Southlake Carroll bottled up by Denton Guyer D, Oklahoma commit in regional final
Southlake Carroll came in allowing just over 13 points per game, but the Dragons haven’t faced an athlete like Denton Guyer quarterback Jackson Arnold all season.
Arnold, a 5-star Oklahoma commit, threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another four as the Wildcats defeated the Dragons 45-21 in the Class 6A Division 2 Region 1 final on Saturday at Northwest ISD Stadium.
Guyer (14-0), No. 6 in the final state rankings, will play No. 13 DeSoto (12-2) in the state semifinals. It’s Guyer’s fourth consecutive trip to the semis. DeSoto beat Harker Heights 60-24 on Friday.
Carroll, No. 4, ends the season at 13-1.
The Dragons have reached the regional final in six straight seasons.
“Great team. I’ve been playing them since the fifth, sixth grade and even before that,” said Carroll running back Owen Allen, who rushed for 133 yards in his final high school game. “I think it’s their turn to go get one and I hope they do.”
Guyer scored on five of its first six drives in the first half with four of them going for touchdowns.
The Wildcats had an uptempo offense and scored 91 seconds into the game.
Arnold, who had scored 17 touchdowns on the ground this season, kept it on the designed QB draw and found the end zone from 49 yards out to give Guyer a 7-0 lead.
Carroll quickly responded two plays later on Allen’s 34-yard touchdown run with 9:51 left in the opening quarter. The Dragons also made a stop when Dustan Mark sacked Arnold on the ensuing drive to force a punt.
Carroll had good position near midfield, but on third-and-1, the snap went through quarterback Graham Knowles’ legs. Knowles appeared to be looking at the sideline for a call.
Allen picked it up, but the play resulted in a loss of seven and Carroll had to punt.
Then Guyer led 14-7 on Arnold’s 16-yard touchdown run with 4:43 left in the first quarter.
The Wildcats then held the Dragons to a three-and-out and a punt.
Arnold, who is a finalist for the 2022 Landry player of the year award, hit Landon Sides for a 20-yard gain to the Guyer 41 and two plays later, hit Sides again for a 38-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 21-7 with 2:18 left in the opening period.
Carroll continued to struggle with another punt, but Texas A&M committed kicker Tyler White was able to down the ball at the 1. However, Guyer still managed to score 99 yards later.
The Wildcats embarked on a 12-play drive lasting nearly four minutes.
Arnold picked up five yards on a third-and-1 at the 10, followed by a Trey Joyner 35-yard run to the 49. Arnold hit Sides on back-to-back throws of 22 and 10 yards before scoring from the 2 to make it 28-7 with 8:23 left in the second quarter.
The Dragons answered in a big way with a 12-play 75-yard drive lasting over six minutes as Allen scored from the 1 for his second rushing score of the day to cut the lead to 28-14 with 1:59 left in the half.
Guyer would then start its next drive at the 3, but eight plays later got to the Carroll 16.
A delay of game penalty on Carroll pushed it to the 11 before the Wildcats settled for a 28-yard field goal from Ford Stinson with two seconds left on the clock.
Arnold had 213 yards passing and 111 yards rushing in the first half. He finished with over 300 yards passing and nearly 150 yards rushing. Sides and Sutton Lee each went over 100 yards receiving.
Arnold continued to torch the Carroll D in the second half.
After Guyer forced a three-and-out to open the third quarter, the Wildcats went 83 yards on 16 plays capped off with Arnold’s 10-yard touchdown run to make it 38-14 midway through the period.
The Dragons did force a punt and followed with a touchdown drive to cut it to 17 points. Knowles connected with Clayton Wayland on a 47-yard pass to bring it to 38-21 with 1:02 to play in the third.
Guyer gained nearly 600 yards total offense while Carroll was held to under 300.
Allen, who is also a finalist for the Landry award, put together one of the most productive careers in state history.
He finishes with 120 rushing touchdowns and 42 games with at least 100 yards. He rushed for over 7,600 yards and ends his senior season with 2,200 yards and 37 TDs.
“We’ll see. I have some time to think about things,” said Allen, who has offers from Air Force and Army according to 247Sports. “Right now I’m going to love on my team. That’s all I have planned right now.
“Wouldn’t trade it for the world. These guys, parents and fans have meant the world to me. I never knew what it would feel like when it was done and now that we’re here, I still don’t know how to feel, but god it was so much fan. The best years of my life.”
This story was originally published December 3, 2022 at 4:47 PM.
