Carthage beats Waco La Vega for 4A D1 title, wins seventh state football championship

As the final seconds ticked off the clock Friday afternoon, Carthage head coach Scott Surratt put up seven fingers in celebration of the Bulldogs’ seventh state title.

It was a surreal moment for Surratt, who has guided the Bulldogs to each of those titles in his 12 seasons at Carthage. The Bulldogs are now tied with Abilene, Brownwood and Plano with seven state titles apiece.

“Seven championships. I don’t have one friend in my hometown that has ever won one; that kind of puts it in perspective,” said Surratt, who is the leader among active coaches in state title wins. Surratt trails Gordon Wood (nine state titles) and G.A. Moore (eight titles).

“To have even one is amazing. Getting seven is unbelievable. It’s a tribute to our players and coaches,” he said.

The Bulldogs gobbled up their seventh state title with a 42-28 victory over Waco La Vega in the Class 4A Division I state championship game at AT&T Stadium, thanks in part to a pair of consecutive touchdown catches by senior receiver Kelvontay Dixon.

With the game tied at 14 and Carthage facing a third-and-one play at the La Vega 20, Dixon hauled in a pass from Kai Horton at the Pirates’ 1 and fought his way into the end zone with three seconds to play in the first half.

Dixon’s play was huge considering the Bulldogs had no timeouts left.

“That was big, getting that touchdown and the defensive stop we got,” Surratt said. “We got lucky on the replay and got a little bit better field position, and we were able to be more aggressive in our two-minute offense. I thought that was the biggest influence in the game.”

Leading 21-14, the Bulldogs stopped La Vega on its first possession of the second half. After a punt put the ball on the Carthage 37, Horton found Dixon open down the far sideline for a 63-yard score that put the Bulldogs up 28-14 with 10:40 to play in the third quarter.

Dixon’s efforts Friday earned him Offensive MVP honors. The senior grabbed seven passes for 120 yards and three scores. Horton, a junior, completed 16 of 22 passes for 231 yards and three touchdowns.

Surratt said the Bulldogs’ running game, which accounted for 272 yards on 37 attempts, opened up his team’s passing game. Junior running back Mason Courtney had an MVP-like effort for Carthage, gaining 232 yards on 30 carries and scoring on runs of 5, 54 and 1 yards.

After La Vega took a 14-7 lead on Elisha Cummings’ second touchdown run of the game with 9:13 to play in the second quarter, the Bobcats scored 28 straight points to take a 35-14 lead.

Surratt said losing to Liberty Hill 44-41 in the state semifinals last season motivated his squad this season.

“We talked about the chip on our shoulder all year,” Surratt said. “We felt we could have won last year against La Vega. We liked that matchup, but it didn’t happen, so we had to do whatever we needed to do to make that happen this year because we felt like La Vega would be here.

La Vega defeated Liberty Hill 35-21 for its second state title last season.

“This state title means the world to me,” Surratt said. “We are going to do whatever we can to be back here next year.”

Surratt called the efforts of his 32-man senior class amazing. Members of Carthage’s senior class played in 60 of a possible 62 games over the past four years.

For Surratt and the Bulldogs, the state title was bittersweet after the passing of offensive coordinator Dennis McLaughlin in October due to cancer. McLaughlin taught and coached at Carthage High School for 37 years.

This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 5:25 PM.