Southlake Carroll football cruises past Highland Park, advances to state quarterfinals

Southlake Carroll jumped out to an early lead behind a strong running game and a swarming defense before coasting to a 45-14 win over Highland Park in a Class 6A Division 2 regional-round game on Friday at Choctaw Stadium.

Carroll (12-1), No. 3 in the final Star-Telegram Class 6A rankings and No. 10 in the state according to Dave Campbell’s Class 6A state poll, will meet either district foe Trophy Club Nelson (12-0) or No. 19 (state) Coppell (12-0) in the state quarterfinals next week. Nelson, No. 1 in the S-T rankings and No. 7 in the state, gave Carroll its only loss of the season, handling the Dragons 34-17 on October 27.

“We don’t look ahead, obviously, for a game and we’ll take whatever we get, but obviously we would love the opportunity to go back and write our wrongs against Nelson,” said Carroll quarterback Graham Knowles who threw for 132 yards completing nine of 16 passes. “Ever since that moment (when we lost) we’ve had a bit of a chip on our shoulder and we’ve regrouped and reloaded.”

In the four games since the Dragons lost to Byron Nelson, Carroll has outscored its opponents 227-28 or by a 57-7 average margin.

Carroll jumped out to a quick 21-0 lead, scoring touchdowns on each of its first three possessions. It took the Dragons three plays to light up the scoreboard after Highland Park’s opening series ended in a punt.

Quarterback Graham Knowles found Jack Van Dorselaer in the right flat and Van Dorselaer weaved his way to the end zone from 33 yards out.

A blocked punt by Carroll’s Sam Fuller ended the Scots next series at the Highland Park three yard line. On the ensuing play Davis Penn bulled up the middle for the TD to up the lead to 14-0 with 6:47 left in the first quarter.

“Coach just drew up a great game plan,” said Fuller, a defensive back. “We saw one of the blockers with down blocks and I could just come in off the edge and it was just there for me. All credit to my coaches.”

Penn and backfield mate Riley Wormley alternate series at running back to stay fresh for the Dragon’s offensive line that plowed the way for 357 rushing yards on 31 attempts. Penn finished with 211 yards rushing on 13 carries and Wormley went for 124 yards on 11 totes.

“I ran with a lot of confidence behind our game plan and good things happened,” said Penn. “We we’re firing on all cylinders. We have great team chemistry and everything just matched up perfectly.”

Highland Park (11-2) did manage to get its offense on track and moved from its own 25 to the Carroll seven yard line, but a sack by Dragon defensive lineman Dustan Mark pushed the Scots back to the 17 where a 34-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right.

The Carroll offense went back to work with Knowles hitting Wormley on consecutive pass plays of 21 and 19 yards down to the Highland Park 42. Two plays later Knowles found Brock Boyd down the right sideline for a 26-yard score and Carroll led 21-0 with 11:54 left before halftime.

Things got a little frenetic in the last two minutes before the intermission. Highland Park was driving, but Trey Ferri punched the ball loose from a Scot running back at the Carroll 10 yard line where Mark fell on it for the Dragons.

On the ensuing play, Penn went over right tackle, untouched, and outraced the HP secondary for a 90-yard score to make it 28-0 with 1:38 left in the second quarter.

“You really have to thank the o-linemen for that one because I don’t even think that I got touched,” said Penn. “That’s really what a running back prays for and it was perfect.

“We’re really playing off of each other’s energy and once you break three scores and get that fourth score that’s when you start to feel them ease off. So I really feel like that was a huge tempo and momentum change for the game and that really set the tone going into halftime.”

Highland Park finally got on the board thanks to a 41-yard gain on a pass play from quarterback Parker Thompson to Charles Schneider that gave the Scots a first down at the Carroll 34. Three plays later Thompson hit Canon Spackman with a 30-yard scoring pass, just over the shoulder of a Carroll defender, to make it 28-7 with 44 second left in the half.

But Carroll wasn’t done either. Wormley returned the kickoff 22 yards to the Carroll 39, then took it to the house off right tackle for a 61-yard touchdown to push the lead back to 28 at 35-7 with 27 ticks left in the second quarter.

Carroll got a seven-yard touchdown run from Penn and a 42-yard field goal by Kyle Lemmermann in the third quarter to up the lead to 45-7 before Carroll coach Riley Dodge substituted liberally in the fourth period.

The Dragons’ defense was stellar allowing 126 rushing yards on 28 carries, 67 of which came on a run by Wilson Axley midway through the third quarter. Axley broke free, but was chased down by Carroll defensive back Zack Engelhardt who punched the ball free from Axley just before he crossed the goal line and Austin Davidge fell on the loose ball in the end zone for a touchback.

Take out the 67-yard run and Carroll would have allowed 59 yards on 27 carries (2.2 yards/carry) for the game.

“That was the big thing, we had to stop the run and make them throw the football,” said Dodge, who was very concerned with Highland Park quarterback Parker Thompson, a familiar face. “Parker was a Carroll Dragon last year so we know what his strengths are and he’s an electric runner. He can really run and is probably one of the fastest guys on the field.”

Thompson was only able to pick up 23 yards on the ground on 14 attempts, but Carroll was forced to use speedy, athletic linebacker Eric Garza, a converted defensive back, as a spy on Thompson which worked perfectly.

Thompson was under constant pressure from the Dragons’ defensive line and linebackers which led to a 15 of 33 passing night for 190 yards.

“We have game-day expectations and number one and number two is to kill the will and to go full speed for seven seconds,” said Dodge. “And I felt that out of my team all night.”

This story was originally published November 25, 2023 at 3:03 AM.