Southlake Carroll vs. Abilene High, @ Shotwell Stadium, 7:30PM, 9/25/15

[SLC13]

Team Comparisons

Abilene High Eagles (4-0)
Wins over Heritage (35-21), SA Warren (35-9), Abilene Cooper (56-37) and
LD Bell (44-14)

Playmakers:

• QB: Peyton Killam 48-65-0-567yds, 3TDs
• RB: Abram Smith 77-689yds, 12TDs; Immanuel Brown ??-374yds, 6TDs
• WR: Qua’shawn Washington 14-182yds, 1TD; Raekwon Millsap 15-164yds

SLC Dragons (2-1)
Lost to Austin Westlake (26-20), wins over Tulsa Union (34-30) and Midland Lee (52-14)

Playmakers:

• QB: Mason Holmes 48-72-0-643yds, 7TDs
• RB: L’il Jordan Humphrey 51-312yds, 4TDs; Shemar Coleman 13-78yds, 2TDs
• WR: Humphrey 19-320yds, 3TDs; Zach Farrar 11-192yds, 3TDs, Coleman 18-156yds, 1TD

	AHS	SLC
Offense
PPG	42.5	33.2
Total YPG	474.6	462.7
Rushing YPG	328.3	175.7
Passing YPG	146.3	287.0
Defense
PPGA	20.3	21.3
Total YPGA	330.5	353.7
Rushing YPGA	150.0	214.4
Passing YPGA	180.5	139.3

---

Who wins??

[mike03car]

Mis clicked. Oh well, I'll take it!

[Super B]

Should be a good test for both teams.

[Super B]

NM.

[Warbird_Dad]

Should be a pretty good matchup between 2 good teams but I gave the nod to SLC based on tougher SOS so far. Hope I'm wrong on this but think the Dragon air attack may be something that puts them over the top, especially in light of secondary injuries for the Eagles.

[mike03car]

Can I unvote Abilene by 10+? Mis clicked.

[tinman]

Looking forward to this match up. It will be SLC first time to play AHS in Abilene. Abilene should have a great fan base. I expect the atmosphere to be electric.

[Abilenefan]

Looking forward to this match up. It will be SLC first time to play AHS in Abilene. Abilene should have a great fan base. I expect the atmosphere to be electric.

Home side should be packed. I expect a good game with a battle for 4 quarters. Should be well worth the price of admission. Eagles by 7.

[SLC13]

Some interesting Dragon tidbits in the local paper........

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/lo...e35997630.html

Starting RT coming out of spring, Henry Klinge is ready to play
Montana Murphy to LB........wow!!

[tinman]

Love the qoute by coach Hal Wasson in reference to Montana Murphy (#2 QB) rotating in at LB "To me your a football player. It's a case of playing where the team needs you." To me that show exactly what a football team is all about. The top programs understand this and the players commit to being a Part Of The Team. Well said coach Wasson.

[Eagle82]

Eagles Look Forward To SL Carroll Test

By David Robinett

http://www.clipsyndicate.com/video/play/5982794

September 22, 2015

Head coach Del Van Cox's team improved to 4-0 on the season with a dominating victory over L.D. Bell.


The Eagles are rolling, but they welcome Southlake Carroll to town on Friday night.


The Eagles are just 1-4 in their history against the Dragons, and the head coach knows his team is going to have to step up their level to come out with a win.


Coach Cox said, "They've got a little edge on them. They've got a little edge. They're ready for this challenge. They want to be in this game, and they want to see how good this team is, and then get better in district and get ready for the playoffs. We'll cross that bridge later on, but this will be a great victory for us, if we are able to come away with the victory on Friday night."


Abilene High and Southlake Carroll are set to get together on Friday night.


This is Carroll's first trip to Abilene to play an AISD team since 2002.

[SLCbacker]

Should be a great game, with a great atmosphere! I am looking forward to being there.

