New season, same outcome: Southlake Carroll 70, El Paso Eastwood 21

 

Bob Ledbetter at Dragon Stadium

An honor long overdue

SOUTHLAKE – The Southlake Carroll Dragons inaugurated their home turf – which last night officially became Bob Ledbetter Field at Dragon Stadium – in a way that the legendary Ledbetter can understand and appreciate.

They put on an impressive offensive fireworks display, obliterated their hapless West Texas opponents and confidently set their sights on a district title, a deep run into the playoffs and – who knows? – maybe even a ninth state championship.

It’s almost impossible to overstate the impact that Bob Ledbetter (he “led better,” get it?) has had on Southlake.

Under Ledbetter, as head football coach and Carroll ISD athletic director, the Dragons football program dominated the UIL’s 3A classification in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He and the Dragons brought home to Southlake state championships in 1988, 1992 and 1993.

He installed a single, united football strategy – including training and terminology – from youth football through the middle schools and on to the varsity under Friday Night Lights. He decreed that every school in the CISD, from elementary on up, would have the Dragon as a mascot. (“We’re all Dragons!”)

Protecting the tradition

It was Ledbetter who heartily endorsed the “Protect the Tradition” marketing slogan, still ubiquitously in use, whose genius lies in the fact that it means so many different things to so many different people.

In the process, he was instrumental in transforming Southlake from a small, undistinguished suburb nestled between the behemoths of Dallas and Fort Worth into the exclusive, proud (some would say excessively proud) upscale enclave it is today.

Without high school football – which is to say, without Bob Ledbetter – Southlake would be just another sleepy, self-satisfied, insular North Texas suburb, dominated by gated neighborhoods and toney, upscale retail outlets.

It is all of those things, but it is something more – a place where its children – or at least a solid proportion of them – are taught that excellence is defined by hard work, discipline and a fierce determination to succeed.

The only question I have about the decision to recognize Ledbetter by naming the turf at Dragon Stadium after him is: What the hell took the powers-that-be so long to do so?

Too busy banning books, tolerating racism and installing a know-nothing approach to education in their classrooms?

(Oops! Sorry. I broke my own rule: Dragon game stories are a politics-free zone.  Oh, well, blame my four decades as a newspaper man and the fact that my daughter is a teacher. Apologies. Sometimes, it just slips out. 😊)

Following the playbook

A lot of people in these parts credit Todd Dodge, another legendary coach and the father of current head coach Riley Dodge, with creating the legacy of football excellence in Southlake. And while it’s true that the elder Dodge brought four more state trophies to Southlake – all in an unbelievable five-year stretch known widely as “The Run” – Dodge was wise enough and lucky enough to follow the Ledbetter playbook.

I don’t mean to take anything away from Dodge, a phenomenal coach who recreated his Southlake success elsewhere. He deserves immense credit in his own right. But it’s only fair and accurate to point out that he enjoyed the benefits of the football factory crafted by the wily Ledbetter.

The Ledbetter family at Dragon Stadium last night.

By my lights, they did right by the legend last night. The Bob Ledbetter Field dedication was quickly and tastefully done.

It took less than 10 minutes, as likely a response to the evening’s blistering heat as to an outbreak of judgment and taste. After all, the kickoff between the Dragons and the El Paso Eastwood Troopers already had been pushed to 8 p.m. to protect both players and fans.

Not much of a contest

Predictably, the game was anticlimactic. The contest, if you can call it that, effectively was over by the end of the first quarter, with the Dragons leading 28-0.

Essentially, it was almost an exact replay of last year’s match up with the Troopers, when Southlake crushed Eastwood 66-14 after jumping to an insurmountable first-quarter lead. To their credit, the game but overwhelmed Troopers never quit, but they still faced another long, dismal12-hour drive home.

Graham Knowles, who guided the Dragons to the fourth round of the playoffs last year, picked up where he left off. The Georgia Tech commit tossed five touchdown passes, completing 70 percent of his throws and connecting with six different receivers in the three quarters he was on the field.

Last season, after stepping in for the injured Kaden Anderson, Knowles threw 18 TDs before the Dragons’ season ended at the hands of the detestable Denton Guyer Wildcats. If the 6-foot-7 senior can keep up this pace – unlikely, but a guy can dream, can’t he? – he’ll equal his 18 TDs last season by the fourth game this time around.

