It started way back during Dragon Youth Football, just as it does for many future Carroll star athletes. Young players begin to draw some notice with early flashes of talent, even if it’s still raw and undeveloped. Football coaches and Carroll fans start to recognize names to watch for the coming years.
Such was the case for two preteen players, Kaden Anderson and Owen Allen. Both showed athletic prowess early on, and their futures looked bright. The only problem was both played the same position — quarterback — on different youth teams. Kaden showed potential arm strength, while Owen was more of a mobile quarterback.
The two players’ paths as future varsity signal-callers collided in seventh grade when they were finally going to play together on the same school team. The situation forced an early answer as to who would be taking snaps and dropping back to pass.
“Owen didn’t know Kaden before then,” Owen’s mom Meredith says. “He said, ‘There’s this hot-shot quarterback kid. He’s got this crazy arm on him and he’s for sure to be quarterback.’
“So before he started middle school, he had to decide if he wanted to try and stay quarterback or what he really wanted to do. He really liked running the ball, so he decided to go out for running back instead.”
The rest has become history, as Owen has already set Dragon varsity football records in career rushing yardage (5,474 yards) prior to his senior season. Meanwhile, Kaden showed he was more than capable as the varsity starting quarterback his junior year, throwing for over 3,000 yards and 34 touchdowns last season.
To say the move worked out well for both of them is an understatement, as the two are now the primary offensive focal points for one of the top high school football programs in the country. Both showcased their talents on the national stage in a 45-21 win over Highland Park during an ESPNU-televised game last year. Both have helped spark deep playoff runs for the Dragons.
But beyond their jaw-dropping exploits on the field lies a strong friendship that developed as the two battled for wins together at Carroll Middle School. That familiarity as playmakers and camaraderie as friends has had a positive impact on this year’s team as they aim to bring another state title home to Southlake.
“It’s huge,” says Riley Dodge, Carroll head football coach and former Dragon star quarterback. “You can see their friendship day in and day out, how they support each other on and off the field. When you have that type of bond in the backfield, it’s second to none.
“I remember back when I was in high school and my running back was Tre Newton, and he was my best friend. When you have that relationship, you can talk to each other a little differently. You can be hard on one another and you don’t take it personally. But the communication in the backfield is crucial between those two guys. I think what they bring with them from off the field to on the field and in our locker room is massive.”
Starting As Rivals
Although as thick as thieves now, the relationship between the two wasn’t so chummy in the beginning. Kaden and Owen knew of each other as they prepared to enter seventh grade preseason practice and saw the other as competition standing in the way of the starting quarterback spot.
“There was kind of an unspoken rivalry between us,” Owen says of their attitudes toward each other heading into middle school. “I remember not wanting to like him.
“But I remember the first week of [seventh grade] practice — maybe not even — just the energy that guy brought, the way guys responded to him, the way guys fed off of him, you could just tell that’s the guy you want to follow and be around. That’s the way it’s been ever since,” Owen says, recounting his respect for Kaden as he decided to switch to running back. “We had our beef or whatever, but from the moment we met, it was just like... that’s the duo. I think it’s just made it that much easier for us in the backfield.”
Despite a rocky start, the two have made the game look easy, cutting up defenses for big gains through the air and on the ground. Through middle school and the first part of their freshmen year, they were a lethal tandem. Reunited on varsity as juniors last season, the duo proved to be a formidable combination, sparking the Dragons to a 14-1 record.
The friends and teammates dreamed of starring together on varsity, but they didn’t know the path each would individually take in getting there. Owen got his shot at a varsity spot as a freshman after injuries took down two of Carroll’s top rushers. The running back made the most of his opportunity by leading the Dragons with 1,266 rushing yards and scoring 23 touchdowns that season, all while Kaden cheered him on.
“It was the third week, and we had just beaten [Arlington] Martin on the freshman level,” Kaden recalls. “A week later, he was playing against Keller [on varsity], and that was just crazy.
“I remember [watching from] the stands and Owen was up on kickoff. He was running to make this tackle. I was thinking, ‘This is crazy.’ He’s a little freshman trying to hit these big dudes. But everyone was really happy for him.”
Young and inexperienced, Owen immediately stood tall on varsity. So did Kaden when named the starter as a junior after former quarterback Quinn Ewers’ unexpected departure to pursue college ball a year early. Owen was happy for his friend’s opportunity and excited at the fact they could now realize their goal of playing varsity ball together.