When making a prediction, it's hard to ignore the AHS SOS. AHS's first 4 opponents have a combined record of 3 wins and 10 loses. This Dragon team is VERY well conditioned. I think it will be the difference in the game. I like the Dragons in this one, to pull away in the second half:

SLC 45
AHS 24

[TrinityTrojan299]

Should be a great game, with a great atmosphere! I am looking forward to being there.

When making a prediction, it's hard to ignore the AHS SOS. AHS's first 4 opponents have a combined record of 3 wins and 10 loses. This Dragon team is VERY well conditioned. I think it will be the difference in the game. I like the Dragons in this one, to pull away in the second half:

SLC 45
AHS 24

Sounds about right to me. Nice Avatar

[SLCbacker]

Sounds about right to me. Nice Avatar

Subliminal message?

You have a fun season going in Trojanland!

[Eagle82]

Carroll rides fast start to 42-17 win over Abilene High


ABILENE, Texas - The Abilene High Eagles dug themselves just enough of a hole Friday, and the Southlake Carroll Dragons never let them out of it.

Carroll jumped out to a quick two-touchdown lead before the Eagles ever ran an offensive play and rolled to a 42-17 victory over AHS at Shotwell Stadium.

Abilene High (4-1) appeared to have the Dragons (3-1) stopped on the game's opening drive, but a holding penalty against the Eagles during the punt allowed Carroll to keep the ball. Four plays later, the Dragons were on the board.

The Eagles then muffed the ensuing kickoff, with Carroll's Obi Eboh recovering at the 17-yard line. Two plays and 46 seconds after the Dragons' first score, it was 14-0.

"It affects you mentally," AHS coach Del Van Cox, who suffered his first loss as a head coach, said of the miscues. "You can't make mistakes like that against good people. If you make mistakes, you've got to play well enough to overcome them, and we didn't do that tonight."

Eagles linebacker Ronnell Wilson, who was in on seven tackles, said AHS had to put the poor start behind it quickly.

"You've got to overcome the circumstances," Wilson said. "If they don't work in your favor, you've still got to keep fighting."

Carroll quarterback Mason Holmes passed for 251 yards and four touchdowns, three of them to Zach Farrar in the first quarter, as the Dragons gained 483 total yards. Holmes completed 18 of 28 attempts, connecting with Farrar for scores of 25, 15 and 12 yards. Farrar finished with five receptions for 104 yards.

Lil'Jordan Humphrey accounted for 247 yards and two scores, rushing for 108 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries and catching eight passes for 139 yards and a TD. Shemar Coleman added 75 yards rushing and a TD along with five receptions for 45 yards.

"They know who to get it to," Wilson said. "They know what they can work with. We've just got to be better.

"This loss is not a bad thing, it's a positive. It's going to tell us what we need to get better at. We just need to be positive and go work on them."

AHS ground out 361 yards, 219 of those on the ground. Abram Smith rushed for 113 yards on 23 carries, capping the Eagles' first drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.

"We got a lot of things done tonight, and there were a lot of things that didn't get done as well," Smith said. "There were some things we've got to fix. We're a good overall team, but mistakes are going to happen. You've just got to go back and fix those mistakes."

Smith said the game was a good test for the Eagles, who open District 3-6A play in two weeks against San Angelo Central at Shotwell Stadium.

"It shows us where we need to be," Smith said. "Southlake's a pretty good team, and they came out here and played us hard. That just showed us we need to play harder, and once we fix our mistakes, we'll be at that level. We'll see them in Week 3 (of the playoffs), and it'll be a different story."

Eagles quarterback Peyton Killam completed 15 of 24 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown, but threw his first career interception. Qua'Shawn Washington caught five passes for 45 yards, pulling in a 6-yard TD pass as AHS moved 75 yards in seven plays in just two minutes late in the first half to get the Eagles within 28-17.

"They're just well- coached," Killam said of the Dragons. "The majority of it, I think, we beat ourselves, but they're still a great football team. We can learn off this and feed off this going into district play.

"We had to execute really well. They came off the ball fast, and we had to come off the ball fast. It just comes down to executing."

Humphrey and Coleman split time between running back and receiver, often swapping positions with each other from one play to the next.

