Southlake Carroll Wins State Championship
Two local high school’s won state championships in front of over 40,000 fans at Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Saturday. Aledo’s 49 to 28 win over Manvel earned them a third consecutive state championship and continued dominance of 4A Division II Texas High School football. At the same venue, in 5A Division I action, Southlake Carroll defeated Fort Bend Hightower by a score of 36 to 29. This is Southlake’s eighth state title, which ties Celina for the most in Texas. In addition to seeing two local schools win state titles, fans witnessed a national record being set. Running back Johnathan Gray, of Aledo, scored his 205th career touchdown, which is the most ever by a high school player.
In the Aledo vs. Manvel game, Aledo controlled the first two quarters and at halftime was leading 28 to 7. Under the passing arm of quarterback Shane McCarley, Manvel, was able to pull within seven points with 1:45 remaining in the third quarter. However, this was short lived. On their next series, Aledo began on their own ten yard line and marched down the field to score as time expired in the third quarter. At the start of the fourth quarter, Aledo was leading 35 to 21. Manvel would once again pull to within seven points after a 45 yard pass completion to Austin Bennett. But Aledo was not to be denied. Two more touchdowns by Aledo sealed the victory and third state title. Aledo’s star running back, Johnathan Gray averaged 8 yards per carry for a total of 241 yards and a record breaking touchdown. Aledo also had 186 yards in the air with Pate Davis as their leading receiver. Manvel had 393 total yards (143 rushing and 250 passing). Their leading rusher was quarterback Shane McCarley and leading receiver was Austin Bennett.
In the Southlake vs. Hightower title game, neither team could pull away from the other. At the end
of the first quarter, FBH was trailing SLC by 8 to 6, with FBH dominating the running game and SLC controlling the air. At halftime, FBH had taken the lead by a score of 16 to 14. It appeared as if neither defense was going to get a stop in the third quarter as both teams exchanged early touchdowns. Southlake regained the lead (28 to 23) with 2:49 remaining in the third quarter after a 25 yard pass from QB Kenny Hill to receiver Corey Kemp. But, Fort Bend Hightower quickly answered with a 80-yard run by Bralon Addison to give FBH a 29 to 28 lead with 2:32 left in the third.
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At the beginning of the fourth quarter it was still anyone’s game. But the Southlake defense stepped up their intensity and was able to hold FBH scoreless. With 9:18 remaining in the game, SLC scored off of a 6-yard run by QB Kenny Hill to give them a 36 to 29 lead (after a two point conversion). This would turn out to be the final score.
Kenny Hill was the leading rusher for Southlake with 116-yards, and Bralon Addison was the leading rusher for Fort Bend Hightower. On the receiving side, Sabian Holmes lead Southlake with 138-yards and Ryan Nelson for FBH with 43-yards.
Even though the Southlake and Fort Bend Hightower game was very close throughout, the final statistics show that Southlake had better results in all of the key areas. Southlake had the most total offense yards, more first downs, slightly greater time of possession, and more third down conversions. Both teams played well and it lived up to its billing of a championship game.