Knowles (19-27 for 322 yards) looked cool and confident in the pocket. Most of his throws zipped efficiently to his targets, although he struggled a bit with the long ball.

“We put in a lot of preparation into this game over the summer so it feels great to go out there and to execute at the level we know we could,” Knowles told Cody Thorn of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

He wasn’t the only star shining brightly in the sultry, overheated air over Bob Ledbetter Field last night. Senior WR Jacob Jordan – Knowles’ favorite target -- met fans’ ambitious expectations by ending three consecutive drives with scoring catches of 19, 31 and 50 yards. The Oklahoma commit led the receiving corps with 7 catches for 157 yards.

Senior WR Erik Bussman (4-74) added two more receiving touchdowns and Caden Jackson ticked off another. Knowles is blessed with a deep and talented receiving corps. Let’s hope he can make good use of them.

A replacement for Allen?

Since the graduation of rushing phenom Owen Allen – headed to Air Force and the great beyond, bless him – Dragon Nation has been wondering about the state of Carroll’s running game.

And while there’ll be no replacing the redoubtable Allen, last night’s contest provided evidence that hope is not all lost.

Graham Knowles threw five touchdown passes and connected with six different receivers.

Dragonheads have been down in the dumps ever since Colleyville transfer Riley Wormley, a worthy successor to Allen, failed to pass UIL scrutiny. (That’s a story that must wait for another day.)

But sophomore Davis Penn boldly stepped up last night to assure the downcast masses, “Forget about him, folks. Here I am.”

Penn – who raised eyebrows late last season as a dew-faced frosh – led Carroll’s ground game with 102 yards on 8 carries. He found the endzone twice, once on a 10-yard blast and the other on a stunning 68-yard dash to the line.

James Lehman, a senior RB plagued by injury last year, had a solid game, rushing 4 times for 57 yards and demonstrating his potential to be a game-changer.

But it was a night for sophomore star turns. Backup quarterback Angelo Renda, who replaced Knowles when Carroll’s starters left the field shortly after halftime, made the most of his opportunity.

He electrified the sweaty and somnolent stadium late in the third quarter when he took the first snap of a Dragon drive, zipped untouched around the left end and zoomed 75 yards to the endzone, the nearest defender 20 yards in his wake.

Best keep your eye on Renda, who also connected with Bussman on one of the senior’s two TD grabs. He could be next year’s starter.

Junior Carter Lind might have something to say about that, however. The third-string signal caller made a brief appearance, guiding the offense to the 1-yard line before capping Dragon scoring with a late-game dart across the line.

Head coach Riley Dodge, beginning his sixth year in charge of the Dragon program, pronounced himself pleased with last night’s result.

“I love how we started the ball game in all three phases,” Dodge told the Star-T’s Thorn. “We had a couple of first-game stuff we need to clean up, but I’m really proud of the guys. We didn’t have a lot of film on the Troopers. We wanted to keep it simple.”

Making a noise out west

As for the Troopers, they went 9-3 last year after their drubbing by the Dragons. They’re good enough to make some noise again out west in the next few weeks. But against one of the state’s premier programs, they looked sadly outmanned and outgunned.

Trooper quarterback Evan Minjarez was under pressure for much of the night by a Dragon defense led by Dustan Mark and linebackers Aaron Scherp and Carter High. The Carroll D gave up 21 points in the effort, but I’ll cut it some slack. Keeping your concentration and intensity while enjoying a four-score lead may be too much to expect this early in the season.

Despite the harassment, Minjarez remained steady and focused, managing to complete 19 of 44 passes for 202 yards and two TDs, both to receiver Rudy Garcia. He also racked up 69 yards on the ground with 13 keepers. Most of Eastwood’s offensive fizz came during a stretch in the second quarter, a TD pass to Garcia and a 4-yard scoring run by Jayden Martinez.

The Dragons will face a stiffer test next week when they host the Flower Mound Marcus Marauders. Dodge said last night’s slaughter served its purpose for the local lads.

“I think it gives us momentum going into next week,” he told the Star-T. “We got guys’ confidence and knocked some cobwebs off. It was nice to compete with someone else besides ourselves every day.”

Dare we expect a break in the furnace-blast heat? I doubt it. Fall, you can’t come quickly enough!

Go, Dragons!

Cancer and me: The journey begins

 

A new life motto?

Particularly unwelcome news

As health scares go, I’d rate it as a solid 8, edging toward a 9.