"That and (Farrar) on the outside is no slouch, himself," Cox said. "Those guys are really good players, and they use them really well."

Humphrey took a swing pass 57 yards to score as Carroll built a 28-10 lead late in the first half. He scored on a 3-yard run in the third quarter, and Coleman added a 2-yard TD in the fourth.

Eagles cornerback David Earles, who had seven tackles, said the defense had to be alert as to where Humphrey and Coleman were lined up each play.

"We did a pretty good job on finding out where they were, but we just needed to execute," Earles said. "That's the main point. We didn't do a very good job when it mattered the most.

"They came at us with a good game plan. We beat ourselves mostly. They just kept running the same plays. That's what works for them. They're like us. They keep pounding the ball."

Holmes connected with Farrar for scores of 25 and 15 yards to give Carroll a 14-0 lead with 8:54 still remaining in the first quarter.

Carroll had scoring drives that consumed just two, three and one plays after the opening touchdown. Abilene High countered with its best weapon — long clock-eating drives. The Eagles moved 95 yards in 11 plays, using 4 minutes, 38 seconds for Smith's touchdown. That was followed by a 16-play, 55-yard possession that consumed 7:56 and resulted in a 32-yard field goal by Oscar Hernandez.

But the Eagles couldn't keep it up in the second half. Drives of 16 and 13 plays failed to produce points, while Carroll put together TD drives of 10 and 20 plays to put the game away.

"We had two drives in the red zone that we didn't get points out of," Cox said. "We did some good things, but we've still got things we've got to fix.

"That's the good thing about playing good people before district. You figure out what you need to fix."

NONDISTRICT

Southlake Carroll 42, Abilene High 17

Carroll 21 7 7 7 — 42
Abilene High 7 10 0 0 — 17

FIRST QUARTER
SLC — Zach Farrar 25 pass from Mason Holmes (Kole Ramage kick), 9:40
SLC — Farrar 15 pass from Holmes (Ramage kick), 8:54
AHS — Abram Smith 2 run (Oscar Hernandez kick), 4:16
SLC — Farrar 12 pass from Holmes (Ramage kick), 3:47

SECOND QUARTER
AHS — Hernandez 32 FG, 7:51
SLC — Lil'Jordan Humphrey 57 pass from Holmes (Ramage kick), 3:02
AHS — Qua'Shawn Washington 6 pass from Peyton Killam (Hernandez kick), 1:16

THIRD QUARTER
SLC — Humphrey 3 run (Ramage kick), 7:30

FOURTH QUARTER
SLC — Shemar Coleman 2 run (Ramage kick), 6:31

SLC AHS
First downs 25 21
Rushes-Yards 31-197 48-219
Passing 286 142
Comp-Att-Int 19-29-1 15-24-1
Punts 1-31.0 2-34.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 10-97 4-16

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Southlake Carroll, Lil'Jordan Humphrey 18-108, Shemar Coleman 9-75, Mason Holmes 2-13, Alex Simpson 2-1. Abilene High, Abram Smith 23-113, Immanuel Brown 12-71, Peyton Killam 13-35.
PASSING — Southlake Carroll, Mason Holmes 18-28-1—251, Lil'Jordan Humphrey 1-1-0—35. Abilene High, Peyton Killam 15-24-1—142.
RECEIVING — Southlake Carroll, Lil'Jordan Humphrey 8-139, Zach Farrar 5-104, Shemar Colemann 5-46, Jack Johansson 1-(minus 3). Abilene High, Qua'Shawn Washington 5-45, Nic Roy 4-40, Raekwon Millsap 4-27, Abram Smith 2-30.

RECORDS — Southlake Carroll 3-1, Abilene High 4-1.

AHScarroll7_24424339_ver1.0_640_480.jpg

AHScarroll1_24424334_ver1.0_640_480.jpg

AHScarroll4_24424337_ver1.0_640_480.jpg

[Eagle82]

Dragons fired their way to early lead, and never looked back

AHScarroll2_24424330_ver1.0_640_480.jpg
ABILENE, Texas - Southlake Carroll has played three of its four games this season on the road. On Friday, the Dragons made themselves right at home at Shotwell Stadium.

