Southlake Carroll is starting to fire on all cylinders.
The Dragons have won five straight games since droppingbrtheir opener against Tulsa Union and appear poised to win yet another districtbrtitle.
In fact, Head Coach Hal Wasson's team has surged to No. 9 in the 6A APbrstate poll, while fellow district powerhouse Euless Trinity dropped to No. 16brafter falling to Trophy Club Byron Nelson in one of the state’s biggest upsetsbrlast week.
“We’ve talked about building momentum, and I think there arebra lot things that go along with that,” said Wasson. “Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been playing with morebrconfidence. We’ve been having more fun. When you have fun, you start feeling goodbrabout yourself.
“They’ve been a more focused group because of theirbrpreparation skills. They know they can always sharpen them. It’s a buildingbrprocess, and we’re not taking any shortcuts.”
That building process will continue this Friday whenbrSouthlake Carroll hits the road to face a tough Flower Mound Marcus team.
The Marauders lost plenty of talent from last year’s team,brincluding tight end Kaden Smith (Stanford) and defensive end Andrew Fitzgeraldbr(Texas), but have grown up in a hurry and sit at 4-2 overall.
However, with youth comes mental mistakes. Flower Mound Marcus flexed its muscles earlybrin the season by knocking off Mansfield but turned around lost to Lewisville bybr30 points. The Marauders regained some confidence last week with a win over Hebron.
“They have a good team,” Wasson said. “They play even betterbrat home. They beat Mansfield. They got a good win over Hebron. It’s going to bebra tall task for us, especially on the road.”
Flower Mound Marcus has been stellar on offense, averaging 38brpoints per game. The Marauders run a balanced attack — dual-threatbrquarterback Michael Henry has compiled more than 1,000 yards of total offense,brwhile running back Justin Dinka has rushed for 1,005 yards on the year.
On the flip side of the ball, the Marauders have given up 35brpoints per game. Despite their defensive struggles, they do boast a toughbrdefensive line.
“Their defensive front has been stingy,” Wasson said. “Theybrlimited Kennedy Brooks from Mansfield to a low output. On offense, they have abrgood running game. They have a tall quarterback that can deliver it. They havebra lot of good stuff going on offensively.
“It’s going to be abrtough one. We have to be ready.”