to say, I’m assuming nothing until game time.

McKinney lost to cross-town rival McKinney Boyd last night, 20-17. It will be no first-round patsy for the Dragons, compiling a similar season record (4-3, 7-3) as the Dragons (5-2, 7-3).

The Lions’ fearsome running back, Matt Gadek is the area’s leading rusher, piling up 279 yards in the losing effort to Boyd. Simply put, Gadek is a nightmare.

He holds the Texas UIL rushing record for an unbelievable feat he achieved against Plano East earlier in the season. In McKinney’s 63-50 victory over East, he ran for 599 yards. Oh, dear.

But time to worry later. It’s the high school football playoffs. There a zip in the air, the holidays beckon and everything starts on Friday. See you in Dragon Stadium. I think.

Go Dragons!

Game Day: Southlake Carroll 24, Hurst L.D. Bell 17

The guy three rows in front of me at Dragon Stadium last night turned to a buddy as the 4^th  quarter wound to a sorry close, with Southlake Carroll in safe control of the ball and victory – sweet, precious victory – all but assured.

“This is the worst performance by a Southlake team in – maybe forever,” he opined as his friend nodded in glum agreement.

I can’t attest to the validity of the critique. After all, I’ve only watched every game the Dragons have played – give or take a contest or two – in the last decade. But in that time span, last night’s outing against the cellar-dwelling L.D. Bell Blue Raiders would have to rank high on the “boy, what an ugly game” list.

I sat and stewed for most of the night as the Dragon offense sputtered and stalled and the Dragon secondary leaked like a sieve, in the process making the Blue Raiders look like a playoff team, instead of the pitiable mutts they really are.

What the disappointed critic failed to acknowledge – something of which I continued to remind myself as the Dragons stumbled around the field like a drunken wino on Saturday night – was that they were without the services of their best player – star running back T.J. McDaniel.

You can’t lose players of the caliber of McDaniel without it having an impact on performance and outcome. On the other hand, this is a program that trumpets “the next guy up” philosophy, and that guy performed admirably last night. Besides, McDaniel's absence doesn't explain the Dragon defense's difficulty in grounding the Raider aerial assault.

You also have to give due credit to the Raiders for preparing well for their trip up SH 121 and for coming into the Dragons’ den last night fired up and eager to be a giant-killer. They very nearly were. But for a fumble at the Dragon 24 as they were moving steadily for the tying score, the Blue Raiders might have handed the Dragons the most humiliating of defeats on their cherished home field. And on Senior Night to boot.

It happened this way.

Bell had pulled within 7 midway in the 4^th quarter after kicker Juan Rodriguez booted a 25-yard field goal, bringing the score to 24-17. The Dragons’ subsequent drive went nowhere, ending with a 3^rd-down sack of quarterback Will Bowers (8-14, 118) at the 14. A short punt handed the Raiders, who now had their blood up, excellent field position at the Dragon 39.

Two plays later, Bell lined up at the 27 for the final push into the red zone when disaster struck. RB Beni Kabongo coughed up the ball as he fought for yardage at the 24, and opportunistic Dragon linebacker Matty Werner pounced on it with 2:41 on the clock.

Sighs of relief whooshed through my section of the stands as fans realized Carroll would escape the ordeal with a win, instead of a disgraceful loss.

The celebration – muted as it was by the Dragons’ subpar performance – was dulled even further by the knowledge that this was no way to prepare for next week’s showdown with the Hebron Hawks, 5-1 in District 5-6A play. The Hawks are loaded with talent and eager to soothe the sting of their defeat last week by the Trinity Trojans.

The Trojans, 6-0 in district, already have assured themselves a share of the district title. The winner of Hebron-Carroll could secure a portion of the crown. Both Hebron and Carroll carry 5-1 district tallies into next week’s matchup, the sole blemish on both teams’ records being at the hands of the Haka masters of Trinity.

Of course, in terms of the playoffs, the tilt with the Hawks has little impact.

