Our second game of the UIL Texas High School Quarter-Finals had us back at Apogee Stadium in Denton. The Southlake Carroll Dragons hosted the Allen Eagles in a clash of two blue blood Texas high school programs. The Dragons defense is coming in extremely hot after shutting out Lewisville High School 52-0 last week. As a unit they have held their opponent under 13 points on average. Allen’s offense was able to hang up 59 points on Euless Trinity High School last week, and are coming in feeling good as well.
On the very first play of the game sophomore quarterback, Michael Hawkins Jr, took the ball 75-yards for the touchdown. Just like that the game was 7-0, and Allen looked ready for a good one. The Dragons started the game off looking a little rusty with a quick three and out. Luckily for Southlake their defense was able to keep Allen from making it a two score lead, and got the ball back for Riley Dodge & Co.
Owen Allen started off Southlake’s second drive with a big run to get into Eagle territory. A few plays later Kaden Anderson would connect with Landon Samson on a 20-yard touchdown pass to tie the game. That pass would be set up by a toe dragging catch from RJ Maryland near the 20-yard line.
With a little more than six minutes left in the first quarter the game was tied but that wouldn’t last long. On Allen’s next drive Hawkins would have his pass tipped into Avyonne Jones hands who would then take the interception all the way for the score. Suddenly the Dragons had scored 14 points in less than 30 seconds, and now carried the lead with 5:34 left in the 1st quarter.
The ensuing drive for Allen was stretched out with a ton of plenties being called late in the drive. Carroll’s defense repeatedly stepped up to the plate, and did a great job at finding the ball carrier. After finally forcing the Eagles to punt, Southlake got right back to work picking up big chunk plays.
Sophomore wide out Jacob Jordan took a jet sweep nearly 50 yards to set up the Dragons with great field position. Once they got in the red zone it turned into the Owen Allen show. He received three handoffs in a row, and punched in his first touchdown of the day on his third attempt. That would now make the score 21-7 with 11:51 left in the half.
Allen would get the ball back but only for a few plays. Jordyn Tyson would receive a short screen pass near the 50-yard line but have the ball punched out of his arms. Southlake Carroll would recover, and get back to work with 9:38 left in the half.
Kaden Anderson would complete a pass to Jacob Jordan to help the Dragons move down the field. Then a few plays later Anderson would take the ball himself inside the Allen five-yard line. As you could imagine, Coach Dodge then let Owen Allen take over once again, punching in another touchdown.
Southlake’s defense made quick work of Allen once again forcing them to punt. The Dragons methodically pushed the ball down the field in less than five minutes to score once again. With 2:18 left in the half Owen Allen found the endzone one more time to put the Dragons up 34-7.
At this point Chad Morris’s offense was in a sticky situation and really had to force deep shots to cover the field. Michael Hawkins connected with Jordyn Tyson for a huge gain to help the Eagles score before halftime. Jacob Brasher came down with a seven-yard touchdown pass with 25 seconds left in the half. This would make our score 34-14 at halftime.
The entire third quarter both teams were held scoreless. On the first play of the fourth quarter however Kaden Anderson would take the read option for himself and skip into the endzone. At this point the game was 40-14, and the Dragons were simply just running the clock away. Allen and Southlake would both score one more time before the game would finish; giving us a final score of 47-21.
Carroll’s offense was phenomenal as usual, scoring 34 unanswered points after the opening snap. Owen Allen had 30 touches for 143 yards and three rushing touchdowns. Kaden Anderson threw for 156 yards and a touchdown pass while Michael Hawkins had nearly 400 total yards and two touchdowns. Colorado commit Jordyn Tyson finished the day with six catches for 158 yards as well.
Next week Southlake Carroll will face off against Duncanville High School in a rematch of last year’s state semi-finals. The Dragons walked out victorious last year so you know the Panthers are itching for revenge. Also be sure to check out our first game of our Week 15 coverage as Celina High School walked all over Aubrey High School.
