The Dragons celebrate on the field after their 2011 State Championship win over Fort Bend Hightower 36-29. Photo by Rex Teter Photography
by EJ Holland
It's that time of year again — black pants and bleached blondbrhair.
That signifies the start of the postseason for SouthlakebrCarroll. Since 2001, players have bleached their hair blond to show team unity.brThe Dragons also switch from white to black playing pants at the start of thebrplayoffs.
So how did it all get started?
“I believe back when Coach (Bob) Ledbetter was here they gotbra surplus order of black pants. They were freebies, so they decided to usebrthose in the playoffs,” Wasson said. “In 2001, players started to bleach theirbrhair, so it became a tradition to celebrate the playoffs with black pants andbrblond hair. Of course, my hair has been bleached permanently.”
But Wasson isn't worried too much about participating in thebrprogram's unique tradition. Instead, he's focused on game planning for Southlake Carroll's bi-district matchup against Mansfield this Friday atAT&T Stadium.
The Dragons locked up an outright district title last weekbrto secure the top seed out of District 7-6A. This year, the Dragons are headedbrto Division II for the first time in recent memory. Mansfield is in as thebrthird place team out of District 8-6A, which featured tough teams like CedarbrHill, South Grand Prairie and nationally ranked DeSoto.
“I'm really proud of our team and coaches for finishing thebryear 10-0. We accomplished our first goal of winning an outright districtbrtitle,” Wasson said. “But we're not content. The journey has only begun. Webrhave a tall order this week. Mansfield beat two of the three other playoffbrteams in their district.”
One of those aforementioned victories came against defendingbrstate champion Cedar Hill. There is no doubt Mansfield is one of the hottestbrteams in the Dallas-area. After a 4-3 start, the Tigers rattled off threebrstraight victories and are peaking at the right time.
Most of their success can be attributed to a strong rushingbrattack. Out of the Multiple I, running backs Kennedy Brooks and Emmanuel Esukpabrhave combined to rush for more than 1,800 yards and 22 touchdowns. QuarterbackbrAaron Funk has been efficient, throwing for 1,185 yards and 13 scores.
“We know they feature a strong running game. Our defense isbrgoing to have to play really well,” Wasson said. “We have to play with greatbrpad level. Their running backs are great in space and have good vision. Theybrare also very effective when they run the bootleg. We're going to have to playbrphysical.”
Lil' Jordan Humphrey had 262 yards and 4 TDs to pace the Dragons over Colleyville during 7-6A play.
Lil' Jordan Humphrey had 262 yards and 4 TDs to pace the Dragons over Colleyville during 7-6A play.
Defensively, Mansfield has been up and down, giving up 24.4brpoints per contest. The Tigers' strength lies in their secondary with TCUbrcommit Julius Lewis. So Southlake Carroll will likely lean on workhorse runningbrback Lil' Jordan Humphrey, who finished the regular season with 1,401 yards andbr22 touchdowns on the ground.
“We have to be physical running the football, and we have tobrbe efficient passing the football,” Wasson said. “We also have to keep gettingbrbetter in pass protection and run better routes. The key word is consistent. Webrknow they keep the ball away for their opponents as much as possible
“We have to match their physical running game and stay onbrschedule offensively.”
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