To cut to the chase, I’m recovering from surgery to remove a tumor from my lower bowel. The pathology report confirmed it’s cancer, officially known as a “well-differentiated neuroendocrine tumor, grade 2.”

As a cancer survivor – I had a malignant prostate removed several years ago – this news was particularly unwelcome.

I beat the Big C once, thank you very much. Jeezus, how many times does one person have to go into the ring with such an implacable and indominable foe?

The answer, it appears, is – as many times as it takes.

My doctors tell me that it could be much worse. My tumor is slow-growing and nonaggressive. It isn’t the kind of cancer that spreads wildly and kills quickly and certainly.

My surgeon says his team got all of it they could detect, taking 15 inches of my lower bowel and part of my colon in the process. But because my lymph nodes were affected, the possibility remains that it could spread. Dogged vigilance, it appears, is in my future – forever.

My gastroenterologist, who’s treated me for ulcerative colitis for more than 25 years, essentially told me to take a deep breath. Perhaps he detected the poorly disguised terror in my voice.

“Nobody wants to have cancer,” he said. “But if you’ve got to have it, this is the kind to have.”

It all started with the digestive issues I've been having for months. Normally, my UC has been kept in check by regular infusions of a miracle drug called Remicade, sometimes referred to as the “million-dollar drug,” both for its effectiveness and its hefty price tag. (Thank God for Medicare.)

But fierce cramps and a constant upset stomach had ruined my Zen so I went to the doctor and began searching for answers.

After an MRI, a combined colonoscopy and endoscopy, a stool study (don’t ask), and finally a CAT-scan, the truth began to emerge. “We found a nodule in your lower intestine,” my doc said.

“Hmm, that doesn’t sound good,” I replied. “How much trouble am I in?”

“I dunno,” he said unhelpfully, but not unkindly. “But it’s got to come out.”

So off to a surgeon I went. He went in for a cute little nodule and came out with a big ole scary tumor. Lucky me.

Next in store is a session with an oncologist to decide on next steps. My chief job now, I suppose, is to stay positive. That's easier said than done, particularly for a glass-half-empty kinda guy like me for whom thinking positively isn’t a natural state.

I don’t expect to be a regular chronicler of my “cancer journey.” Mostly because I don’t think it’s going to be very interesting or illuminating.

But my family and some of my friends are aware of the health issues swirling around me so I offer this update and thank them for their continued interest and strong temporal and spiritual support. It makes a difference even if sometimes I'm not gracious enough to acknowledge it.

Onward through the fog!

Randy Riggs, an old friend now gone

 

Randy Riggs

Randy Riggs, who I knew, admired and, yes, loved for more than a half century, is gone, lost to his beloved family and many friends after a quiet and valiant two-year battle against that most merciless of adversaries – cancer.

Randy was a brilliant writer and had a well-tuned sense of humor. He first produced laugh-out-loud observations about the absurdity and mayhem of the world in columns he wrote for the student newspaper at North Texas State University, now UNT, in the early 1970s.

He easily could have become a humor writer for any newspaper in the country. He was that funny. But instead, he chose sports writing as his trade and poured all of his sizable talent into bringing to life for his readers the infinite variety of sports. He spent the last 36 years of his brilliant career at the Austin American Stateman before retiring in 2013.

For a time during our college careers, we worked together on the staff of the student-produced North Texas Daily. When I was chosen as Daily editor in Fall 1972, Randy was the first person I asked to join my staff. His cool judgment and sound advice saved my ass more than once.

Later, we became roommates in Lubbock when we both worked for the Avalanche Journal.

By the time I arrived at the paper in 1974, Randy already was a star on the Sports Desk. We rarely saw each other. He worked days and frequently was on the road covering one team or another, and I was the night cops reporter.

Randy, bless him, showed great patience and forbearance as my roommate. He endured silently the night I brought home after deadline five or six colleagues from the night shift for an “early breakfast.” The gathering broke up about an hour before Randy had to be up for work.

Even today, I wince a bit at my selfish disregard for Randy’s feelings and my utter lack of respect. Randy never uttered a word in protest or rebuke.

He and I caught up with each other again at the American Statesman. There, too, Randy was a standout on the Sports Desk, which was peopled with talented reporters and columnists. But Randy was special – in so many ways. I know his colleagues and friends there are in mourning today.

My heart, too, is heavy today. My condolences go to his wife, Patti, and his children, Adam and Katy.