The Dragons already are assured top seed in Division II, the “small school” unit of the 6A playoffs. That means they will face the second seed in District 6-6A in the first round. More importantly, they’ll play that game in the friendly confines of Dragon Stadium.

Don’t ask me who their bi-district opponent from 6-6A will be. Nothing much has been decided there going into the last regular season game, except that mighty Allen, a Division I lock, is district champ.

6-6A is chock-full of tough nuts to crack – Denton Guyer, McKinney, Plano and McKinney Boyd – so the first round will be no picnic, regardless. As things sort themselves out in 6-6A, the Dragons will have their hands full in readying for the Hawks.

The Bell game was supposed to be a restful sojourn, an opportunity to fine-tune things and let aching muscles and stretched tendons heal a little before confronting Hebron. It was never supposed to be the nail-biter it became.

After all, the Raiders have won only one game this season and were winless in 5-6A going into last night. They’re terrible and have been pushed around by everyone in the district.

But like the meek target of a schoolyard bully who finally decides to strike back, they arrived in Dragon Stadium spoiling for a fight.

What Southlake, hardly a bully but still one of the big dogs in 5-6A, thought would be a harmless  scuffle turned out to be a desperate knife fight.

Blame the coaches. Blame the kids. Heck, blame the alignment of the planets. Regardless, the Dragons misread their opponents, and it nearly cost them dearly.

 A simple statistic tells the tale quite well. The Raiders rolled up 335 total yards, mostly in the air, while the Dragons managed only 282.

Carroll mostly handled Bell’s rushing attack, limiting its leading runner, Zion Hardy, to only 38 yards on 18 carries. But Raider quarterback Mason Ornelas had his way with the Carroll secondary, completing 20 of 31 passes (65 percent) for 240 yards.

He stung the Dragon D with a flurry of passes into the mostly uncovered flats. His receivers played catch while Dragon defenders scurried hither and yon to little effect.

In contrast, Southlake’s offense never fully engaged. Bowers threw two TD passes, a 42-yarder to Carson White and a 19-yarder to Preston Forney. But many of his tosses were off target, and his receivers dropped several catchable throws.

On the ground, senior RB Tavian Gould, tapped to fill in for the missing McDaniel, took full advantage of his Senior Night starting role, carrying 22 times for 115 yards and a TD.

I’ve been hard on the Dragons, and I'm feeling a bit guilty about that. They’re only kids, after all, and much of the responsibility for last night’s dismal showing should be shouldered by head coach Hal Wasson and his assistant coaches, who apparently were looking beyond the modest Bell to the more imposing Hawks of Hebron.

They were lucky. If the Raiders had been even slightly more talented, the Dragons would have been nursing embarrassing lumps on their collective head today.

Next week, we battle crosstown Metroplex traffic to enjoy – I hope – a matchup that promises to be a fitting finale to the regular season.

Go Dragons!

Enjoying the interval

“There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.”

Spanish philosopher George Santayana said that, and his words have special meaning today as news spreads of yet another death in The Dallas Morning News family. Shockingly, that’s three in the past week.

Bill Evans, former DMN managing editor, died today after a long illness. He was 84.

Bill was a kind and generous man, tough when he had to be but warm and courteous always. He was a gentleman in the finest and noblest sense of the word.

He loved the DMN deeply and worked hard to further its interests. In most respects, he succeeded admirably, running the newsroom during the period when the paper was gaining a national reputation for journalistic excellence and winning a slew of Pulitzers.

Bill presided over a massive expansion of the news staff at a time when top-flight journalists from all over the country wanted to work there. His door was always open, well, mostly, and on the occasions when he would stride across his newsroom, his presence did not inspire fear or dread, but rather the opposite. He came most often to deliver praise, not condemnation.

Loyalty. That’s a word I associate with Bill Evans. His loyalty, not offered lightly, could be depended on.

I remember the time I took a salary issue to Bill, who served as the court of last resort in such matters. He listened carefully to my argument for a raise, then leaned back in his chair.

