Photo courtesy of Rex Teter Photography.
The Dragon playoff run picked up right where the regularbrseason ended as Southlake Carroll rolled over Arlington Bowie, 56-14, at Fridaybrnight's 5A Division 1 bi-district playoff matchup at Coppell's Buddy EcholsbrStadium.
As the Dragons move to 2-1 in recent playoff games againstbrthe Volunteers, Hal Wasson’s club dominated both sides of the ball and got thebrground game going. Totaling 351 yards rushing on offense, they contained Arlington’sbrexplosive offensive attack led by Tony James, as well as returning quarterbackbrKeaton Perry who accumulated 265 yards in total offense.
Scoring on four of its first five possessions, the Dragonbroffense got off to a hot start, jumping to a commanding 35-14 lead at the half.brA strong rushing attack led by senior running back A.J. Ezzard, whose threebrfirst-half touchdowns (including a 20-yard scamper with 19 seconds left in thebrsecond quarter) pushed the Dragon lead to 21 after a Bowie touchdown pass frombrPerry, pulled the Volunteers within 14 and provided a steep uphill battle for abrsputtering Bowie offense. Ezzard, who has been extremely hot as of late — runningbrfor 340 yards and seven touchdowns in his last three games — finished his mostbrimpressive outing of the season with 164 rushing yards and four touchdowns onbr24 carries. Quarterback Ryan Agnew finished his first playoff start going 10brfor 13 for 165 yards through the air while adding 92 rushing yards, including abr19-yard touchdown run in the first half.
As the Dragons took full control of the game in the thirdbrquarter, converted linebacker Steven Bergemark joined the rushing touchdownbrparty, plunging in for a four-yard score to put the Dragons up 49-14. Playoffbrinexperience proved to be no problem for Carroll's young offensive line whobrdominated a Bowie front seven, allowing the offense to control the football andbrkeep the Volunteers' athletic offensive playmakers off the field for thebrmajority of the evening. Putting together one of its better efforts in the mostbrcritical game of the year, Tim Wasson's defense unit held the Volunteers tobrunder 300 yards of total offense while forcing two Bowie fumbles.
“We were looking to make a statement this week,” said seniorbrdefensive tackle Nash Dickey. “I don’t think we’ve played to our full potentialbras a defense yet. We played well but we still made a few mistakes that cost usbrsome yards. I think we proved we can contain an athletic offense and we’re notbrto be overlooked.” The physicality displayed by the Dragon defense and thebrDragon secondary created problems for the Bowie aerial attack as Bowie’sbrtwo-quarterback combination was limited to only 78 yards through the air.
The Dragons (10-1) look forward to continuing their playoffbrrun Friday as they face Midland Lee (9-2) at Saginaw’s Chisholm Trail Stadium. Kickoffbrbegins at 7 p.m.
Photography courtesy of Rex Teter Photography.
Robert Halliman is a senior journalism major and political science minor at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Penn. A 2010 Carroll Senior High graduate, Robert played defensive tackle for coach Hal Wasson from 2007–2010. An aspiring sports agent and media personality, Robert is also a member of the Lehigh University Business Careers and Entertainment Club.
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