In the world of high school football, lineup changes from year to year are inevitable. Stars from last season invariably move on, and new go-to players must be discovered. The life of each season includes the reality of injuries that must be prepared for, causing coaching staffs to move players around in order to find the right fit for upcoming games.
These are some situations football coaches must plan for and expect. However, the scenario thrown at the Southlake Carroll football team just before the start of the 2021 season is a whole new animal, created from a mix of new college rules, high-caliber talent and wide-open opportunities at a high-profile university.
Quinn Ewers, the No. 2 college recruit in the nation for his class, was expected to return for his senior season quarterbacking the Dragons after helping Carroll reach the Class 6A Div. I state championship game in January. Those plans abruptly changed when Ewers announced in August he would depart from high school to enroll early at Ohio State. Doing so afforded Ewers the opportunity to make the most of lucrative endorsement deals and compete for a spot on the nationally-ranked Buckeye roster this fall.
Dragon head football coach Riley Dodge admits that losing his star quarterback a season early was an unexpected curveball. But it doesn’t change his team’s mission or expectations in 2021.
“For us as a football staff and me as a head football coach, we’re the only ones that this has happened to in the entire country,” says Dodge, who enters his fourth year as Carroll’s head coach. “It’s one of those things [the players] saw coming [but] was also a surprise to them at the same time. Very, very quickly, the news came out.
“But these kids are resilient,” he continues. “You can talk to each one of them and they’re all going to say it’s a ‘next-man-up’ kind of mentality. They’ve got great heads on their shoulders and I think, too, that it will kind of give us a little bit of an edge. Even though the outside might think of us as underdogs, it kind of gives these kids a little bit more motivation.”
As the program has shown several times in the past, Carroll football never turns down the opportunity to prove skeptics wrong. Take last year for example, when a team with just three returning starters on offense and none on defense came just a few points shy of winning it all.
If there’s one thing the Dragons’ offensive unit learned last year during the regular season and into its playoff run, it’s that every player must be ready to step up and do their part. Ewers suffered an injury midway through the regular season and missed six games, including the first two playoff games. The Dragons continued to produce and outplay opponents, going 6-0 in his absence.
“Last year, [Ewers] went down and it was a really hard blow for our team, but we didn’t miss a beat. We kept on pushing,” says Jake Hall, a junior offensive guard who logged playing time on varsity last season. “We’re going to be even better and ready to go, and just live in the shadows. People are going to know who we are by the end of the year.”
Although the new heir to Carroll’s quarterback throne — junior Kaden Anderson — comes into the season with much less hype than his predecessor, the Dragons’ new signal-caller already has the confidence and support of his team. So much so that he was named one of this year’s team captains before even making his first varsity start under center.
Described by Carroll junior running back Owen Allen as a natural leader who knows how to put the ball in the right spot, Anderson received some meaningful snaps as a backup during the regular season and playoffs last year. Going 14-of-19 for 169 yards, three touchdowns and just one interception, Anderson would have spent another season being groomed for his chance to take the reins had Ewers remained on the team as originally planned. But the junior’s character and abilities show he’s ready to step into the starting role this year, coach Dodge says.
“Nowadays, if you have a quarterback that’s a grade above you that’s the starter, you’ll typically see [the backup] leave to go play at another high school,” Dodge says. “But he stayed the course and waited his turn, and obviously his turn came a little earlier than any of us expected. But he’s a very mature kid and understands the opportunity he has in front of him, and I guarantee he’ll make the most of it.”
Anderson will have an arsenal of weapons around him to look to while he gets comfortable under center. Allen, a starting running back since his freshman year, brings plenty of big-game experience and will be a huge focal point for the Dragons’ offense. Gaining 2,063 yards and scoring 28 rushing touchdowns as a sophomore last year, Allen was the top rusher in the area and is one of six returning starters on offense.
Even without Ewers, Allen says the amount of talent on this year’s team is impressive. Combining that with motivation generated by falling short in last season’s state title game could make for another memorable run.
“They’ve been talking about this year since I was in fifth or sixth grade,” Allen says. “This is the year that all of us have been waiting for. I’ve never been part of a tighter team. I think everyone’s really confident and ready for this year to get going.
“I think everybody since last January has had a bad taste in their mouth, and we’ve been using that to kind of light a fire under us and propel us through offseason workouts.”
Carroll looks poised once again to excel when taking to the air. Senior receiver Landon Samson, the Dragons leader in receptions (75) and receiving yards (1,293) in 2020-21, and one of the top receivers stat-wise in the area, proves a reliable target in the passing game. Senior tight end RJ Maryland, who caught 30 passes for 736 yards and 13 scores, is a big scoring threat as well.
Samson, a South Carolina commit, says dealing with challenges and adversity over the last year has made the Carroll football team even stronger. From the departure of Ewers, to the loss in the state title game, to the passing of linebackers coach Carl Anderson earlier this year, the Dragons have strengthened their resolve to be a close-knit team as they strive to reach their goals.
“I think the bond is insane,” Samson says. “It’s going to be a family bond and a brotherhood that we’re never going to lose, and I think that’s what’s going to carry us this season.”
Last year, a young and inexperienced team might not have known how good they really were until late in the season. This year, they know the power they wield, with many of the same key players returning. Bringing home the program’s ninth state championship trophy is something they don’t want to let slip away if in that position again come December.
“It has made us really hungry because it’s always sitting in the back of your mind,” Maryland says. “We just want to finish the job this time.”