Safety Kevin Cramer (18) is carried away by teammates after a late game interception vs Euless Trinity.
By EJ Holland
Southlake Carroll knows a thing or two about the playoffs.
After all, the Dragons have eight state titles under theirbrbelts and will have a chance to add a ninth to the trophy case this December.brSouthlake Carroll officially locked up a playoff spot with a 45-23 victory overColleyville Heritage last week.
But head coach Hal Wasson doesn't want that or a fun-filledbrHalloween night to distract from the task at hand — winning an outrightbrdistrict title.
“It's very exciting to know that we're in the playoffsbragain. I'm really proud of our kids. They invested a lot of time,” Wasson said.br“But it's a tough league, and we have to finish the deal. We're extremelybrexcited, but I told them that our goal is to win an outright districtbrchampionship.”
Southlake Carroll currently sits at 8-0 and 4-0 in Districtbr7-6A play. Next up on the slate: Haltom The Buffalos are winless and arebrcurrently in last place with an 0-8 overall record and 0-4 district mark.
Wasson, however, knows the Dragons can't get overconfident.brHaltom will certainly be motivated to notch its first victory and pull off thebrbiggest upset in the state.
“You just have to keep it simple. We always say that ourbrnext game is our biggest game, so that's how we stay focused,” Wasson said. “Webrhave to continue to get better and be at our best. If we're not at our best,branything can happen.”
Haltom, which is coming off a 39-22 loss to L.D. Bell, isbraveraging a mere 9.8 points this season. To put that into perspective,brSouthlake Carroll has scored almost four times as many points as the Buffalosbr(299-78). Simply put: Haltom has trouble moving the football. But the Buffalosbrdo have a dangerous ball carry in speedy running back Hector Vasquez.
Defensively, it doesn't get much better for the Buffalos.brHaltom is allowing 37.3 points per game and has been awful against both the runbrand the pass. As long as the Dragons keep defensive lineman Joseph Banks atbrbay, the Dragons should be able to light up the scoreboard.
“They run the ball about 60 percent of the time, so we havebrto play physical,” Wasson said. “We also have to be more effective throwing thebrfootball. Our special teams need to do better, especially on kickoff returns.”
Wasson also added that he expects the home crowd at DragonbrStadium to give the team an extra boost.
“I just want to say that our students and fans have beenbrgreat,” Wasson said. “The players have been commenting on it, so I just wantedbrto mention it. We have great support.”
