The 2016 Dragons celebrate in the end zone after defeating Cedar Hill 37-33 at Dragon Stadium. Photo by SnappedDragons.com/S. Johnson
by EJ Holland
Black pants. Blonde hair.
It's that time of year again and headbrcoach Hal Wasson admits that things feel a little different in the Dragons'brlocker room this week.
After closing out the regular season, Southlake Carroll isbrgearing up for yet another playoff run.
Head Coach Hal Wasson
on the sidelines during the
2016 playoffs. The Dragons
defeated Cedar Hill 37-33 at
Dragon Stadium. Photo by
SnappedDragons.com
“It's a special time of year,” Wasson said. “It's verybrrewarding for our seniors, our fans, our school district and our coaches.brEverything is magnified from this point on. Our preparation and performancebrhave to be at their peaks. There are no second chances.
“I was telling someone the other day that to win playoffbrgames, you have to be at your best, you have to have great team chemistry, youbrhave to play great defense and you have to have a physical running game.”
Southlake Carroll earned the top seed (Division II) out ofbrDistrict 5-6A after winning an outright district title. The Dragons knocked offHebron n the regular season finale and finished with a perfect record inbrdistrict play.
And like last year vs Cedar Hill—that means Southlake Carroll will again get to host itsbropening round playoff game. This time against The Wylie Pirates who finished 5-5broverall and claimed the final playoff spot in District 6-6A.
“It means a lot to win an outright title and to be able tobrhost a playoff game,” Wasson said. “This team has worked exceptionally hard.brThat's not just lip service. But we have our work cut out for us this week.brWylie made a deep playoff run last year.”
Wylie did advance to the third round of the postseason abryear ago, but the Pirates have been up and down in 2016 — they took care ofbrbusiness against lesser programs but also fell to area powerhouses.
With that said, the Pirates can put points on the board.brThey average more than 30 points per game, and Southlake Carroll is coming offbra game in which it allowed the most points it had all year (34 vs. Hebron).
“They (Wylie) play really hard,” Wasson said. “They like tobrthrow the ball around. They have a great quarterback (Emilio Ames) and severalbrplaymakers. We have to shore things up on defense. Some of last week's mistakesbrwere mental, but they might also have been because Hebron was the best offensebrwe had seen.”
On the flip side of the ball, Wylie allows close to 30brpoints per contest, so this game could have the makings of a high-scoringbraffair. Wasson, however, made it clear that Southlake Carroll wants to keep itsbridentity in the playoffs.
“They are physical on defense,” Wasson said. “They try tobrsteal possessions on special teams and with turnovers. We just have to focus onbrus and continue to play our style in order to make a run in this tournament.”