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Football: Dragons set to begin title defense
By Justin Thomas, jthomas@starlocalnews.com
Entering its 2011 campaign, Southlake Carroll’s football team brought back loads of experienced talent but was breaking in a relatively inexperienced quarterback in junior Kenny Hill.
Three months later, behind Hill’s emergence, the Dragons were hoisting the state championship trophy at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.
Now, with Hill — last year’s District 7-5A Co-Offensive MVP — at the helm for his senior campaign, the Dragons have little question about the quarterback position. Instead, Carroll has plenty of other holes to fill as the team seeks to repeat as state champ.
“We’re excited about the challenge facing Allen and it should be an electric atmposphere,” said Hal Wasson, Carroll head coach. “But we invest a lot of time on the mindset for a game and put an emphasis on the importance of every game. We try to avoid adding any extra stress on a single game. We have to be focused and have an attention to detail every week.”
Wasson believes that focus leads to consistency and is one of the reasons he is optimistic entering the year. But he realizes the opener against Allen is just the start of a long journey.
“Our goal is to get better each week and be playing our best football late in the season,” he said. “This is a great opportunity to see where we are as a football team, to gain experience and to see where we need to make improvements.”
The Dragons open the season following productive spring and fall practices, despite the absence of Hill and others during the spring as he competed in the baseball playoffs.
“It went well,” Wasson said. “But we know we have a lot of work to do. Our scrimmage last week showed a lot and we need to find more consistency on the offensive end. Better blocking, better route running. Things that are very typical for this part of the year.
“Defensively, we need to get a lot better at tackling. We’re going to get better there, but we also need to play with more energy and more intensity.”
On the offensive side, Hill returns following a season in which he completed 63 percent of his attempts for 3,006 yards and 25 touchdowns. He also chipped in 1,383 yards and 24 touchdowns on the ground.
“Kenny had a good, solid camp,” Wasson said. “He just has to get out there and skake the rust off. He’s missed spring and anytime you are off for that long, it takes a little longer to get in rhythm. He’s making strides, though.”
Getting Hill back in practice had extra importance as Carroll is breaking in an inexperienced set of receivers, including Luke Timian, Mike Gardiner and Ryan Weigel on the inside, and Keaton Duhon, Caden Carlton, Derek McLemore and Joe Heineman outside.
“They’re all new,” Wasson said. “But it’s a group I am excited about. I really like the work ethic I’ve seen and I think it’s an area where we have a lot of depth. They just need to get out there and gain experience and confidence.”
Experience is not an issue in the backfield where AJ Ezzard (684 yards, 4.96 yards per carry, seven touchdowns) and Steven Bergmark (410 yards, 6.2 yards per carry, four touchdowns) return.
“We’ve seen a lot of good things there,” Wasson said. “But we have to get better with our blocking from our backs and it is an area where we have some depth concerns.”
On the line, Carroll returns a pair of starters.
“Like a lot of the positions, they are shaking the rust off and just need to play more,” Wasson said. “But I’m confident it’s going to be a good group and they’re going to get more physical as the season goes on. Depth and experience is a bit of an issue there, so we need to stay healthy.”
On the defensive side, the Dragons feature a strong and deep defensive front led by returning starter Nash Dickey. Dickey will be joined on the front by Connor Page and Joseph Depinto.
Perhaps the biggest shoes to fill are at linebacker where leader Will Davis is gone and the Dragons are breaking in four new starters.
“They’re new to Friday nights,” Wasson said. “But they’re improving quickly. They have all of the physical tools, it’s just a matter of getting that experience where you can read what is happening and react quicker.”
The anchor of Carroll’s defense comes in the secondary, where Tanner Jacobson is back.
“It all starts with him,” Wasson said. “He does a great job and is the quarterback of the defense.”
Aaron Hoagland handles the other safety position, while Ray Crockett and Adaryan Jones will start at cornerback.
“We’re young in the secondary and don’t have a lot of experience after our starters,” Wasson said. “They’re kind of getting thrown in the frying pan. But they’re talented and they make plays.
“Our defense is always geared up to stop the run first. Then we defend the pass. But so far, I’ve liked the work ethic I’ve seen from the team. We just need to up that intensity and play more physical.”
Carroll is also sound in the kicking game as all three of its specialists return, including kickers Drew Brown and Ty Cummings and punter Sam Downey.
“We like what we have there,” Wasson said. “All three guys did a great job of filling their role last year and will have the same roles this season.”
The Dragons should be plenty intense for the opener Friday against Allen.
“They a good team,” Wasson said. “I think their strength is probably their big, strong front. And they have good running backs and an athletic quarterback behind them. On defense, they’re a good tackling team and they have a solid secondary. We’re very excited and we know we’re going to have to be at our very best.”
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