Before every season, HeadbrCoach Hal Wasson lists two goals for his team: first, win the district title, and second, practice on Thanksgiving.
As the Dragons (11-1) continue their playoffbrjourney through the holiday season — gearing up to take on powerhouse rivalbrEuless Trinity (10-2) this Friday in the 5A regional semifinal round — thebrfeeling of excitement throughout Dragon country is in the air.
“It feels awesome knowing thatbrwe've reached one of our big goals we set at the beginning of the year,” said safetybrTariq Gordon. “All the pretenders are gone now and the stakes get a bit higherbrby Thanksgiving.”
Friday'sbrgame will feature two of the more successful football programs in Texas. Sincebrthe start of the new millennium, both teams have a combined total of eight 5Abrstate championships. Even more interestingly, the Dragons have Trinity's numberbrdating back to an epic 22-21 come-from-behind victory in 2006. The most recentbrmeeting between the two teams came roughly a year ago when Wasson's club sentbrTrinity packing after a hard fought 16-7 win.
The Dragons' defensive unit just came off a solid performance,brholding Midland Lee to a mere 20-yards rushing as Carroll claimed a 51-7 cold-weatherbrvictory. The brutal weather conditions were no match for Carroll's impressive offensive. The Dragons compiled an impressive 446 yards of total offensebras a result of Dragon quarterback Ryan Agnew's two-passing touchdowns, coupledbrwith AJ Ezzard's robust efforts.
Now more than ever, there is abrstrong sense of confidence throughout the Dragon locker room.
“From an offensive standpoint webrjust have to do what we always do and that's move the chains, if we stay on schedulebrthen nobody can stop us,” said Agnew.
After defeating MansfieldbrTimberview 42-21 in the area playoffs round, the Trinity Trojans will enter thebrgame against Carroll with the No. 1 rushing attack in 5A district areabrfootball at 361.7 yards per contest. Runningbrback Isaac Elsworth and sophomore Ja'Ron Wilson are the Trojans' all-stars — bothbrhave a combined total of 2,260 yards and 29 touchdowns for the season.
Nonetheless, the Dragons arebrconfident in their abilities to withstand the Trojans' impressive statistics.
“Going in, we know they're going tobrtry and pound the football and run right at us,” Gordon said. “We've madebradjustments to get our secondary more involved in the run game. Our defensivebrline has to plug their gaps and allow the linebackers to make play.”
The Dragons only surrendered 10.5 pointsbrper game in the first two rounds of the playoffs. As a result, cornerbackbrAdaryon Jones continues to spot improvements in the team's camaraderie and isbrconstantly focusing on vital keys to achieve defensive success.
“Playing physical and fast hasbrbrought us great success in the playoffs," Jones said. "We've made improvements in our focus,brstressing the importance of playing a full 48 minutes and fully trusting onebranother."
Kickoff against Trinity begins at 4 p.m. onbrFriday, Nov. 29 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX.
Robert Halliman is a senior journalism major and political science minor at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Penn. A 2010 Carroll Senior High graduate, Robert played defensive tackle for coach Hal Wasson from 2007–2010. An aspiring sports agent and media personality, Robert is also a member of the Lehigh University Business Careers and Entertainment Club.