 Many of my old friends are of an age when this sort of loss becomes more frequent. Randy was 71 and is the third member of my North Texas Daily staff to die from cancer. Steve Monk and Joseph McAnally, great friends for many years, both were taken by the Big C.

I’m comforted, strangely, by a scene I imagine taking place in the Great Beyond. Steve, Joe and Randy are together, drinking beer and reminiscing about the wild and crazy days at North Texas. They're having a grand time.

Soon enough, I suppose, I’ll be joining them. Randy will look up and rumble, “Gunnels, you’re late.”

The wild madness of Christmas

 

Presents galore between the branches of The Beast, our beloved Christmas tree.

The in-between time

Squeals of childish laughter no longer echo through the halls of Gunnels Manse on this Christmas Day evening. Marice and I are in the in-between time – our children grown up and moved out and no grandchildren yet to take their noisy, messy place.

Photos of friends enjoying Christmas with their children fill Facebook, and it makes me a little melancholy for the days when my kids were small and the lights of Christmas filled their eyes and swelled their hearts with joy. I miss the scattered toys, half-eaten Christmas cookies and shredded wrapping paper in every corner.

God help me, but I even miss the desperate, last-minute assembly of toys in a drafty garage on Christmas Eve. It was a dreaded task that couldn’t begin until after midnight because Rachel and Ethan had to be in bed and pretending to be asleep in order to guarantee the arrival of Santa Claus on time and loaded with loot.

I remember in particular the frigid Christmas Eve I assembled a Barbie Dream House – all 12 million pieces of it – in 30-degree weather while seated on an ice-cold concrete floor.

 As I gradually lost feeling in my frostbitten extremities, I started hallucinating that my night-owl daughter, investigating the wild swearing that had awakened her, had interrupted my labors and discovered – horror of horrors – the true identity of Santa Claus. Even now, I get a little sweaty just thinking about it.

Luckily, Rachel remained asleep that night, one hopes with visions of sugar plums dancing in her head. And Barbie’s Dream House? It was a monster hit. We discovered stray pieces of that toy from hell in nooks and crannies of Gunnels Manse for years afterward

Those days are gone, but not forgotten. The house at the top of Mad Bird Hill is quiet today, the stillness of a chilly Christmas night broken only by the occasional barking of our Westie in her eternal vigilance against invaders of hallowed Gunnels ground.

If you have kids – or grandkids – young enough to be mystified, captivated and rendered mad by the magic of Christmas, I hope you realize how blessed you are. Embrace the chaos, glory in the wild happiness of it all and remember every single second.

Ask me – if I had it to do all over again, would I do it? Oh, hell, yes!

Michael Lindenberger: Taken too soon

 

Michael Lindenberger, everything a journalist should be.

Michael Lindenberger’s legion of good friends and admiring colleagues mourn his loss. At 51, he is dead too soon, felled by a mysterious illness that his doctors couldn’t identify.

Given time, Michael would have become, I am confident, one of America’s best-known and best-loved writers. He was that good and he worked at it that hard. Time was all he needed, time that has been denied him – and all the people who loved and admired him.

During the time we worked together at The Dallas Morning News, Michael was everything I believe a good journalist should be: a compelling writer, effective interviewer and diligent researcher.

But he was more than that. He was tough-minded but kind-hearted, suspicious of power but tolerant of human frailty, courageous without being foolhardy, thoughtful but no egghead, confident but not egocentric.

His untimely death cuts short a career that was beginning to soar. Earlier this year, he was a part of a team that won the Pulitzer Prize for a series of stories in the Houston Chronicle about “The Big Lie,” the myth of stolen ballots, rigged elections and fake voters.

He only recently had moved to the Kansas City Star to become the editorial page editor and vice president.

He spent 14 years as a reporter at The News, where he had few peers. There were no holes in a Lindenberger story. It was thoroughly reported, carefully organized and skillfully written. He was an editor’s dream.

We sat at adjacent desks, and I would get a running commentary about the progress of his stories. Michael liked to talk things through. I suppose it helped him organize the story before he sat down to write. His telephone interviews, which I couldn’t help but overhear, were like a master’s class in the art of interviewing.

He was among the first reporters at The News to use the internet to engage his readers. He was a devoted blogger and would write long, fact-filled posts about the news of the day, inviting his sources to participate in an online discussion. Often, he would mine his blog for his print stories.

Such things are common today. Back then, not so much.