The Buddy System
“Being as competitive an environment as Southlake is, I think it’s a tribute to the two boys of how they lift each other up,” Kaden’s mom Susan says. “Whenever one has an accomplishment, I feel like the other one is right there to support him 110%, no matter what it is.
“I think that’s definitely allowed their friendship to blossom and those friends are even that much closer. My older son says [of Kaden and Owen] that the right brain can’t function without the left brain.”
The two friends are at times inseparable. They started hanging out away from the football field in seventh grade. Owen took a memorable trip with the Anderson family to a Hill Country resort in San Antonio the following summer, the first of a few family-plus-friend excursions the two have taken. Skiing trips to Colorado are another favorite destination for the two.
“We’ll get [Owen] up on the snowboard, and it’s always a good time watching him carve it up on the mountain,” Kaden says.
Aside from vacation getaways, just getting together to shoot baskets, grab a meal at their favorite places like Chiloso or Chipotle, or play video games is all part of their weekly routine. Owen says Kaden is the big gamer, taking “Madden,” “NBA 2K” and other sports games to the next level, showing his athletic skills are superb in both the real and virtual world.
Trips to each other’s homes throughout the week are not only welcome by both families — they’re expected.
“I think Owen is as at home at [the Anderson’s] house as he is at his own home,” Meredith says. “When Kaden walks in the door [at my house], I just feel like he’s one of my kids now.
“From the first day they met, they’ve just sort of been joined at the hip ever since. It’s just like they’re brothers.”
Finding shared commonalities outside of football also sparked their friendship, with both enjoying boating and relaxing at the lake. Trips to former Dragon teammate and 2022 graduate Travis Keener’s lake house off the Brazos River were weekend highlights last year. Both love watching old movies and listening to classic rock. Dire Straits, Black Sabbath and Lynyrd Skynyrd are part of the usual playlist blaring for them while hanging or working out.
Both sport the same fluffy hairdo they’ve had since middle school. And both are equally lacking in fashion sense by their own admission, donning shorts and T-shirts when they aren’t sporting their helmets and shoulder pads.
“He’s more fashionable than I am,” Kaden says of Owen.
“Yeah, but that ain’t saying much,” Owen responds. “We both probably need some work.”
Game Time
When it comes to preparing for football games, the two put in plenty of work — and it shows. Preparation throughout the week is key, and both take it very seriously.
“We’re in the film room and in our notebooks constantly throughout the week, so when it comes game time, there’s not a whole lot of thinking about what’s going to happen that we have to do,” Owen says.
By Friday night, they feel so prepared that talk between plays is practically casual conversation instead of no-nonsense huddles on what to do next.
“You’d be surprised how little we actually talk about football when we’re back there,” Owen says. “There’s a few seconds in between each play, and it’s a time to kind of sit back, relax and maybe talk a little bit. Then come time for the snap, we’re back and ready to go.”
“Some things we can’t repeat,” Kaden says jokingly. “It’s all positive stuff. It’s nothing really negative — unless [Owen] doesn’t pick up a block or something... but that hasn’t happened yet.”
As Carroll Dragons, the players already know the importance of supporting each other and having each other’s back. Coach Dodge and his staff share the idea of family and developing a brotherhood among teammates.
For Kaden and Owen, that brotherhood is much stronger due to their years of friendship, and they push and encourage each other to be their best.
“It’s definitely a complementary relationship,” Susan says. “If one’s riled up, the other’s riled up. If one’s down, the other one’s kind of down. But in the same turn, one of them can pick the other one back up.”
The support system is strong for the two athletes, stemming from the rest of their Carroll teammates as well as each other. Both expect the other to be better than the year before and finish their time on varsity with a bang. They know what each other is capable of because they’ve both seen the drive and effort they’ve put forth these past five seasons.
“I just want Owen to do Owen,” Kaden says. “He’s been doing it for three years. The dude’s obviously a beast.”
Owen feels the same. To him, the 2021 season was validation that his friend and teammate was the right man for the quarterback job — just like he believed since shifting positions in seventh grade.
“If you thought you saw what he’s got last year, just wait because he’s going to shock the world,” Owen says. “I’m going to stick back there with him on every play, block when I need to block, run when I need to run, catch when I need to catch. But whatever he needs, I’m there for him.”