Ewers, Boyd have career games as Southlake Carroll punches ticket to state semifinals
Quinn Ewers has had some big games in his Southlake Carroll career that it’s hard to imagine he could top one incredible performance after another.
But that’s why he’s the No. 1 rated high school recruit in the country.
Oh, and he’s committed to Ohio State.
Ewers, a 5-star junior, had a career day throwing for 450 yards on 37 of 41 passes and six touchdowns as the Dragons beat Euless Trinity, 59-35, on Saturday at Globe Life Park.
Carroll (11-1) advances to the Class 6A Division 1 state semifinals, the program’s first semifinal berth since winning a state championship in 2011. The Dragons will face No. 2 Duncanville at 3 p.m. Saturday back at GLP.
Carroll had lost in the fourth round each of the past three seasons, including to Duncanville in 2018 and 2019.
“We’ve hit that wall as a program winning that big game and being in the final four in the state of Texas in Class 6A Division 1, it’s everything for us,” Carroll coach Riley Dodge said. “It’s a young group that continues to answer the bell. We talked about it all week that it’s kind of a defining moment for us even though we have a historically rich program.”
Added Carroll receiver and Minnesota signee Brady Boyd, “To finally break through that and accomplish going to the fifth round and final four in Texas, that’s something we’ve been looking forward to all year.”
Trinity, with its deepest playoff run since 2017, ends at 11-2.
The Dragons started on fire with a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. They scored on the game’s opening drive in less than a minute while Owen Allen scored on a 3-yard TD run. Carroll held Trinity to a three-and-out and five plays later, Ewers hit Landon Samson on an 18-yard score midway through the first quarter.
Samson finished with 135 yards and two TDs, and a career-high 14 receptions.
“Landon is one person that isn’t being talked about and him and Brady Boyd are like twins. They’re great route runners,” Dodge said. “Landon is a Division 1 football player and he’ll get a lot of looks in the off-season.”
Ewers completed his first 15 pass attempts.
Trinity came away with no points on its next drive that took 14 plays and over six minutes and Carroll took advantage when it went up three TDs on Ewers’ 35-yard pass to Boyd with eight minutes left in the half.
“We had a good game plan going in and we felt we could attack them in different ways,” Dodge said. “We continue to score on the first drive of the game and that hot start, going up 21-0, really helped us.”
Ewers and Boyd connected on TDs from 11 and 59 yards on the next two Carroll drives and Joe McFadden (Connecticut) booted a 32-yard field goal to give the Dragons a 38-21 lead at intermission.
Boyd had 233 yards in the first half, already setting a career high (previous, 211). The 3-star receiver finished the game with 17 catches, 261 yards and four TDs (all career marks).
The Trojans did everything they could to stay in the game, led by junior running back Ollie Gordon, who was voted Star-Telegram high school male athlete of the year in 2020.
Gordon rushed 50 times for 460 yards and six TDs in the regional semifinal against Allen.
On Saturday, Gordon got into the end zone from 75 yards out to bring the score to 21-7 in the second quarter. Trinity faked a toss to Gordon and full back Joseph Luna took the hand-off 46 yards for a TD to make it 28-14 with under five minutes to go before the break.
Trailing 35-14, Trinity scored on its third consecutive drive as QB Valentino Foni hit Pofele Ashlock on a 13-yard strike with 37 seconds left on the clock. The Trojans had a chance to cut it to 38-28 on the opening drive of the third quarter, but they punted after a three-and-out.
Carroll, again, capitalized when it took the ensuing possession 56 yards on eight plays and Ewers hit Samson for an 11-yard TD to extend the lead to 45-21 midway through the third quarter.
“Brady and I both spread the field pretty good. We both have speed on the outside and that’s pretty hard to cover,” Samson said. “Almost always demands a double team, but if they do that then it opens up our run with Owen Allen, who’s just having a monster year so far.”
Trinity finally made a stop on defense when Jacob Schaeffer, one of the heroes against Allen, picked off a pass attempt and returned it 53 yards to the Carroll 31. The Trojans scored three plays later on a Gordon 4-yard run with 2:08 left in the third.
The Dragons then embarked on a 16-play, 75-yard drive and Allen capped it off with a 1-yard score. Carroll’s final score came on Ewers’ 5-yard pass to Boyd with 2:04 left in the game.
“The connection is always there,” Boyd said. “He’s always putting it on a dime no matter what route you’re running.”
Boyd’s score came after Gordon returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown.
Gordon finished with 23 carries for a game-high 204 yards and two TDs.
“This group is a very different group. It’s a Trinity team I hadn’t seen before,” Gordon said. “Most of our line will be back so we’re good. Our quarterback, full back, tight end and receivers will be missed.”
Carroll out-gained Trinity 607-343 in total yards. Allen rushed 30 times for 159 yards and two TDs.
Allan Kleiman picked off a late pass attempt for the Dragons.
Ewers’ career-highs included completions, completion percentage, passing yards and passing TDs. It was his first game with 400 yards. Boyd’s previous highs were 211 yards (Week 1 vs. Rockwall-Heath) and 11 catches (last season against Duncanville).
“It’s awesome to come out here. We haven’t been this far in awhile. Just a great team win,” Ewers said. “We have our chemistry going on in practice and we take practice very seriously like it’s a game. We want to win during the week and that’s our motto. We call this recess because we come out here and play ball.”
This story was originally published January 2, 2021 at 4:29 PM.
