Dragons heating up in midseason

For as long as he has coached it, Southlake Carroll head football coach Hal Wasson has said it.

“When you get to this point of the season,” Wasson says, “you’re either getting better or you’re getting worse.”

If last Friday’s 42-28 victory over Euless Trinity revealed anything about that statement’s validity, the Dragons appear to be getting better. But then again, throughout Carroll’s history, it’s not a surprise to witness Carroll find that extra level when it comes to making a push for the district championship and the playoffs.

Carroll (4-1, 2-0 District 5-6A) got a measure of satisfaction by knocking off the Trojans. But it wasn’t a matter of just doing it as it was how the Dragons did it. Carroll limited the Trinity running game’s effectiveness in the second half and pitched a shutout. That doesn’t happen to the Trojans very much.

“We just played better defensively and simply started trusting our technique,” Wasson said. “[Trinity] wasn’t doing anything we weren’t used to seeing. But we just had to play a little more physical.”

Part of that was due to Carroll’s offense becoming a ball-controlling, time-consuming operation. Carroll was 8-11 on third down. That limited the number of Trinity possessions. The offense became the second defense.

But getting better is about maintaining it through the rest of the season. That continues with the regular season’s second half that starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday against surprising Lewisville (3-2, 1-1) in Lewisville’s Max Goldsmith Stadium.

Getting better is an offense that has seen a drastic rise since the opener against Tulsa Union. In the previous four games, Carroll has averaged 37 points, 239 rushing yards, 260 passing yards and 499 total yards per game.

Carroll’s offense found that other level because Robert Barnes moved to become a two-way player and is now the big play receiving threat. Mansfield Timberview transfer Audricke Gaines has become the running back Carroll hoped.

“Our key is, we didn’t panic,” Wasson said. “There’s a lot of room for growth. You’re going to see this team continue to get better. And keep in mind we went 4-1 and were playing without 6-8 starters.”

Perhaps these two won’t make people forget what Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Zach Farrar did in 2015. But the only memory this team wants to leave is playing deep into December. The 2015 team didn’t do that.

Of course, the first thing is to handle the Fighting Farmers, who dominated Flower Mound Marcus last week, 41-14. Lewisville has confidence. It features one of the most talented players in the country in wide receiver Tyrell Shavers, a national recruit and Alabama verbal commit. Although Shavers is surprisingly not a focus of the offense – 10 receptions – it’s about quality over quantity. He’s averaging 18 yards per grab.

The potential scenario to watch will be what kind of attention Barnes, an Oklahoma commit, will pay toward Shavers.

“I always tell our team that if we don’t respect each opponent and how we go about our business, then we’re very undisciplined,” Wasson. “Trinity is old news. The new news is we play Lewisville. It’s another challenge for us.”

This story was originally published October 5, 2016 at 12:28 PM with the headline "Dragons heating up in midseason."