“Kerry,” he began, “there’s one thing we expect from employees of The Dallas Morning News. And that’s loyalty…”

Uh-oh, I thought, here it comes. The lecture and then the brush off.  I squared my shoulders and prepared for it.

“On the other hand,” Bill continued, “as an employee, you have every right to expect loyalty from The Dallas Morning News. You make a good argument, and you’ll get the raise.”

Only yesterday, we lost James Davis, 74, a stalwart on the News Desk for many years. He was a joy to work with, steady under pressure, generous in praise and deed. Like Bill, James was a journalist of the old school, with a deep rumbling laugh and a grin that could light up a room or defuse a tense deadline dispute.

And last week, Jeff Weiss, 62, storyteller par excellence, succumbed to his final battle with brain cancer. He sought “to go out like fireworks.” Indeed, he did, in an explosion of superlative explanatory journalism that detailed the cancer that was killing him and his philosophical acceptance of his own death.

Now, they are gone, and we are left a little sadder and the world a little dimmer at their passing.

It’s fashionable these days, and politically expedient, to disparage legitimate journalism as fake news and to label its faithful, hardworking practitioners as enemies of the American people.

That’s the worst kind of nonsense. Jeff Weiss, James Davis and Bill Evans were not enemies of the people. They were decent and honorable men who raised families and worked under bone-crushing daily deadlines to do a difficult job. They did both jobs well and left the world a better place.

It’s what Santayana had in mind, I think, about enjoying the interval between birth and death.

Game Day: Southlake Carroll 50, Trophy Club Byron Nelson 17

For the 18^th consecutive season, the Southlake Carroll Dragons secured a spot in the playoffs last night, smothering the Bryon Nelson Bobcats in an impressive show of offensive might and defensive prowess – at least for a half.

At halftime, the Dragons carried a 30-0 lead into the locker room, and the domination it represented was even more overpowering than the scoreboard might suggest.

Southlake scored touchdowns on its first four possessions after holding the Bobcats to four straight 3-and-outs. And on the fifth Byron Nelson drive, with the Bobcats finally showing some signs of life, the Dragons pounced on a fumble by quarterback Nick Santini at their 18 and launched their final drive of the half.

An example of the scope of the domination: The Bobcats were held to only 4 yards in the 1^st quarter while the Dragons rolled to three TDs.

The first half ended in a bizarre play that characterized, in many ways, the wild ride the Dragons enjoyed in winning a spot in postseason play.

Dragon quarterback Will Bowers (12-19 for 133, 2 INT and 3 TDs) drove his team to the Bobcat 26 with 15 ticks on the clock. The senior then dropped back and threw a strike into the end zone to his favorite receiver, senior Cade Bell. But the ball bounced off Bell and into the arms of a Bobcat receiver, who managed to struggle to the 1, where he fumbled.

The Bobcat recovered the ball in the end zone, where Bell swarmed him. At least that’s what I THINK happened. It was the strangest play I’ve ever seen, and postgame accounts by more experienced sports observers offered scant clarity.

While we were scratching our heads, the refs decreed the event was a safety since the Bobcat ball carrier had ventured briefly out of the end zone before fumbling, recovering and then being flattened by Bell.

So the Dragons, who were as confused about events as everyone else, got 2 more points before time expired. And a thoroughly defeated Byron Nelson team trudged its sad way to the locker room.

The second half began ominously for the Dragons. They took the opening kickoff and saw Bowers sacked on the first play from scrimmage. On the next play, his throw was picked off near midfield and promptly fumbled.

Quick-thinking running back T.J. McDaniel, 15 carries for 201 yards, fell on the ball at the Dragon 47 and on the next play darted 53 yards untouched for the Dragons’ fifth TD and his second of the night. Kicker Neal Koskay’s PAT into a stiff southern breeze was no good, but the Dragon lead lengthened to 36-0.

In the radio booth, long-time Dragon announcer Chuck Kelly turned to his partner, Kelly Milligan, and observed: “Do you realize that Bowers has thrown two straight interceptions, which have resulted in 8 points for the Dragons? I’ve never seen anything like this.”

