Bring on the Panthers … Again
Dragons Face Old Foe to Open Playoffs; Enter as Favorites This Time
By Zach Warner
The Southlake Journal
This year, the shoe’s on the other foot as Carroll enters the first round of the football playoffs, but the Dragons hope for similar results.
A rematch of its 2008 5A Division II bi-district contest, Carroll once again faces long-time rival Colleyville Heritage when the two meet at 5 p.m. Saturday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. Last year, it was the Panthers that were viewed as the favorites after the Dragons struggled through district with a couple of losses and Colleyville looked almost dominant with its only defeat of the season being a 35-28 district loss to Trinity.
Despite the numbers coming in, the Dragons ended up securing a convincing first-round win over the Panthers, 31-7, Carroll’s only playoff victory last year.
Now, a resurgent Carroll team enters the postseason with a full head of steam, having won the 6-5A title outright with a 5-0 record and outscoring district opponents by a 211-74 margin. The Dragons (9-1) only blemish on their record this season was a 28-13 loss to state power Galena Park North Shore.
"We’re going to come in [to the playoffs] excited," said Hal Wasson, Carroll football coach. "It’s such an exciting time of the year. It’s a special time of the year and you can’t take anything for granted.
"We control only us and we feel really good about this team," he said.
Meanwhile, Colleyville Heritage (7-3) fell to third place in 5-5A after losses to Trinity and school district rival Grapevine. They also suffered a 24-7 defeat to Plano East in non-district play.
The Panthers continue to sport a strong passing attack, but have been unable to produce a dominant runner for its ground game. As a result, Colleyville has relied heavily on the arms and legs of quarterback Jeff Calvert. Calvert has passed for 1,779 yards and 12 touchdowns, while also leading the team with 447 yards and eight scores rushing.
The Panthers running woes have been compounded by the loss of starting running back Bailey Crego, who tore the ACL in his left knee in the Week 7 Trinity game and is out for the year. Colleyville has been ineffective running by committee with Austin Keaveny, Jimmy Isbell and Trent Dennington. But Calvert is getting mileage out of throwing to receiving threats Kyle Millan (702 yards, 5 TDs) and Jake Skinner (518 yards, 5 TDs).
Carroll defensive end Jackson Richards, who leads the Dragons with 7.5 sacks this season, said his team will have to work hard to contain the Panthers.
"We’re going to have to bring it 100 percent," Richards said. "I think we’re right where we need to be [heading into the playoffs].
"It’s all about having a good practice, so we need to work hard on our form, get everything fixed and carry on from there."
Finishing Out Strong
If there was any doubt how important winning district was to the Carroll football team, that became completely evident in the Dragons final regular season game.
Defeating Lewisville by a 52-0 rout on Nov. 6, Carroll put the exclamation point on their bid for the district championship and going undefeated in their march through 6-5A.
The Dragons defense dominated, holding the Farmers (2-8) to 143 total yards in the shutout, while Carroll rolled up 473 yards. Quarterback David Piland passed for 170 yards and three touchdowns, while Tommy Avers registered 152 yards and a score on 14 carries.
"It feels really, really good to win this outright district championship in a very tough district," Wasson said after the Lewisville win.
Playing at ’Jerry’s World’
Although it didn’t originally look like any high school teams would have the chance to play at the new Cowboys Stadium for the playoffs this season, Dallas Cowboys officials have given teams a chance to compete inside the $1.8 billion state-of-the-art facility in at least the first round of the playoffs.
Whether or not the Cowboys give high school teams more opportunities to play at the stadium is yet to be determined. Either way, Carroll will enjoy the chance to play at the largest pro football venue in the world this weekend.
"I’m very excited about that," defensive end Jackson Richards said. "You can’t let stuff like that distract you, but that’s a pretty big deal. We’re pretty fortunate to be able to do that.
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Carroll (9-1) vs. Colleyville Heritage (7-3)
5 p.m. Saturday
Cowboys Stadium, Arlington
Radio: 970 AM (Road radio in stadium - 89.1 FM)
Prediction: Carroll 42, Colleyville Heritage 14. Expect a pumped-up Dragons team to carry their regular-season momentum into the playoffs and be ready for their former rivals once again. Already hobbled by injuries and a weak running game, the Panthers likely won’t be able to keep up on either side of the ball.
Get the full version of this article at The Southlake Journal and full Southlake news at www.southlakejournal.com.
Game Information
Kickoff- 5:00pm
CABC Tailgate in Rangers Stadium Lot J- 2:00pm.
Read more about the tailgate by clicking here.
*MAP OF STADIUM AND PARKING MAP
We are the Home team and will be on the Cowboys sideline.
*FAN GATES
Fans will enter through Entry H or C on the ends of the stadium.
*PARKING
Public parking will be $10 per car.
Our parking lots will be Lots 5,6,7
*TICKETS
Pre-sale prices are $6.00 for students and $10.00 for adults and will be sold until Friday at noon at CSHS, CHS, DMS, JES and DES .
All tickets at the gate will be $12.00.
Tickets are good for all four games on Saturday.
*BANNERS AND SIGNS
NO banners or signs will be allowed to be hung at Cowboys Stadium. Handheld signs only
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