Aside from journalism, Michael loved to cook – and was good at it. An invitation to one of his dinner parties promised mouth-watering cuisine, good liquor and sensational dinner conversation, over a wide range of topics and presided over with gusto by the host himself. On such occasions, he reminded me a bit of Winston Churchill – all the charm and intellect without the insults and suffocating egotism.

He showed his judgment and good taste by being a lover of good bourbon. Kentucky bourbon, thank you very much.

A proud native of Louisville, he believed devoutly that the best bourbon was distilled within its environs. He wouldn’t gargle with that Tennessee mash crap.

If fate had been kinder, Michael would have had time to finish his biography of fellow Kentuckian Robert Penn Warren, the only writer to have won a Pulitzer Prize for both prose and poetry.  His most famous work is All the King’s Men, a novel loosely based on the career of Louisiana Gov. Huey Long.

I consider All the King’s Men as the best American novel of the 20^th century, and Michael and I had long conversations about the book and about Warren’s creative process. I had read somewhere that Warren originally conceived the book as a long, epic poem, but had abandoned that idea and rewritten it as a novel, leaving much of the poetic imagery intact. The idea captivated me, but Michael’s research gave lie to the myth. I remember his discreet amusement at my disappointment.

Michael’s other literary hero dwelled at the other end of the spectrum. He was an enthusiastic fan of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, like Michael a Louisville native. Michael saw beyond Thompson’s flamboyant personality and detected the serious writer often overlooked by critics.

The last year had been an up-and-down ride for Michael. Along with his career accomplishments came personal tragedy when his partner of many years, Phil Clore, died after a lengthy battle with cancer. Clore’s death rocked Michael, who dealt with his anguish in typical fashion – by writing about it.

In a Facebook post at Thanksgiving, he wrote about living with grief and finding a path beyond the pain.

“I’ve been a writer all my life. And one thing I have learned is that writing is thinking. We writers often don’t know what we think, or even what we feel, until we put our brains through the process of spelling it out on the page.”

A season's end: Southlake Carroll 21, Denton Guyer 45

 

Carroll had no answer for Jackson Arnold, Guyer's five-star quarterback. He's headed to OU.

Not this year

JUSTIN – Not many folks gave the Southlake Carroll Dragons much of a chance in yesterday’s fourth-round playoff match against the fearsome Denton Guyer Wildcats.

Even the homiest of homers, after examining the evidence and hardening their green-tinted heart, would have been compelled to peer into the earnest, shining faces of their children and say – with infinite sadness – “Sorry, my darlings, but not this year.

“Not. This. Year.”

And so it came to pass on a brisk fall Saturday in December that the 14-0 Wildcats dismantled the Dragons with brutal efficiency, ending Carroll’s undefeated season,  and sailed alone into the semi-final round of the Division II playoffs.

Guyer will face the always dangerous 12-2 DeSoto Eagles in Frisco next Saturday at the Ford Center at the Star. That game has “automatic classic” written all over it. It’ll certainly be the hottest playoff ticket in the Metroplex. Count on it.

Punch their ticket

To punch their ticket to the Big Show – the Division II state championship game – the Eagles will have to get past Jackson Arnold, Guyer’s five-star quarterback who has committed to Oklahoma. After his performance this season, Arnold has convinced a lot of OU fans that he could just be the guy to turn things around in Norman.

One thing’s for certain: Arnold almost single-handedly turned Carroll upside down and inside out. The Dragons simply had no answer for him either in the air or on the ground.

He was sacked four times and spent a brief spell on the sideline to recover from the last one. But Arnold wasn’t distracted by the pressure. He had a hand in all six Wildcat touchdowns against the Dragons, rushing for four and throwing for another two.

By all rights, he should have been a holder on the Wildcats’ second-quarter field goal, one of the few times Arnold and his receivers were denied the end zone by the beleaguered Dragon D. Then he could have attained a clean sweep.

Yes, I almost feel sorry for DeSoto fans, the poor dears. The Eagles – as always, athletic, well-coached and focused – are on a mission this year. But they haven’t faced a threat like Arnold, and if anybody can derail the Eagle train roaring to a state title, it could be him.

Greg Riddle of The Dallas Morning News devoted his entire game story to a recitation of Arnold’s heroics. I call your attention to this paragraph, which focuses on his playoff output:

‘Unstoppable runner’

“Arnold has suddenly become an unstoppable runner, going over 100 yards on the ground for the third straight game after his season high during the regular season was 86 yards. He scored on runs of 49, 16, 2 and 10 yards (against Carroll) and has run for a team-high 22 touchdowns — averaging a touchdown run every six carries.”