He wasn’t alone. But when Kelly asked head coach Hal Wasson about the matter after the game, Wasson chose to concentrate on Bowers’ failure to protect the ball, rather than on the miraculous scoring gifts that followed.

“No, I’ve never seen anything like it,” he admitted. “But it’s something we have to work on.”

Rather than rout the unlucky Bobcats, the freakish turn of events seemed to embolden them.

An impressive return on the following kickoff put the Bobcats at their own 49, where Santini (16 of 28, 183) staged an efficient 4-play drive that ended with RB Jordan Joiner rumbling 7 yards for the first Bobcat score.

After a 3-and-out by Bowers and company, the Bobcats managed a 6-play drive capped by RB Dylan Bell’s stunning 37-yard TD run. In less than 6 minutes, the Bobcats had scored 14 points.

On that drive and the next, Santini, who couldn’t find a receiver during the entire 1^st half, threw 9 straight completions in the Bobcats’ offensive flurry.

A second consecutive 3-and-out by the Dragons gave him another shot at narrowing what once seemed to be an unassailable Dragon lead. Santini propelled the Bobcats to the Dragon 21, where the drive stalled. Kicker Nathan Miller nailed a 37-yard field goal to narrow the Dragon lead to 19.

After the game, sophomore linebacker Graham Faloona, who recovered a Bobcat fumble and scooted 66 yards for the final Dragon score, acknowledged that the defense lost focus in the 3rd. Endearingly, he shied away from characterizing the lapse so harshly.

“Yes, we encountered some adversity in the 3rd,” he said. “But we fought through it.”

Indeed, they did. The field goal spelled the last gasp of the Bobcat scoring spree, and the Dragons cemented their victory on their next two drives. The first culminated moments after the start of the 4^th, when McDaniel whipped past dazed Bobcat defenders across the field and down the right sideline to his third and final TD. The second drive ended in Faloona’s breathtaking runback.

It was a night of stellar accomplishments for the Dragons. McDaniel rolled to his 4^th 200-yard-plus game this season, a feat that places him in the pantheon of Dragon runners.

Phenom sophomore R.J. Mickens scored the Dragons’ first two touchdowns, snagging Bowers throws of 21 and 37 yards in the blistering 1^st quarter. Thus far this season, Mickens, son of an NFL player who regularly lines up as a defensive back, has caught 4 passes, all for touchdowns. Did I mention he started for the Dragons last year as a 14-year-old freshman?

On his first TD reception, Mickens wrestled the ball away from a Bobcat defender in the back of the end zone. On his second, he reached over his head for the reception, then fought past a defender at the 3 to score.

Bowers sounded slightly awestruck when he talked of Mickens after the game.

“When you throw it to him, you know the ball is never going to touch the ground,” he said. “And it’s going to be a touchdown.”

Southlake plays its last home game of the regular season against cellar-dweller L.D. Bell next week, but it won’t be Carroll’s last home game this year. Last night’s victory not only guaranteed it a playoff berth, it also means it will host a first-round game.

That’s because Carroll will be the top Division II seed in District 5-6A. I think. Trying to unravel the byzantine mysteries of  UIL playoff rules often is beyond me.

The top 2 contenders in Division I, district-leading Hebron and Trinity, meet tonight for what promises to be a bruising and entertaining contest. Hebron is favored, but anything can happen.

As for the Dragons, they should brush past lowly Bell with ease next week, setting up a desperate clash against Hebron in the last game of the regular season. A victory could win them a share of the district crown, but don’t ask me how. See above.

 I’ve been toying with the idea of watching the Hawks and Trojans go after each other tonight. But the thought of fighting rush-hour travel along I-35E to Hebron fills me with despair.

So I’ll probably stay home and drink brandy-lacked hot chocolate on the first truly chilly night of the season, dreaming of Friday Night Lights to come.

Go Dragons!

Jeff Weiss, a true mensch

Jeff Weiss, a friend and colleague from my days at The Dallas Morning News, died today, felled too young after a courageous and very public battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive and almost always fatal form of brain cancer.

