Martin’s Breakout Performance Helps Secure First Home Win

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by Skylar Kalb

After a seemingly endless rain delay, the Southlake Carroll Dragons hastily defeated the Colleyville Heritage Panthers 42-17 in their first home game of the season.

On Friday night, it wasn't the arm of Will Bowers or the legs of TJ McDaniel that stood out to the Dragon faithful who sat through a two-hour rain delay. Rather, it was the left foot of Dragon Pride Player of the Week Madison Martin.  The senior two-sport star made her varsity football debut, kicking the first extra point of the night after a quick two-play touchdown drive in the Dragon’s very first possession.  Martin’s PAT gave the Dragons a 7-0 lead with just over 11 minutes left in the first quarter.

Martin, the first female varsity kicker in Carroll history, would go on to secure all five of her PATs for the game. Despite many shutout performances as a goalie for the Lady Dragon soccer team, Martin said she was nervous taking the first-ever gridiron kicks of her varsity career.

“I have never done this before,” Martin said. “The energy level was insane, but I did what I practiced and it just played out really well."

#18 Preston Forney collects a fumble recovery, one of three forced turnovers in the Dragon's 42-17 victory over Colleyville Heritage at Dragon Stadium on September 7, 2018. Photo by S. Johnson SnappedDragons.com

The Southlake Carroll defense pressured the Panthers to go three and out on their first possession of the game, turning the ball back over to the Dragons.

Carroll struck again with quarterback Will Bowers on the keeper for the touchdown with just over six minutes left in the half, pushing the score to 14-0. Bowers paced the team with 90 of the Dragon's 222 rushing yards for the game.

Colleyville remained scoreless for the duration of the first quarter.

Southlake Carroll scored for the third time with TJ McDaniel, putting the Dragons up 20 over the Panthers midway through the second quarter.

With minutes left before halftime, junior linebacker Preston Forney notched his first interception of the season. This created opportunity in the drive for Patrick Traynor to scamper 47 yards down the left side for another six points. Another successful extra point from Martin put the Dragons up 28-0 at the half.

The Dragons forced another turnover after #45 Connor Patterson recovered a fumble to give the ball back to Carroll.

Colleyville Heritage would finally respond with just over five minutes left in the third quarter, putting the Panther's first seven up on the board.

Junior Wills Meyer would be the fourth Dragon of the night to score, with an end zone reception from Bowers for another six points.

The Dragons forced yet another turnover for the night, with Brandon Howell earning his second interception of the season. With quick feet, Howell returned the ball 75 yards up the field, putting the game out of reach at 42-7 with just seconds left in the third quarter.

Colleyville Heritage answered again early in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough to slow the momentum of the Dragons.

Head coach Riley Dodge said he saw a difference in the offense compared to their season opener game.

“We started fast on offense,” Dodge said. “The biggest thing was we got takeaways and we cashed in on them.”

The Dragon offense put up a combined passing and rushing total of 401 yards for the night. Bowers was the leading rusher for the night with 90 yards, and McDaniel close behind at 65 yards. The offense racked up a total of 179 receiving yards against the Panthers – over 100 more than the previous week against South Grand Prairie.

Behind the pressure of Forney (12 tackles, INT), Connor Patterson (9 tackles) and Ben Furgal (8 tackles, sack) the Dragon defense made the necessary plays and finished strong. Forcing one interception and recovering two fumbles, they regularly put the Dragons at an advantage with more opportunities to move the ball on offense.

This Friday at Dragon Stadium, Carroll will face off against the Permian Odessa Panthers.