Southlake scored on its second possession, then recovered a pooch kickoff that set up a second score 46 seconds later, both on touchdown passes to Zach Farrar, who'd catch one more in the game and have another negated by a penalty. That 14-0 lead early in the first quarter put the Dragons in control and on their way to a 42-17 win over previously unbeaten Abilene High.

The loss was the Eagles' fifth in six games against Southlake Carroll, and followed last year's 63-28 defeat in Southlake.

A green and white banner placed behind the Dragons' bench read "Protect the Tradition." Southlake did that Friday, whether it was a one-play scoring drive — a short pass that turned into a 57-yard touchdown play — or grinding out a 20-play, 89-yard drive in the second half that resulted in the Dragons' final touchdown.

"We beat a good football team," Dragons coach Hal Wasson said. "We knew they would play hard at home. A big part of the game is seizing momentum, and that can change in an instant.

"Jumping out by 14 ... we definitely needed it."

Abilene drew to 14-7 but never closer. Down 28-17 at halftime, the Eagles got the ball to start the second but went 3-and-out. Southlake then marched 67 yards in 10 plays to take an 18-point lead in the third quarter. The Eagles had 16- and 12-play drives in the second half but failed to score.

Southlake Carroll lost its first road game, 20-14, to Westlake in Austin. Then came a 34-30 win in Tulsa, Oklahoma, against powerhouse Union.

The Dragons are 2-0 against District 3-6A teams after a 52-14 thrashing of Midland Lee in Southlake.

"I have a lot of respect for West Texas football," said Wasson, who has led the Dragons since the 2007 season. "It is tradition rich, and it's an honor to come and play out here. I told our players they'd better bring their A-game because (the Eagles) will."

The Dragons had not forced a turnover this year until Obi Eboh, a University of Texas commit, pounced on a loose football on the kickoff after opening touchdown.

"We hadn't had a turnover in three games and tonight we created two, and then we made them pay," he said.

Wasson praised his kicker, Jake Oldroyd, who challenged Abilene High on every kickoff, much like a pitcher with a good stuff.

"He's a great directional kicker," he said.

Only two AHS drives started beyond the 25 yard line.

He also praised Abilene High's offense, which the Dragons largely checked. The Eagles totaled just 362 yards, and running back Abram Smith netted 113 yards on 23 carries. Aside from a 48-yard run on his carry, Smith did not rush for more than 10 yards after that.

Smith had 12 rushing touchdowns coming in; he scored once, on a 2-yard run that made it 14-7 early on. Adjustments clogged the middle.

"Abilene has a high-powered offense, and they're going to make some plays," Wasson said. The Dragons had to limit those, and did. AHS had only five plays of 20 yards or more and just one — Smith's run around left end — of more than 30.

"We're a work in progress," Wasson said. His team last year lost to Cedar Hill in the Class 6A Division II quarterfinals, the week after Cedar Hill held on for dear life to eliminate Abilene High.

The bad news for Southlake Carroll is the Dragons are not at home again next week. The good news is the game is at Coppell, which may not exactly qualify as a road trip.

The long trip to Abilene was worth it for the Dragons, in Wasson's mind.

"We had to come out and match their intensity," he said of playing the Eagles. "We had to turn it up a couple of notches in second half. We did that."

[SLC13]

Still bleary-eyed from the long drive back to Dragon Country, but would like to add my appreciation for the warm welcome, fine tailgate, and a great game in a great atmosphere. Texas football at its finest.

Let me echo my better half, I really enjoyed meeting EagleDad, Warbird87 as well saying hi again to Mike0Car and Eagle82. Sorry that we missed others that might have been at the tailgate as we arrived a little late.

Special thanks to EagleDad for pulling it together and for the fine eats. Other than getting caught in a Metroplex traffic jam at 1:00AM, the evening was wonderful. TX HS football at it's finest.

I will post some thoughts on the game itself after I have some more coffee.........

