by EJ Holland
Southlake Carroll certainly has a flair for the dramatic.
Three of the Dragons' first five games have come down to thebrwire, including last week's thrilling 38-37 double overtime victory overbrCoppell that saw safety Robert Barnes make the game-winning tackle after thebrCowboys decided try to win the game on a two-point conversion attempt.
“It was obviously a fantastic win for our players,” Wassonbrsaid. “We showed resiliency and a will to win. We made the biggest plays whenbrthe mattered the most. We were able to fight back again and get the win.
“But we have a 24-hour rule around here. The Coppell win wasbrgreat, but we have to move on to the next game. We train the players that it'sbrabout the next play and the next game. We have to be at our best for Richland.”
Wasson is right. Richland is currently on a bit of a hotbrstreak. After dropping its first three games of the season, the Rebels havebrbounced back with three straight victories — two of those came in Districtbr7-6A play.
In fact, Richland has already matched last year's win totalbrand is much improved from a year ago, especially on defense. Led by defensivebrlinemen Cason Clark and Cole Burgess, Richland has not surrendered more than 30brpoints in its last three contests.
“They are very good up front,” Wasson said. “We're going tobrhave block better because they have some very good defensive linemen. We havebrto make some improvements up front, and we have to be more consistent overall.”
Coppell was able to hold stud running back Lil' JordanHumphrey to less than 100 yards rushing last week. As Wasson mentioned, thebrDragons need to do a better job of opening holes for Humphrey against a veteranbrladen defense.
On the flip side of the ball, the key to victory forbrSouthlake Carroll will be a strong performance from its front seven. Richlandbrquarterback Jordan Riley can make plays with both his arm and his legs. Wileybrhas accumulated more than 1,400 yards of total offense this season.
“(Wiley) is an outstanding player,” Wasson said. “He's abrdual-threat quarterback, so we have to be disciplined. They have a good widebrreceiver (Aaron Denson), too. They're very athletic and very talented. They'rebrfeeling good about themselves right now.”
Southlake Carroll has topped Richland in every clash betweenbrthe two teams this decade.