Injury makes Dragons’ QB situation murkier
Carroll’s spring football season was an opportunity for the quarterback situation to clarify. That didn’t happen.
Heir apparent Montana Murphy’s spring only lasted four workouts before he went down with an undisclosed injury. He is expected to be out until mid-July. It’s unclear if he will be able to go through any of Carroll’s 7-on-7 summer season.
Regardless, junior Mason Holmes (6-0, 185) has taken advantage of the snaps to develop a level of comfort running the offense. At the very least, the coaching staff has seen enough to know what he can offer.
“Mason is very athletic with a strong arm,” head coach Hal Wasson said. “He throws an accurate deep ball and is really maturing. We saw that in the last part of last Friday’s scrimmage. I know we have two guys in Mason and Montana who will help our offense.”
Experience will have to be acquired throughout the 2015 season. Murphy appeared mostly in late-game situations and attempted only 22 passes.
Carroll returns five offensive starters and two defensive starters from the 13-1 Class 6A Division I Region I finalist team. Led by senior cornerback Obi Eboh, the secondary could be one of the best units in all of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Along with Eboh, Robert Barnes and Barrett Buck should occupy the two safety positions. There is a continuing battle for the other cornerback position between Jackson Davis, Shemar Coleman and Tyson Smiter. Smiter has changed from wide receiver to defensive back.
“To me, our biggest focus is on linebacker depth,” Wasson said. “But we have about nine underclassmen who can play on defense this year.”
About that defense
One of the major changes made with the defensive line is that Ryan Miller moved from offensive line to nose tackle. But there’s youth at defensive end led by Lucas Cheeter. Those are just two examples of a unit that offers talent but lacks experience.
“We’ve got six or seven guys that we can rotate,” Wasson said. “I really like and am really excited about this team. There are lot of new faces. They really have seemed to grow and mature in the spring. We’re on the young side, but we’re seasoned in spots.”
Who has been out…
Murphy isn’t the only one who has missed the spring season. Linebacker Jacob Copeland, who missed the last several weeks of the 2014 season, has been held out of spring workouts as a precautionary move, Wasson said. Big-play wide receiver Zach Farrar has gone through a couple of workouts but not many, because the Carroll baseball team is in the playoffs. Place-kicker Jake Oldroyd is also out with an undisclosed injury. However, he should be ready for the 2015 season.
On the road
Maybe you didn’t see it, but the 2015 non-district schedule is where the Dragons are going to have to go on the road.
They will start at Austin Westlake and then play at Tulsa (Okla.) Union. Midland Lee comes to Southlake. The Dragons then travel to Abilene. Abilene changed coaches this offseason. Steve Warren retired and has been replaced by longtime assistant Del Van Cox.
This story was originally published May 18, 2015 at 3:40 PM with the headline "Injury makes Dragons’ QB situation murkier."