Afterbrshutting down Broken Arrow's power running game in a season-opening victory,brCarroll head coach Hal Wasson knew the Dragons would be up against a differentbrbeast in week 2 when they squared off against high-powered Arlington Martin andbrdual-threat quarterback Juma Otoviano — who is transitioning to a spot underbrcenter after playing running back a year ago.
And whilebrthe Dragons were well aware of what they were up against, stopping it proved tobrbe a different matter.
Otoviano didbrit all for Martin Friday in a 50-33 victory over Carroll, finding the end zonebrthree different ways as the Warriors controlled the second half to pull awaybrfrom the Dragons after trailing, 28-22, at halftime.
The Warriorshad fallen to Carroll in a non-district contest last season, 37-14.
Otovianobrrushed for 182 yards and three scores, threw for 160 yards and anotherbrtouchdown (7-of-14 passing) and threw in a kickoff return for a score for goodbrmeasure.
Thebrperformance offset another productive night from Carroll running back, and Dragon Pride Player of the Week, TJMcDaniel, who rushed for 223 yards on 25 carries (nearly 9 yards per carry)brwith three touchdowns.
McDaniel'sbrfirst two scores came in the first quarter as the teams traded scores and thebrjunior tacked on a third in the second quarter (3 yards) to give the Dragons abrfive-point lead heading to the break.
The Martinbrdefense would bow up in the second half, however, scoring 21 consecutive pointsbrto give the Warriors a 43-27 lead before Carroll finally broke through in thebrsecond half on a 21-yard pass from quarterback Will Bowers to Cade Bell.
Bellbrcontinued his strong start to the 2017 season with six receptions for 69 yardsbrand a score, while RJ Mickens caught Bowers' second scoring pass — a 26-yardbrgrab to open the scoring in the second quarter.
Bowersbrfinished an efficient 12-of-16 for 169 yards with Blake Smith also taking a fewbrsnaps and completing 5-of-9 attempts for 36 yards.
However, MontrellbrSmith's 57-yard touchdown run spoiled any designs of a late Carroll comebackbrputting Martin in front, 50-33, with 2:58 remaining.
Smith alsobrhad a 39-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter and finished with 116 yardsbron 13 carries for a Martin squad that rushed for 327 yards as a unit.
Defensively,brRyan Thompson was all over the field for the Dragons with 17 tackles, whilebrdefensive back RJ Mickens had 14 tackles and a forced fumble with JosephbrDeVincenzo coming up with an interception for Carroll.
The Dragonsbrwill look to bounce back and enter District 5-6A action on a high note Fridaybrwhen their challenging non-district slate concludes at 7:30 p.m. at home against Rockwall.
ArlingtonbrMartin 50, Southlake Carroll 33
Carroll 14 13 0 6 — 33
Martin 15 7 14 14 — 50
Scoringbrsummary
Firstbrquarter
SLC —brMcDaniel 1 run (Koskay kick), 9:13
AM —brOtoviano 2 run (Morales kick), 3:13
SLC —brMcDaniel 57 run (Koskay kick), 1:35
AM — Otovianobr99 kickoff return (Otiviano run), 1:20
Secondbrquarter
SLC —brMickens 26 pass from Bowers (Koskay kick), 9:58
AM — Willisbr80 pass from Otoviano (Morales kick), 9:30
SLC —brMcDaniel 3 run (kick failed), 3:25
Thirdbrquarter
AM —brOtoviano 1 run (Morales kick), 8:30
AM —brOtoviano 7 run (Morales kick), 1:18
Fourthbrquarter
AM — Smithbr39 run (Morales kick), 9:51
SLC — Bellbr21 pass from Bowers (pass failed), 5:35
AM — Smithbr57 run (Morales kick), 2:58
Dragon Offensive Statististics
Rushing — TJbrMcDaniel 25-223, Blake Smith 4-9, Tavian Gould 2-1, Will Bowers 2-(-)10
Passing — WillbrBowers 12-16-1 169, Blake Smith 5-9-0 36
Receiving —brCade Bell 6-70, Colton Phillips 1-38, Darryl Crockett 3-34, RJ Mickens 1-26,brSean Broadway 2-13, Hudson Shrum 1-12, Wills Meyer 1-2, Tucker Slechta 1-7, TJbrMcDaniel 1-3
Dragon Defensive Statistics
RyanbrThompson: 17 tackles
RJ Mickens:br14 tackles, one forced fumble
GrahambrFaloona: nine tackles
Matt Werner:breight tackles
QuintenbrBunten: six tackles
JosephbrDeVincenzo: four tackles, one interception
HaydenbrHayes: three tackles, one forced fumble