Southlake Carroll takes down Byron Nelson in workman-like fashion to open district play

On the same night that Southlake Carroll coach Riley Dodge was named the Executive Director of Athletics for the Carroll ISD, the Dragons took care of business on the football field.

Trophy Club Byron Nelson jumped out to a quick lead, but Carroll rebounded then controlled the second half to subdue the Bobcats 33-21 in a District 4-6A game on Friday night at Dragon Stadium.

Byron Nelson (2-1 overall, 0-1 District 4-6A), ranked No. 22 in the state in Class 6A by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football and No. 3 in the Star-Telegram Class 6A Area Rankings , took the opening kick and drove it down the throat of the Dragons’ defense marching 81 yards in 12 plays.

The Bobcats converted three third downs on the drive that was capped with a six-yard scoring run by running back Tucker James that gave Nelson a 7-0 lead with 7:30 left in the first quarter.

Carroll (3-0, 1-0), which comes in at No. 7 in the state in 6A and No. 2 in the area according to the Star-Telegram, answered right away going on an eight-play, 75-yard drive of its own.

A 21-yard run by Davis Penn gave the Dragons a first down at the Byron 25 and four plays later Penn took a swing pass in the right flat from quarterback Angelo Renda and raced the eight yards for the score to tie the game 7-7 with 4:04 left in the opening quarter.

Penn is one of five Dragon players that made it on to the Star-Telegram Top 100 Players in the area. Penn, who had 85 rushing yards on 14 carries and the one TD reception, comes in at No. 7 on the list and is headed to Baylor.

Byron had defeated Carroll in district play, 34-17, last season to take the district title and that was not lost on the Dragons.

“That was on our mind 100 percent,” said Carroll defensive end/tight end Jack Van Dorselaer, a Tennessee commit who plays both ways for the Dragons. “We did come back and win pretty good in the playoffs (56-7 in the state semifinals), but they took that district title from us and we all want that back.

“This was definitely a big game for us and we set the tone early with a practice on Monday. We knew what we had to do and we put in the work. That’s how we won, that’s why we won, it wasn’t anything else except the work.”

Both teams played well, but a couple of key mistakes by Byron Nelson opened the door for Carroll to race out to a 23-7 lead. A fumble on the Bobcats’ second series was recovered Dragon linebacker Marcus Brouse at the Carroll 26.

Riley Wormley, No. 10 in the Top 100 and a University of Southern California commit, capitalized on the turnover with a 35-yard scoring run to give Carroll a 14-7 lead at the 8:44 mark of the second quarter. Dragon sophomore Blake Gunter made it 16-7 when he darted in and blocked a Byron punt on the Bobcats ensuing series that rebounded out of the end zone for a safety.

Following the Bobcats’ free kick to Carroll, the Dragons took only four plays to score. Renda found wide out Luc Jaquemard streaking down the left sideline and hit him for a 50-yard score to put Carroll up 23-7 with 4:40 left in the second quarter.

Renda finished with 165 yards passing completing 13 of 18 tosses. Jaquemard had four receptions for 81 yards and TCU commit Brock Boyd caught four passes for 38 yards.

Byron need a spark and got it just before the half. Running back Tucker James gained 36 yards to the Carroll 39 where a personal foul penalty was added on against the Dragons moving the ball to the 24.

Six plays later Sean Robinson carried it in from three yards out for the Bobcats to cut the lead to 23-14 with 1:28 left before the intermission.

But it was all Carroll after the break. The Dragons used its offensive line of Luke Wilson, Trent Wilson, Carey Clayton, Nathan Domeracki and Tristan Dare to manhandle the Bobcats defense and control the clock.

The Dragons took 5:19 off the clock to open the third quarter before Clark Lemmermann booted a 30-yard field goal to put Carroll up 26-14. In the fourth quarter the Dragons got a two-yard scoring run from Wormley with 3:32 left after taking five more minutes off the clock.

“I just want to talk up my offensive linemen,” said Wormley, who picked up 140 yards on the ground on 18 carries and caught three passes for 28 yards. “The work they put in this week, and every week, really showed tonight. The effort they had was amazing.

“I feel like coming into this week we had a great game plan and really just working like we did Monday through Thursday was what made the difference.”

Byron had only three possessions in the second half, losing the ball on downs once, punting and then getting a 43-yard scoring pass from quarterback Grant Bizjack to Ezra Malamura with 49 seconds left. Bizjack was a stellar 16 of 18 passing for 199 yards for the Bobcats with Leo Almanza, a Baylor commit, catching seven passes for 61 yards.

The duo of Tucker James (nine carries for 84 yards) and Sean Robinson (14 carries for 47 yards) at running back for Byron Nelson proved to be formidable, but the Carroll defense was up to the task.

“Defensively I thought we made some big stops in key spots when it really mattered,” said Dodge. “Offensively we scored on every drive but one tonight.

“We limited their drives and really wanted to lean on them in the second half. I’m proud of our young, inexperienced offensive line and they grew up a little tonight.”

Dodge served as Carroll’s athletic coordinator and will now step into a position that oversees all athletic programs at Carroll ISD. Dodge is taking over as executive director for Steve Keasler, who is joining the University of North Texas’ staff as an associate director for name, image and likeness, or NIL.

The Dragon athletic program was the 2023 winners of the Lone Star Cup which is awarded annually by the University Interscholastic League to six high schools, one in each of the six UIL classifications (1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A and 6A), based on their team performance in district and state championships.

Dodge hopes to continue that program-wide success.

“I’m so excited about the opportunity to help lead this athletic department,” said Dodge. “Continue to lead and build upon what Steve Keasler did and all the ADs before him as well.”

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