According to Riddle, Arnold’s 303 passing yards against Carroll was the fifth time this season he’s surpassed the 300-yard mark. Arnold guided Guyer in converting nine of its first 11 first downs, five on QB keepers and three on passes.

Jacob Jordan fights for yardage as he's swarmed by the Wildcat defense.

On the sixth play of the game, Arnold gave a preview of the afternoon’s playbill, careening around the right side and speeding 49 yards to put Guyer on the board.

The Dragons responded immediately to the threat when supremo runner Owen Allen roared 34 yards to score on the second play of the next Carroll drive.

But the euphoria among Dragon fans was short-lived. Arnold then led the Wildcats in scoring 21 unanswered points, making TD runs of 16 and 2 yards and zipping a 38-yard TD pass to Landon Sides (8 catches for 137 yards).

Now trailing 28-7, the Dragons were forced to play catch-up for the remainder of the game. The die had been cast, however. When you allow a team like Guyer to seize a 21-point lead, your chances of success sink to zero.

By far the least

Guyer gained 537 total yards – for which Arnold was responsible for 449 – while limiting the Dragons to a modest 294, by far the least they have gained all season.

Allen, who ends his high school career with 7,488 rushing yards, earned every inch he gained yesterday, a total of 149 hard-won yards on 24 carries, including two TDs.

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Brian Gosset, Allen finishes with 120 rushing TDs and 42 games with at least 100 yards. He ends his senior year with 2,200 yards – his third straight 2,000-yard season – and 37 TDs.

 His exploits, which began when he joined the varsity as a 14-year-old freshman, will be remembered in Southlake for a long time. Where he goes from here still is uncertain, but whichever school snatches him up will be damned lucky to get him. So says me.

Quarterback Graham Knowles had a difficult day, juggling two snaps and throwing two interceptions. He had trouble connecting with his receivers – sailing several passes over their heads and never getting into a rhythm. Credit the industrious Guyer secondary for much of the mayhem.

Knowles was limited to 9 of 18 passes for 132 yards. His only TD pass was a 48-yard beauty to Clayton Wayland (2 for 63) that narrowed the Wildcat lead to 38-21 late in the 3^rd period.

Get no closer

But Carroll would get no closer, and Guyer added the coup de grace four minutes later with an 18-yard TD pass from Arnold to Josiah Martin.

At the harsh rattle of the final buzzer, the Dragon season was over, two games short of the ultimate goal – a ninth state championship.

That dream must wait. The rules of the playoffs are fixed and unforgiving. You keep playing only as long as you keep winning. Falter and it’s all over.

Owen Allen earned every one of the 149 yards he gained against a stingy Guyer defense.

Tears flowed yesterday at Northwest ISD Stadium. How could they not? When you leave everything out on the field – as these young Dragons did – you have earned an emotional release. And sometimes, there’s nothing more therapeutic than a good cry. (I’ve been told that, you understand. I have no real knowledge of such things. Ahem.)

These Dragons have nothing to be ashamed of. They played with spirit and heart to the limit of their abilities, and they lost to a better team. It’s as simple – and as heartbreaking – as that.

I hope they’re comforted by the knowledge that they are part of a great and continuing tradition of excellence and achievement. This is the sixth straight year that Carroll has reached at least as far as the regional finals. It is an eight-time state champion. That’s a record most programs can only dream about.

That said, a season’s end always is a sad affair. For these Dragons, it is especially hard. Their sense of brotherhood and family – common in almost any high school team sport – was particularly strong.

Their next step

Life goes on, however, and there’s always next season to consider. The seniors must now focus on their next step. College, career, the Future. Best of luck to them all.

Meanwhile, the prospects for next year are bright.

Lots can happen in the off-season, of course. But from where we stand now, here’s an inkling of what could be in store.

Knowles will be back at quarterback, along with most of his receiving corps – Jacob Jordan, Clayton Wayland, Trey Ferri and Caden Jackson. Runner/WR James Lehman, whose absence because of injury was sorely felt, will be back. Backup quarterback Parker Thompson also will be on hand, perhaps in an offensive role that takes advantage of his explosive and elusive running style. On defense, linebacker Aaron Scherp returns, as does lineman Dustan Mark, both stalwarts of this year’s D and sturdy building blocks for next year.

