by Robert Halliman
If there's one thing in life Southlake Carroll fans lookbrforward to during the holiday season, its definitely Dragon football inbrDecember. After a two-year hiatus frombrthe quarterfinal round of the playoffs, Hal Wasson and the Southlake CarrollbrDragons head back to familiar territory after conquering San Angelo Centralbr38-10 in the regional round of the 6A Division II playoffs.
No strangers to great quarterback play, this season CoachbrWassson has found the key to success in a strong emphasis on the run game. Withbrfour viable rushing options behind the Southlake Carroll offensive line, thebrgreen and white have excelled with a potent ground game. Behind the power rushingbrof Lil' Jordan Humphrey (1,790 yards, 28 TDs) the Dragons have the option ofbrrunning down the clock or opening up big plays through the passing attack. Bothbrare enviable weapons this late into a state championship run.
The mark of a great team is their relentless pursuit of improvementbrweek to week. In doing so their play steps up as the stakes get higher. The samebrgoes for great quarterbacks and Ryan Agnew has continued to progress as thebrDragons move deeper into their playoff run. Playing mistake free footballbragainst Central, Agnew finished the contest 13 of 24 for 208 yards and twobrtouchdowns, while adding 65 yards on the ground. Li'l Jordan Humphrey continuedbrhis streak of 100 plus yard games, rushing for 117 yards on 29 carries and twobrtouchdowns. Humphries added a receivingbrtouchdown to his brilliant performance, catching a 21-yard touchdown pass frombrCarroll receiver Parker Fentriss on a trick play in the first quarter. Dragon Pride Player of the Week Tariq Gordon led all Dragon receivers with 153 yards and a touchdown onbrseven receptions, while Ryan McGiboney finished second on the team with threebrcatches for 21 yards and a touchdown.
“We came out with the mindset that we were going to win”,brsaid junior Running back Li'l Jordan Humphrey. br“We had what happened last year in the back of our minds and we wantedbrto outperform the team before us.”
After giving up 42 points last weekend against Denton Guyer,brthe Dragon defense buckled down surrendering 10 points to a San Angelo Centralbroffense that averaged more than 38 points per game. Forcing the Bobcats to punt on four of theirbrfirst five possessions, the Dragon defense suffocated quarterback Braden Huckbrand the Bobcat offense from start to finish. The team allowed only one meaningless touchdownbrwith just six seconds left in the contest. brSenior Andy Chelf led the defensive charge for Southlake Carrollbrfinishing with 12 tackles and an interception, while senior Middle LinebackerbrClark Parr finished second on the team with nine tackles including a sack.
Southlake Carroll next faces Cedar Hill (11-2) in thebrQuarterfinal round of the playoffs Saturday at SMU. Kickoff begins at 2 p.m.
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