Jeff knew his chances and didn’t shy away from the inevitability of what he called “the egress.” He desired only to live a quality life for as long as he could and then to exit with grace and dignity. By all accounts, he succeeded in that.

A journalist to the end, he wrote extensively and eloquently about his disease and his reactions to it. His work, published in the DMN and elsewhere, served as inspiration, comfort and support for others with glioblastoma and their caretakers.

To those who knew him, Jeff’s insistence on recording the process of his cancer fight – and the straightforward, understated and even humorous way in which he addressed it – was typical Weiss. He was a true professional, a storyteller, crafting well-researched, skillfully written articles that kept emotion at bay, but nevertheless were heartbreaking to read.

Simply put, Jeff Weiss was a mensch.

It’s a term I think he would appreciate. Mensch is a Yiddish word that means “a good person,” someone imbued with the qualities of decency, empathy, compassion, strong character, integrity and honor. Yes, Jeff was a mensch, but he also was a quirky eccentric, an American original who followed his own drummer and traveled his own path.

His curiosity was deep and expansive. During his newspaper career, he covered a stunning array of topics – politics, religion, education, energy, bringing to each an exhaustive amount of energy, imagination and creativity. He prided himself on being able to make any subject interesting – and understandable. He succeeded more times that he failed.

And when he did fall short of his own expectations, he didn’t let that eat at him. He squared his shoulders and surged ahead, ready for the next challenge, the next story, the next deadline.

Jeff and I were not close friends. We worked in the same newsroom together for many years, went to lunch occasionally and for a brief time, I edited his stories. He was both a joy to work with and a royal pain in the ass, sometimes simultaneously. The same can be said for most good reporters. And for most good people, too.

I followed his progress on Facebook and through his DMN stories. Like many of his work friends today, I wish I had taken the time to visit him in his final months. I suppose such regrets are common on days like this.

Across the country today, newspaper men and women are hard at work, laboring under deadline to bring understanding and illumination to their readers. Jeff spent his life doing that, including his last few precious months.

So I pay honor to Jeff Weiss, newspaperman, and to the beleaguered and maligned profession he loved and served so well. May you enjoy fair winds and following seas for whatever comes next.

Game Day: Southlake Carroll 35, Flower Mound Marcus 21

When the Southlake Carroll Dragons, leading Flower Mound Marcus by a mere 7 points, lined up to punt the ball about midway through the 4^th quarter last night, I turned to my wife and said, “They sure could have used another score. Seven points isn’t going to be enough.”

The Carroll coaches must have agreed. Instead of booting the ball and relying on a defense that had struggled to blunt Marcus’ hard-charging offense all night, the Dragons staged a crowd-pleasing fake punt. After a direct snap to running back T.J. McDaniel, he quickly tossed it to WR Cade Bell sprinting down the right sideline.

Bell rumbled 32 yards before he was stopped at the 5. Three plays later, the Dragons widened their lead and soon the Carroll Marching Band struck up “Hey, Baby,” the traditional sign that we could all begin planning our post-game celebrations.

Marcus, which falls to 2-2 in district play, did not go gentle into that good night. It fought hard on both sides of the ball, keeping pace with Dragon quarterback Will Bowers and company for most of the game and making Carroll work hard for every score.

But ultimately, the Dragon defense made the difference. Marcus’ hard-charging running back, Justin Dinka, scored twice, once on a 30-yard pass from quarterback Xavier Maxwell and again on a 25-yard run. But he was held to a total of 70 rushing yards, far below his normal rate.

Marcus was more successful in the air, with the connection between Maxwell and WR Evan Green bedeviling the Dragon secondary, at least in the first half. Locker room adjustments presumably addressed that because the Marauders managed only a single score in the second half. In the crucial 4^th quarter, they were held to only 21 total yards and 10 plays.