I’m sure I’ve left out some important names. Apologies for that oversight. We will all get to know them better as times goes on.

For now, it’s time to put another Dragon season in the book. May you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Joyous New Year.

Go Dragons!

Guyer receiver Landon Sides pulls in a pass despite the best efforts of Logan Lewandowski.

Dragon Magic: Southlake Carroll 42, McKinney 35

 

Owen Allen ran for more than 200 yards for the 10th time in his career. Oh, and he scored four touchdowns.

Watching over the Dragons

Southlake Carroll head coach Riley Dodge called it Dragon Magic. And perhaps a little hocus-pocus was responsible for the transformation of the Dragons yesterday from the gang that couldn’t shoot straight to the comeback kids.

Thank goodness someone – or something – was watching over the Dragons in their third-round 6A Division II contest against the McKinney Lions.

Carroll needed all the help it could get to overcome an embarrassing series of first-half gaffes that had Dragon fans scratching their heads in wonder and reaching for the aspirin bottle.

McKinney came to Arlington’s Choctaw Stadium ready to play and hungry for an upset. And the Dragons very nearly played into its hands before they righted the ship at halftime and turned in a superb second-half performance that kept their playoff hopes alive.

For the sixth straight year, the Dragons have made it to the fourth round of the playoffs. Dodge has taken them to the area finals and beyond in each of his five years as head coach.

Playoffs midpoint

They now are at the midpoint in the playoffs. Next up, Carroll will face the winner of today’s contest between Denton Guyer, the clear favorite, and Byron Nelson, Carroll’s nemesis in District 4-6A.

Who would the Dragons rather face? Byron Nelson, of course. Carroll beat the Bobcats 38-23 earlier in the season to capture the 4-6A title. Guyer, on the other hand, is a monster this year and will pose the bigger challenge, by far.

But frankly, at this stage of the playoffs, there are no easy opponents. Take the 8-5 Lions, for instance. Most folks had Carroll as the favorite in yesterday’s match up. But Dodge, who had personally scouted McKinney in the first round, knew his team was in for a dogfight.

“Going into it, McKinney scared the crap out of me, to be honest with you,” Dodge told Arianna Vedia of The Dallas Morning News. “I got to see them first-hand in the first round … That’s a very talented football team that started playing their best football toward the end of the year, and we knew what we were getting coming into it.”

He also acknowledged the Dragons were their own worst enemies for a good chunk of the afternoon.

“Offensively, we couldn’t play any worse than the first half. Just penalties after penalties,” he told Vedia. “We were doing good stuff, it was just — positive yards, then a setback — like a yo-yo effect.”

Things got off to a dismal start. On Carroll’s first drive, the offensive line was flagged five times for false starts, including on the first three consecutive plays. But quarterback Graham Knowles kept the Dragons on track, despite the hiccups. He pitched a 37-yard pass to junior receiver Jacob Jordan, then followed it with a 12-yarder to Caden Jackson to bring Carroll to the Lion 23.

Stupefying sight

But it could get no farther so kicker Tyler White, as dependable as the dawn, was called in to boot a 40-yard field goal. His kick struck the upright, a sight so stupefying, I was tempted to rub my eyes in disbelief. It was White’s first missed field goal this season.

Quarterback Graham Knowles stayed cool and composed while miscues mounted.

McKinney couldn’t do much better. On the Lions’ first possession, quarterback Keldric Luster was sacked on the second play and intercepted by Dragon defender J. David Sparks on the third.

From the 30, the Dragons, behind Allen’s brilliant running, moved to the 11. Facing a 4^th and 2, Allen was stuffed at the line of scrimmage, a failure so rare that I began to fear the Dragons were ensnarled in some kind of bad-luck vortex.

Taking possession of the ball, McKinney promptly marched into Dragon territory, where Luster hefted a 42-yard TD pass to Tyler Stanley, the first of the receiver’s two scores for the night. It would take Carroll until half-way through the final period to finally take the lead and preserve its perfect (so far) season.

Carroll would even the score 7-7 with 29 seconds left in the first half. After a series of pass plays to Caden Jackson (11 catches for 87 yards), Allen moved the ball to the Lion 44. Knowles then connected with Jordan at the 5, and Allen finished the drive.

McKinney responded in a flash, moving to near midfield in two plays. Then, with only 8 ticks before the buzzer, Luster found Khali Best drifting near the goal line, and Best breezed in to score.

