by EJ Holland
Black pants. Blonde hair.
Southlake Carroll might be a team of habit but even headbrcoach Hal Wasson admits that things feel a little different in the Dragons'brlocker room this week. After outscoring their last two opponents 115-7, SouthlakebrCarroll is well rested and ready for yet another playoff run.
“There is no doubt it feels different,” Wasson said. “It's abrspecial time of year. Every rep is magnified during practice. You have to paybrattention to every little detail. If you're not at you're best, you're going tobrget knocked out of the tournament.”
Despite a nail-biting loss to Euless Trinity Southlake Carrollbrwas able to earn the top seed out of 7-6A in Division II. Unfortunately for thebrDragons, they drew arguably the best district runner up in the state inbrback-to-back state champion Cedar Hill.
The Longhorns (9-1) suffered a 46-43 upset loss to Mansfield abrcouple of weeks ago — their only setback of the season — but still appearbrpoised to make another run at a state title.
After all, Cedar Hill, which knocked Southlake Carroll outof last year's state playoffs (62-42) boasts one of the most explosive offenses in thebrstate. The Longhorns average close to 40 points per game behind dual-threatbrquarterback Avery Davis.
The star junior, who holds offers from Colorado, Notre Dame,brTexas Tech and others, has racked up 2,771 yards of offense and 34 totalbrtouchdowns. And Davis has a number of talented weapons at his disposal,brincluding running back Kaegun Williams and wide receivers Charleston Rambo,brCamron Buckley and Jaylon Jackson — all of whom hold multiple FBS offers.
“This is going to be a tough task,” Wasson said. “Cedar Hillbris big, strong and athletic. Everything goes through their quarterback. He'sbrelectric. We witnessed it first hand last year. He's a gifted player, but theybralso have weapons everywhere and a big, strong line. We've got our hands fullbrdefensively.”
Southlake Carroll sticks to its game plan of having abrbalanced offensive attack. But the Dragons might feed the ball to Lil' JordanbrHumprey and Shemar Coleman more often than usual.
Mansfield proved that the key to beating Cedar Hill, whichbrgives up just 17 points per game, is to effectively run the football. ThebrTigers gained 251 yards on the ground in their upset bid.
“Defensively, they try to bring a lot of pressure,” Wassonbrsaid. “They really swarm the football. We have to be at our best running andbrpassing the football. It's going to be an incredible challenge for ourbroffense.”
While Friday's contest should prove to be an instantbrclassic, the Dragons do have one factor working in their favor — homebrfield advantage. The UIL rewarded top seeds in 6A with home games in the firstbrround of the postseason this year.
“It's a great reward for our team, our school and ourbrcommunity,” Wasson said. “If I could pick one place in America to play CedarbrHill, it would be Dragon Stadium.”