Southlake Carroll over Keller 26-21
The Southlake Carroll Dragons hung on to beat the Keller Indians 26 to 21 in front of a large homecoming crowd at Keller Stadium on Friday night. This was the first game of the season in which the Dragons turned to the run as their primary offensive weapon. Carroll ran for 245 yards while passing for only 95. Keller also made a significant change on offense by using their passing game (240 yards) to take charge in the second half.
Carroll’s offense was impressive in the first half. After scoring on a 20-yard run by Kenny Hill (Southlake QB) in the first quarter, the Dragons took over the game in the second. A 44-yard pass to Peyton Williams (Southlake Receiver), and a blocked punt for a touch back, put the Dragons ahead 16 to 0 with 8:35 remaining in the second quarter. Twenty-four seconds later, Hill breaks away for a 60-yard open field TD run to make it 23 to 0. With 4:42 remaining in the half, Carroll adds 3 more points off of a Drew Brown 33-yard field goal making the score 26 to 0. It looked like Keller was going to be blown out, until Davis Webb (Keller QB) hit Galen Etie for a 29-yard touchdown pass with 1:37 remaining in the 2nd quarter. At the half, Southlake was leading 26 to 7.
In the second half, Keller took control of the game using short passes mixed with play action runs. A long drive (10 plays/60 yards) in the third quarter and another (12 plays/80 yards) in the fourth quarter both culminated in Keller touchdowns. With 6:39 remaining in the 4th Qtr the score was 26 to 21. The Indian’s hope for an upset ended with 1:35 remaining as they failed to convert on fourth and one at the SLC 40 yard line. The Carroll offense ran the clock out to secure the 26 to 21 win.
The trend of not performing on offense in the second half continues to be a problem for Southlake. The Carroll offense had only 40 yards in the second half and couldn’t score. Kenny Hill (QB) led Southlake in rushing with 175 total yards, while Davis Webb (QB) had the most rushing yards (66) for Keller. Galen Etie had 8 receptions for 91 yards to lead Keller in receiving. Peyton Williams was the leading receiver for Southlake with 2 receptions for 47 yards. Southlake is 5-0 for the season and Keller drops to 1-4.
