by Justin Thomas
The Dragons will get their final tune-up for thebrpostseason Friday when they travel to Hebron in a battle of two teams tied forbrsecond in District 5-6A.
The Hawks certainly possess the talent to challengebrCarroll and head coach Hal Wasson couldn't envision a better opponent to face asbrhis team gears up for its postseason run.
“I'm excited for our team's chance to match up againstbrthem,” Wasson said. “I mean they have everything checked off. Experience.brAthleticism. Speed and a hostile road environment. It's going to be a hugebrchallenge and a great chance for us to see a talented opponent and grow frombrit.”
While both teams enter tied in the standings, the contestbrhas no playoff implications in terms of seeding with the Hawks locked in as thebrNo. 2 seed in 6A Division I behind district champ Euless Trinity. Carroll isbralready slotted as the top seed in Division II.
A win tonight would guarantee Carroll the privilege ofbrhosting a home game in the bi-district round.
Nov. 3, - Tavian Gould rushed for 115 yards on 22 carries and 1 TD in a 24-17 win over LD Bell at Dragon Stadium. Photo by S.Johnson/SnappedDragons.com
Last year, the teams played for the district title in thebrfinal week with the Dragons prevailing, 52-34.
Hebron comes in this week at 5-1 in the district and 7-2broverall with losses to the aforementioned Trojans (31-28) and in non-districtbrto Plano Senior, 27-26, after missing a game-tying extra point in the closing minutes.
Offensively, Hebron boasts one of the best sets of skillbrplayers in the area.
Quarterback Clayton Tune — last year's 5-6A OffensivebrPlayer of the Year — was once committed to Kansas before reopening hisbrrecruitment.
The senior is a two-way threat, completing 67 percent ofbrhis passes for 1,966 yards (218 yards per game) and 20 touchdowns against sixbrinterceptions while also rushing for 323 yards (6.7 per carry) and sevenbrscores.
“In my opinion, he's the best quarterback we've seen,”brWasson said. “He's got a big arm, he's strong, he's fast and he's very smart.brHe reminds me a lot of some of the older guys that have come through here.”
Tune has a slew of talented targets to choose from in thebrpassing game.
Senior Jaren Mitchell (37 receptions, 521 yards, twobrtouchdowns) has committed to BYU, while junior Oklahoma commit Trejan Bridgesbris a threat to score any time he touches the ball and has 52 receptions for 744bryards and 13 touchdowns. Deandre Warren (25 catches, 413 yards, threebrtouchdowns) has also developed into a consistent threat in the passing game.
“We've seen a great receiver here or there, but webrhaven't seen a collection like Hebron has,” Wasson said. “They have four guysbrwith experience than can catch and run and make things happen.”
In the backfield, Jatyn Taylor (507 yards, sevenbrtouchdowns) and Jaylon Lott (435 yards, six touchdowns) each average betterbrthan 6 yards per carry and run behind a talented offensive line anchored bybrsenior Illinois commit Braeden Daniels.
Add it all up, and the Dragons' defense faces a stiffbrchallenge.
br“We know who we are,” Wasson said. “We're not going to win any sprint relaysbrwith these teams, so we have to be disciplined. If we don't fence things up andbrfit right, that's when it can get ugly for us. We have to be aligned and knowbrour assignments so we are not exposed.”
College talent is prevalent on the defensive side of thebrball as well where Oregon commit and senior Verone McKinley III leads anbrexperienced secondary and has racked up five interceptions on the season.
Sophomore Darius Snow — a member of Hebron's varsitybrbasketball team as a freshman and the son of former NBA player Eric Snow — hasbremerged as a standout at safety in his first season playing football and leadsbrthe team with 106 tackles, while fellow defensive backs Demario Montez andbrJoseph Angelone are multi-year starters for the Hawks.
Carlos Hatcher has been a force in the pass rush withbreight sacks (Hebron has 20.5 as a team), while junior linebacker Colby Newtonbrand senior backer Christopher Crawley have 92 and 78 tackles, respectively.
“We're going to have to control the ball and bebrconsistent in both our passing and running game,” Wasson said. “Just like withbrour defense, we have to be mentally tough. That's what our DNA is.”
Speaking of running game, the Dragons will again bebrwithout the services of halfback TJ McDaniel, as well as defensive back JakebrFex — though Wasson believes they'll be ready to go for the playoffs.
“It's one of those things where we want them going in atbr100 percent,” Wasson said. “We don't want it to be 80 percent and then they getbrnicked up and are back to 60 percent or something like that.”