[SLC13]

A couple thoughts on last night’s game:

1. I am more impressed each week with the Dragon offense and the variety that they show. Having 3 Rb’s that seamlessly interchange between slot receiver and RB makes us very hard to defend. Mason Holmes continues to have excellent games in hostile environments.
2. Some good and bad for the defense. They held the Eagles, another quality opponent, scoreless in the 2^nd half. The 3 and out that the Dragon D got at the beginning of the 2^nd half was huge. It shifted the momentum that AHS had from the 1^st half. However on the negative side, allowing drives of 11, 17, 7 & 18 plays won’t cut it against the likes of Coppell and Trinity.
3. There were too many Dragon penalties, including a couple brainless ones. We need to fix that NOW.
4. SLC won the TO battle for the 1^st time this year.
5. I love watching the Eagles #28 run the ball. What a combination of speed, strength and vision!! Throw in the speed of #29 as well as your QB and the AHS rushing attack will be difficult for your district mates to control.
6. #11 on defense was a all over the field making plays. I’m not sure how many tackles he had, but it seemed that he was in on every play.
7. I was surprised that AHS didn’t blitz more in the 2^nd half, however I understand the need to save some stuff for SAC.
8. I think this was a good game for both teams to kind of measure themselves before district play. I’m thinking that both coaching staffs will take what they learned last night and improve the kids on both sidelines.
9. I sure do hope that EagleDad’s prediction about AHS remaining 6A happens. I would love for the schools and the fans to continue this series for another couple years.

Best of luck to the Eagles the rest of the season!!

[mike03car]

A couple thoughts on last night’s game:

1. I am more impressed each week with the Dragon offense and the variety that they show. Having 3 Rb’s that seamlessly interchange between slot receiver and RB makes us very hard to defend. Mason Holmes continues to have excellent games in hostile environments.
2. Some good and bad for the defense. They held the Eagles, another quality opponent, scoreless in the 2^nd half. The 3 and out that the Dragon D got at the beginning of the 2^nd half was huge. It shifted the momentum that AHS had from the 1^st half. However on the negative side, allowing drives of 11, 17, 7 & 18 plays won’t cut it against the likes of Coppell and Trinity.
3. There were too many Dragon penalties, including a couple brainless ones. We need to fix that NOW.
4. SLC won the TO battle for the 1^st time this year.
5. I love watching the Eagles #28 run the ball. What a combination of speed, strength and vision!! Throw in the speed of #29 as well as your QB and the AHS rushing attack will be difficult for your district mates to control.
6. #11 on defense was a all over the field making plays. I’m not sure how many tackles he had, but it seemed that he was in on every play.
7. I was surprised that AHS didn’t blitz more in the 2^nd half, however I understand the need to save some stuff for SAC.
8. I think this was a good game for both teams to kind of measure themselves before district play. I’m thinking that both coaching staffs will take what they learned last night and improve the kids on both sidelines.
9. I sure do hope that EagleDad’s prediction about AHS remaining 6A happens. I would love for the schools and the fans to continue this series for another couple years.

Best of luck to the Eagles the rest of the season!!

I absolutely enjoy the competitive friendliness between SLC and Abilene fans on the two forums and hope our teams play each other annually. Dragons will still win most of those games very likely, but the Eagles need that kind of competition to get better each and every week, and I like to think the Eagles give the Dragons some things to build upon as well (though not as much as they do for us) as noted by Coach Wasson

[SLCbacker]

I absolutely enjoy the competitive friendliness between SLC and Abilene fans on the two forums and hope our teams play each other annually. Dragons will still win most of those games very likely, but the Eagles need that kind of competition to get better each and every week, and I like to think the Eagles give the Dragons some things to build upon as well (though not as much as they do for us) as noted by Coach Wasson

I'm a little late posting, but I agree completely Mike. Friday was a perfect night for football...the weather, the stadium, the crowd, and two storied programs battling it out on the field. It represented everything that makes TXHSFB great! It was great seeing you guys. Thanks to Eagle82 and Eagledad for your hospitality.