Ewers returns to help Southlake Carroll survive against Arlington Martin in regional
Southlake Carroll quarterback Quinn Ewers hadn’t played a football game since Oct. 30 with an undisclosed injury.
But with the biggest game of the season Thursday night, Ewers came to play.
After a little rust, the 5-star Ohio State commit threw for three touchdowns and Carroll managed to hold off Arlington Martin, 30-26, in an action-packed, penalty-plagued Class 6A Division 1 slug fest on Christmas Eve at Globe Life Park.
“What a game,” said Ewers, who completed 20 of 36 passes for 250 yards. “It feels amazing to be back out here with my guys. Being on the sideline is just horrible and I hate that feeling. You feel useless at some point, but it feels so great to be back out here.”
Carroll (10-1), ranked No. 19 in the 6A D1 state rankings, will face Saturday’s winner between No. 23 Euless Trinity (10-1) and No. 4 Allen (10-0) in the quarterfinal round. Trinity and Allen play at 7:30 p.m. at GLP.
Carroll’s next game will be 11 a.m. next Saturday Jan. 2 at GLP.
It will be the Dragons’ fourth straight trip to the quarterfinals and eighth in 11 seasons.
Sharp play by both teams was sullied at times by 25 enforced penalties. Martin (10-2), No. 14, was flagged 17 times for 168 yards while Carroll committed eight penalties for 80 yards with several coming at key moments.
“We did some things tonight that we haven’t done in a long time,” said Martin coach Bob Wager. “But congratulations to Carroll, they have a great football team.”
The Dragons took a 17-11 lead into halftime, but a wild third quarter saw the lead change hands four times with three coming in a 23-second span late in the period.
Martin took the second-half kickoff and drove 75 yards in 14 plays. A holding penalty forced the Warriors to face a third-and-10 from the Carroll 15, but quarterback Zach Mundell (Army) scrambled his way around the left side and skipped over a defender at the goal line to give Martin an 18-17 lead at the 5:41 mark of the third quarter.
It was the first time that the Dragons had trailed in a game since their second game of the season Oct. 8 in a loss at Rockwall.
Three minutes later, Carroll regained the lead when kicker Joe McFadden (Connecticut) hit his second of three field goals from 31 yards out. McFadden had connected on a 48-yard try as time expired in the first half.
Martin’s Lenard Lemons gathered the ensuing kickoff 1-yard deep in the end zone before finding a wedge down the left sideline for a 101-yard TD return to give the Warriors a 26-20 lead with 2:22 left in the third.
“That’s what you see on film of those guys and there’s just no time to relax as a player or as a coach,” said Carroll coach Riley Dodge. “They can hit their head on a goal post at any time, but our kids just kept responding and battling back.”
Riding the momentum, Martin tried to surprise Carroll with an onside kick, but the ball bounced out of bounds setting the Dragons up at the Warriors’ 45-yard line.
On the next snap, Ewers hit a wide-open Landon Samson in stride on a post pattern and the Dragons took the lead back at 27-26, which they never relinquished.
“We knew what kind of a ball game that we would be getting into,” Dodge said. “Coach Wager does an amazing job with those guys. They keep you on your heels for four quarters and that’s a really good football team that we just beat.”
Samson was his favorite target with 10 receptions for 168 yards and two TDs. Samson opened the scoring for Carroll with a 25-yard TD reception and Ewers hit Minnesota signee Brady Boyd (9 receptions, 78 yards) from 8 yards out to give the Dragons a 14-3 lead with 1:41 left in the first quarter.
Martin was poised to retake the lead after marching from its own 34 to the Carroll 23, but Dragons’ defensive back Parker Schnieders picked off a Warriors’ pass in the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter to end the threat
Carroll then took six minutes off the clock on the way to a 24-yard McFadden field goal to up the lead to 30-26. The Dragons were able to convert two fourth downs and one third down on the drive due to penalties on Martin.
Martin’s final drive started at the 3:20 mark of the fourth quarter. The Warriors converted a fourth-and-7 from the Carroll 35 with a 14-yard pass play from Javien Toviano to Ernest Cooper IV.
But the next four passes netted three yards with the final attempt being broken up by Schnieders and Carroll DB Logan Anderson at the goal line.
Toviano led all rushers with 107 yards on 12 carries. His 1-yard touchdown run and 2-point conversion run cut Carroll’s lead to 14-11 with 3:14 left in the first half.
“We just ran a football program in the middle of a pandemic and the worst humanity issue in my lifetime,” said Wager. “There’s a bond inside this locker room that defies normal society.
“I wish America could have an opportunity to be inside of this locker room right here because they would learn a lot about how to treat other human beings regardless of what they look like.”
This story was originally published December 25, 2020 at 12:14 PM.
