The Southlake Carroll Dragons (8-0) are set to face off against the V.R. Eaton Eagles (5-3) in what is expected to be one of the toughest match ups of the district season so far and their last district road game.
Carroll faces two challenging teams in their final games of the regular season before advancing to playoffs - a spot they secured last week with a win over Keller Central.
The Dragons dominated the Chargers 49-14, while the Eagles suffered their third overall loss and second district loss against Denton Guyer, who Carroll defeated 33-29 just a couple weeks ago. Eaton's single non-district loss came from South Grand Prairie, who fell to Carroll 25-8 in the Dragons' season-opener.
Pre-season speculation named the Eagles one of the Dragons' top opponents in district-play, after Eaton returned seven offensive starters and six defensive starters. In 2017, the Eagles made their first playoff appearance in program history. Eaton has since moved from District 5A to District 5-6A.
In their first season in the new district, the Eagles' offense has averaged roughly 20 points per game, and have scored a total of 15 touchdowns and 90 points. Eaton also averages over 80 passing yards and just under 200 rushing yards per game.
Junior quarterback Amari Blount has just over 300 passing yards, two touchdowns and a 53 percent completion rate for the Eagles.
If the Dragon defense wants to stop the Eagles' offense, they will have to contain the run game. Senior running back Dawson Pell has over 800 rushing yards this season paired with six touchdowns. He has proven to be Blount's main man when handing the ball off. Titus Swen is next in line with over 300 rushing yards and four touchdowns this season.
Blount has only thrown a single interception this season, but look for players like RJ Mickens, Preston Forney and Ben Furgal to make big turnover plays.
Quarterback Will Bowers will need to get the ball out of his hands quickly, as the Eaton defense has eleven sacks. He will also need to be precise on his passes to avoid being intercepted by a defense that has already forced six this season. The Dragons' best option will be to hand the ball off to running back TJ McDaniel and Eli Furgal, who had a big game with over 100 yards against Keller Central.
Texas Motor Speedway is hosting the AAA Texas 500 Weekend so fans heading to the game should plan for and expect heavy traffic before the Dragons kick off against the Eagles at 7:00 p.m. in Northwest ISD Stadium. Some may choose instead to take advantage of tonight's televised broadcast on TX-21.