In 2018, Carroll’s first year under head coach Riley Dodge, the Dragons offense looked about as potent as when the football team was quarterbacked by the former star athlete himself.
This fall, Dodge’s team will attempt to continue putting the pedal down on a high-octane, no-huddle attack that saw Carroll average just shy of 40 points per game while advancing four rounds into the playoffs and compiling a 13-1 record. However, the Dragons must overcome a less experienced offensive corps in certain positions, most notably quarterback and running back.
But the addition of a young talent under center could turn some heads this season, while at the same time taking pressure off a running game recovering from the graduation loss of star running back TJ McDaniel.
“I think we might be throwing the ball a little more than we did last year, which I’m excited about,” says Dodge, whose team kicked off the season hosting South Grand Prairie on Aug. 30.
“We’ll have a young one back there in [sophomore quarterback] Quinn Ewers, but he’s a very talented kid.”
Like his predecessor, Will Bowers, Ewers brings a dual-threat aspect to the Carroll offense. Bowers passed for over 2,500 yards and gained 555 yards on the ground as quarterback in 2018, and Ewers is likely to find similar success, if not more yardage passing and running.
The sophomore looks to be dangerous when tucking the ball under, and he’s shown he has a strong arm and pinpoint accuracy when putting the ball in the air.
“He can put a five-yard ball there in like 0.2 seconds, and you can’t really cover it,” says RJ Mickens, Dragons senior defensive back and receiver. “You literally have to cover the whole field with Quinn. He can put it on the sideline, put it in the corner of the end zone. He can put it anywhere, pretty much.
“That definitely scares a lot of defensive coordinators. It scares a whole bunch of safeties. It makes that aspect of the game one where they have to plan a lot more.”
Ewers will have plenty of targets from which to choose, as Carroll’s wide receiver position carries plenty of depth. With Mickens — the team’s leader in receptions (46) and yards (646) in 2018 — potentially missing the first 1-4 games this season with a foot injury, returning veteran receiver John Manero will serve as a top target.
Wills Meyer and Blake Smith return after limited duty on varsity last year, and move-in Brady Boyd joins the group as an outside receiver with plenty of speed.
“We have a great corps of receivers that are talented, but they’re also all about technique, execution and they give great effort,” says Marshall Williams, Dragons offensive coordinator. “We have a really good nucleus that we can build on for sure.
“A lot of the guys have grown up in this town. Being part of the legacy of the ‘Bomb Squad’ (Carroll’s nickname for its airborne offensive attack) has always been very important to them. It’s very competitive every day in practice. These kids want a part in it, they want a role.”
Perhaps the Dragons’ biggest loss on offense from last season is McDaniel, a running back who compiled 2,062 yards and 33 touchdowns as a senior en route to earning 6A all-state second team honors by the AP and being named MVP for District 5-6A. The SMU signee leaves a huge void in Carroll’s running game, but new faces are eager to fill the role.
Junior Kannon Kadi will carry the majority of the load as starter, with fellow juniors Jack Abram and Cade Wood logging carries throughout games in a run-by-committee approach.
“You don’t ever think that you can replace TJ McDaniel, and none of them should try to,” Williams says. “But they will all have a role, and it’s going to start with Kannon.
“Offensively, we’re going to do what we do, but we’re also going to take what [opposing defenses] give us. If they’re going to allow us to throw the ball a lot, we’re going to throw the ball a lot. If we need to run the ball a lot, we will. It’s not ‘We’re going to throw the ball every single time.’ The defense dictates what we’re going to do. We’re confident that our kids can do that. We did that last year, too.”
Success in both the running and passing game starts with the effectiveness of the offensive line. The Dragons return three of their five starting linemen from 2018, including the entire left side. Senior left tackle Andrej Karic (a University of Texas commit) and senior left guard Brandon Borrasso will bring a wealth of experience to the O-line, as will senior center and Boston College commit Addison Penn.
Robby Rochester (senior tackle) and senior guard Michael Magar, who will share time with senior Grant Price, will protect the right side of the line. Though Rochester gained varsity experience that was limited by injury, the right side is overall less experienced. But the lack of varsity game reps doesn’t concern Dodge.
“We have three veteran offensive linemen up front,” Dodge says. “Our right side will be different, but we’ve got some guys that we’re very excited about that were either on varsity or JV Green last year. They had really good summers and good springs.”
Williams says that with the athletes they have on offense, it allows for a good amount of versatility in formations. They intend to take advantage of that and throw various sets at their opponents, which should make it difficult for teams to adjust while in the flow of the game.
“As far as the starting offense, there’s no limits to it,” Williams says. “That’s a problem for [opponents]. We can be four wide, a two-back or with a tight end, and we don’t have to take anybody on and off the field. … We can be multiple out of formations. We’ll be able to run and pass out of each of them.”
Continuing with its hurry-up approach, Carroll is also expected to create havoc for defenses just like they did last year. Combined with some new sets, the Dragons expect to give teams all that they can handle throughout the season.
“We’re a no-huddle, up-tempo offense,” Dodge says. “We might look a little different than we did last year. You can present things a little bit differently by your formations and your motions. But that’s where it starts — lining up fast and snapping the football, and trying to be the most conditioned football team on the field.”