Dragons Set to Battle Cedar Hill

December 3, 2014

1:02 PM

Lil' Jordan Humphrey has vaulted himself into talks as one of the area's top rushers. Photo by K. Campos.

By EJ Holland

The last time Southlake Carroll played at SMU's Gerald J.brFord Stadium, something magical happened.

With 1:07 left in a state semifinal game against DallasbrSkyline in 2011, Kenny Hill dodged an endless number of defenders as hebrsprinted 35 yards for the game-winning touchdown. Doesn't sound too crazy, right? Except forbrthe fact that a fox decided to simultaneously run across the field.

Head coach Hal Wasson adopted the name “Silver Fox” and theDragons used “silver fox swag”to march all the way to AT&T Stadium, wherebrthey knocked Fort Bend Hightower in the 2011 state title game.

“Rumor has it the silver fox is still scurrying around outbrthere,” Wasson said with a laugh. “Those are the reports I'm getting, so we'llbrsee.”

Southlake Carroll may have bounced the Bobcats from the playoffs last week, but they will need to recapture a little bit ofbrthat “silver fox swag” when they take on Cedar Hill in the state quarterfinals at SMU's Gerald J. Ford Stadium this Saturday.

The Longhorns are the reigning 5A — now 6A — DivisionbrII state champions and feature one of the most dangerous offenses in the state.brAnd to be the champ, you have to beat the champ.

Led by wide receiver DaMarkus Lodge, considered the top passbrcatcher in the state, bruising running back Aca'Cedric Ware, a USC commit, andbrdual-threat quarterback Justin McMillan, an LSU pledge, Cedar Hill averages 47brpoints per game. The trio has combined for a whopping 6,145 yards of totalbroffense and 89 touchdowns this year.

Southlake Carroll did a nice job of limiting Denton Guyer abrfew weeks ago and shutting down San Angelo Central in the regional semifinals,brbut Cedar Hill might be the defense's toughest test yet, especially for AndybrChelf, Obi Eboh and the rest of the secondary.

“We have to limit their big plays. We know that's going tobrbe hard against a team like this,” Wasson said. “Lodge is a great player. Hebrdeserves all the credit and attention he gets. But if we key on him, they canbrgut you with Ware. McMillan is an extremely talented player, too, so they canbrhurt you in a lot of ways.”

The good news for the Dragons is Cedar Hill does give up abrton of points. While the defense features individual stars like linebackerbrRichard Moore, a Texas A&M pledge, and cornerback Darrell Miller, abrTennessee commit, the unit as a whole surrenders 32 points per contest.

Southlake Carroll should be able to take advantage. Over thebrlast few weeks, quarterback Ryan Agnew has really found his groove while Lil'brJordan Humphrey has emerged as one of the top running backs in the metroplex.

“Lil' Jordan and Ryan's productivity means the offensivebrline is getting better. They are getting better in their downfield blocking andbrgetting better overall,” Wasson said. “We have to keep getting better or we gobrhome. Fortunately, we've been getting better. We're just going to have to bebrreally consistent this game.

“When you're playing against the athletes they have, youbrjust have to keep on schedule offensively and weather the storm. We have tobrplay fast. We won't stick around much longer if we don't play fast.”

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