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Turning the clock back one year, the Carroll football team enjoyed the kind of roster that would make any coaching staff envious, especially on the defensive side of the ball. The Dragons were loaded up and bursting at the seams with experience, as seniors filled all but one of the 11 starting positions.
This veteran mindset served its defense well throughout the 2023 season, as the Dragons allowed an average of just 14 points per game throughout its schedule, including the team’s five-game playoff run. Carroll’s impressive ‘D’ registered 1,045 total tackles for the season, as well as 30.5 sacks, 19 interceptions and 16 caused fumbles.
The only downside to last year’s veteran-laden lineup was the loss of so many defensive leaders to graduation. The team returns just 15% of its tackling production and just one defender from last year’s squad. A bevy of new players will need to adjust to their new starting roles in a hurry.
However, Dragons head coach Riley Dodge says that the way the program utilized the many sophomore and non-senior defenders last year might make them the most experienced group of inexperienced starters he’s ever assembled.
“I think we did a good job structuring it,” says Dodge, who enters his seventh year as Carroll’s head coach. “We saw [the loss of several seniors on defense] coming.
“[The sophomores] got a lot of reps on special teams, they were with us in practice and meetings. They went on that long playoff run with us. So we don’t have a lot of guys that are wide-eyed.”
Led mostly by juniors in first-time starting roles, Carroll’s defense is much younger than the 2023 version. But their peripheral involvement last season, as well as their determination to step up and make a name for themselves, gives Dodge and his coaching staff confidence that this year’s defensive unit will be up to the challenge.
“We’re ready for anything that comes at us in the playoffs in the regular season,” says junior William Chen, who saw limited playing time as a defensive back and linebacker last season. “I think we’re going to be a great defense this year. I think everybody’s doubting us, but we’re ready to prove them wrong.”
Chen — along with fellow juniors Marcus Brouse, William Leins and Robbie Ladd — make up a linebacking corps that Dodge describes as the team’s deep- est and most experienced defensive unit this season.
The linebackers will try to overcome the loss of former standouts and 2024 graduates like Aaron Scherp and Bridger Jense. Scherp was the 2022 team leader in tackles (100) before injuries cut his opportunities short last season. Jense stepped up and took the lead in his absence, registering 96 tackles (second on the team in 2023) along with two interceptions.
Brouse, a defensive captain, has been described as a hard worker who does the little things right. He recorded 19 tackles including a sack and two hurries during limited time in varsity games last year. Learning from the veteran athletes on varsity during the 2023 season was a memorable experience that he says should pay dividends when they become the varsity leaders this year.
“Backing up some of the best guys to come through Southlake defensively is huge,” says Brouse, a defensive team captain who will serve as the weak side inside linebacker this fall. “For me personally, watching Aaron Scherp and him teaching me and just showing me the ropes, it was a huge factor in my success last season.
“The strength of our defense is just us working as a unit, us chasing the ball… everyone going after everything,” he says.
Although an inexperienced unit, Dodge expects the defense to benefit from a talented secondary that should be able to make plays against opposing passing attacks. Twins and junior defensive backs Luke Bussmann and Austin Bussmann are expected to make an impact, as will junior Luke Langford.
All three possess impressive speed and are multisport athletes who compete in baseball, while Luke Bussmann (4.6 in the 40, 4.3 in pro agility) and Langford (4.4 seconds in the 40-yard dash, 38.7-inch vertical leap) also participate in track and wrestling. Austin, who pitches and plays outfield in baseball, registered a 4.21 seconds in the pro agility course.
“I think it’s probably the most athletic secondary we’ve had since we’ve been here [as a coaching staff],” Dodge says. “They just haven’t had bullets fly at them yet.”
Maybe the young secondary hadn’t faced many challenges from opposing teams heading into this season, but with the training they’ve endured, Langford feels they have plenty of reasons to be confident in what they can do.
“All around we are athletic, and we feel like our skills can go against anybody in the state,” he says. “I think [we’ll be ready for opponents] relatively quickly because we go against a really good offense [in practice] every day.”
Although a stout defensive line that notched 15 sacks last season no longer exists due to the graduation of star athletes like Dustan Mark, Wyatt Duffy and Zac Scarborough, the Dragons will attempt to rebuild another powerful line this year. That effort starts with a key piece in senior defensive end Austin Davidge. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound lineman saw the most game-time action of any current Carroll defender on this year’s team.
Davidge, the team’s other defensive captain, recorded 48 tackles (including 12 for a loss), four sacks and has shown impressive speed in his attack. Along with 6-foot-3, 220-pound junior Zac Hays at defensive end, the two have posted some of the fastest 40 times among defensive linemen in the school’s history (Hays at 4.72, Davidge at 4.78). The addition of the multi-talented Jack Van Dorselaer to the defensive line ensures the entire unit’s ability to apply pressure across the board.
“Our defense is definitely [about] keeping them on their toes,” Davidge says. “We’re always getting after the quarterback. We’re communicating, and we’re just assignment-sound.”
Carroll’s coaching staff won’t have much time to make sure the Dragons’ defensive units are clicking on all cylinders.
“There’s going to be learning experiences,” Dodge says. “But we’re going to need to grow up quick, because our district is pretty salty.”
The level of talent in the new District 4-6A would challenge even the most seasoned defense. In addition to returning the three schools other than Carroll that clinched playoff spots in Keller (7-4), Timber Creek (7-4) and Byron Nelson (13-1) — the team that handed the Dragons a rare district loss and the same one Carroll beat in the 6A Region I final — Dodge’s team must now face perennial power Trinity as a district rival as well.
Building confidence each week from so many first- time varsity starters will be key in the defense’s growth process this season.
“I think with any really good defense, it’s about communication,” Dodge says. “The thing that excites me about this group is that we’ve got a bunch of guys that aren’t scared to communicate. That kind of scares some young guys. They think, ‘I don’t want to be the guy that talks,’ or ‘I don’t want to put myself out there.’ But, especially with our linebacker crew, we’ve got a bunch of guys that are willing to [be vocal].”