The Lions began the second half in much the same fashion. On their first possession after the break, Luster, a powerful and slippery runner, carried the ball to the 45, passed to the 17 and then handed off to Bryan Jackson, who galloped into the end zone. Less than 2 minutes into the half, McKinney led 21-7.

Lethargy disappears

The lethargy that had haunted the Dragons through much of the first half dissipated at that point, and the game settled into a back-and-forth shootout. For its part, Carroll would score on all five of its second-half possessions.

Leading the Dragon charge were Knowles, who completed 80 percent of his passes for 347 yards and 2 touchdowns, and – naturally – Allen, who rushed 34 times for 221 yards and four touchdowns. It was the 10^th time in his career Allen has rushed for more than 200 yards.

Carroll wasted no time in narrowing the Lion lead. On the third play of the ensuing drive, Knowles lofted a 73-yard bomb to Jordan (7-214), who took it to the house.

The teams traded scores, with the Dragons first cutting the Lion lead to 28-21 with a 2-yard dash by Allen.

That’s when things began to unravel for the Lions. Dragon defensive back Logan Lowandowski sacked Luster, forcing a fumble that the quarterback managed to fall on but that forced a punt.

On the next drive, the Dragons drove deep into Lion territory, where Knowles tried unsuccessfully to connect with Jackson in the end zone. But a pass interference call put the ball on the 2, from where Allen darted untouched to tie things up 28-28.

On McKinney's first play from scrimmage, Lester fumbled the ball yet again, but this time Dustan Marks recovered it at the Lion 20. Allen took it first to the 13, then to the 9, where Knowles connected with Clayton Wayland (6-51) for the go-ahead score.

The Lions weren’t finished yet, however. They came roaring back to tie the game again on a 11-yard Luster pass to Stanley (3-84, 2 TDs) in the end zone.

With 4 minutes left to play, Caden Jackson fielded the Lion kickoff at the Dragon 24. A penalty pushed Carroll back to its 9, where Knowles went to work. Peppering passes to Jackson and Wayland, he led the Dragons into Lion territory.

Two carries by Allen brought the ball to the 26. A quick pass to Jordan landed it at the 13, from where Allen added his fourth TD of the night with less than a minute to play.

Jacob Jordan, the Dragons' leading receiver, caught 11 passes for 222 yards and two TDs.

The night ended on an ignominious note for the Lions. They faced a 4^th and 2 with half a minute left in the game, time enough for McKinney’s explosive offense to hijack the game. Fading right and looking downfield, Luster slipped and fell at his own 29. The Dragons ran out the clock and another playoff classic was in the books.

McKinney’s offensive tandem of Luster, Stanley and Jackson (16 carries, 96 yards) deserve a lot of credit. Luster, a SMU commit, was the Lions’ rushing leader with 139 yards on 19 carries. He also completed 7 of 12 passes for 131 yards and 2 TDs. The Ponies should be licking their chops.

Luster and company couldn’t be completely stifled. But the Dragon D proved disruptive enough to keeps things from careening out of control, making key stops that finally disrupted the tit-for-tat scoring exchange. It sacked Luster several times and forced a fumble and an interception.

In the decisive fourth quarter, when the Dragon surge sealed the Carroll victory, Dragon defenders limited McKinney to a single score.

It’s magic

In his DMN interview, Dodge credited “Dragon Magic” for the Carroll turnaround in the second half. I suspect he had his tongue tucked firmly in cheek. The real ingredients for the shift in focus and execution had more to do with some tough love in the locker room at halftime (call it good coaching if you like), the inherent motivation and discipline that are hallmarks of the Dragon program – and intangibles like pride and brotherhood.

These guys regard each other as family. Many have played football together since grade school and Dragon Youth Football, a subject that frequently comes up in postgame player interviews.

In the playoffs, the imperative is win or go home. These Dragons don’t want to break up the family, and who can blame them? They are willing to fight hard and sacrifice much to keep that family intact. If you choose to call that magic, I have no objection.

“Dragon Magic is hard to explain,” Allen told the DMN’s Vedia, who obviously was entertained by the idea. “You don’t really know when it’s coming, but once it’s there, you know it. We were feeling it tonight, and I think everybody was, too.”

Go Dragons!

Coach Riley Dodge credited a little "Dragon Magic" for the win. Who's gonna argue with that?