Marcus did not make it easy for the Dragon offense. The Marauder defense keyed on the phenomenal McDaniel all night, but the Coppell transfer couldn’t be denied, rolling up 154 yards on 26 carries and 2 TDs. The two longest plays of the game were his back-to-back runs of 35 and 40 yards to set up the Dragons’ first score.

Bowers, 10 of 19 for 138 yards, had a frustrating night, missing several key passes and watching experienced receivers drop catchable balls. He rushed 10 times for 35. On the other hand, he passed for 1 TD and ran for another.

Once again, the remarkable sophomore, R.J. Mickens, excelled on both sides of the ball, breaking up running plays, disrupting pass routes, returning punts and catching a 14-yard TD pass. It’s all in a day’s work for perhaps the Dragons’ most talented athlete.

Until Carroll's fake punt, the contest had been a seesaw affair. Both squads had traded touchdowns to arrive at the end of the 3^rd tied at 21-21.

Then Bowers, at the Marauders’ 14, dropped back and pitched to Mickens, who caught the ball over his head as he fell backwards in the end zone.

That gave Carroll the tenuous 7-point lead it enjoyed when Marcus, driving to respond, failed to convert on a 4-1 at its 45.

Taking over, the Dragons could do little better. After 3 plays, they faced a 4-8 at the Marcus 37. As they lined up to punt, I began to worry about a Marauder comeback.

Instead, Carroll rolled out the tricky play it had been practicing all season but never used.

"We work on things for a reason," head coach Hal Wasson told The Dallas Morning News after the game. "We're not going to keep anything in the back pocket."

Wasson, once the most predictable of coaches, has changed his cautious ways as he’s gotten older. Some of us, which is to say me, believe Wasson was forever altered by his team’s amazing come-back victory over Dallas Skyline in the 2011 state semifinals.

During the game-winning drive, with time expiring, a wild fox wandered onto the field and encountered Dragon quarterback Kenny Hill – now playing for TCU – as he weaved his way to the end zone. That astounding victory set up Southlake’s last state championship, and Wasson became forever “The Silver Fox.”

My theory is the incident, which holds a prominent spot in Dragon football lore, prompted Wasson to embrace the unexpected. Ok, ok, that’s probably nonsense. But one thing is certain, trick plays have become a much bigger part of the Dragon play book than in Wasson’s earlier years. And to me, that’s a good thing.

The importance of last night’s win over Marcus can’t be overstated. A loss would have left the Dragons with a 2-2 district record and dropped them to fourth in district rankings. That would be the lowest district ranking they have endured in years.

Only the top four teams in any district qualify for the playoffs, and the lower the ranking, the tougher opponent in the first round of the playoffs. Generally.

With the win, however, Southlake stands at 3-1 in district play, with Trophy Club Byron Nelson next up. The Bobcats are 2-2 in district, beating Flower Mound and Lewisville, both of whom were easily dispatched by the Dragons. Next in line is lowly L.D. Bell, which at 0-4 in district shares the 5-6A cellar with Lewisville.

Things get considerably tougher for the regular season finale on Nov. 10. Carroll travels to Lewisville for a critical, gut-busting contest against district leader Lewisville Hebron, which sports a 4-0 district record along with Euless Trinity.

A win against the Hawks could give the Dragons a shot at the 5-6A crown, despite their earlier loss to Trinity. To give wings to that hope, and increase the stakes mightily for a Hebron-Carroll showdown, the Hawks would have to defeat the Trojans next week, a definite possibility, and the Dragons would have to best Byron Nelson and Bell, which should happen.

Grounding the Hawks can be done. Hebron is a beast, but not unbeatable. It whipped Flower Mound last night 34-21, a team the Dragons defeated 45-31. Such comparisons don’t mean much, of course, and probably only prove that Flower Mound, despite a 1-3 district record, is no pushover.

For their part, the Hawks have a potent offense and an effective defense. Mess around with these guys, and they’ll hand your head to you and bid you good day.

But those worries are for another day. It’s fall in Texas, and there’s a nip in the evening air at game time. I know where I’ll be for the next few Fridays. What about you?

Go Dragons!