Go Friday Night

Southlake Carroll, Abilene High Round 2

By
November 20, 2005

By now you all know it is official. The Southlake Carroll Dragons and the Abilene High Eagles have made it to the third round of the playoffs again and for the second year in a row will face off against each other. Texas High School Football, which is the best in the nation period, has had many a storied match ups through the years. The game last season was the first match up between the two schools and instantly became known as one of the classic games of high school football in Texas. Carroll won that game by the score of 35-30 in Texas Stadium before a very large crowd of people. I still to this day refuse to say the Eagles lost, only that we were outscored. I have never whined about the fact that the Eagles were banged up that day especially on defense. Had they fielded a healthy team that day, SLC would not have advanced. I don’t know that Abilene High would have gone on to win a state championship but I know in my heart we would have won that game. SLC did indeed win the State Championship for the second time in three years. The year they didn’t win they lost to Katy by a single point in the finals.

That was then and this is now . Last year’s contest is history. We will never know for sure if things would have been different or not. SLC, like this year’s edition of the Abilene High Eagles, have been compared all year long to their respective teams from the year before. Depending on who you visit with you will hear that neither team is as good as last year’s team. That may well be the case. You can only compare them against each other in your mind. Yes there are players on both teams that played last year but there are many from both teams that have graduated. I tell you this without a doubt in my mind, both are very good. You can not be 12-0 and not have some good things going on.

SLC opened their season right here in Abilene at Shotwell Stadium by beating Midland Lee. They looked very good and they have shown improvement over the course of the season. They have not been seriously challenged all year. Grapevine perhaps gave them their toughest game. Last season SLC was know for being an offensive powerhouse. Little has changed this season. Often times people tend to forget about the Dragon defense. They never received the attention they deserved last year until they were able to lift the Championship trophy over their heads. This season has been pretty much the same thing. Everyone worries, rightfully so, how to stop the Southlake Carroll offense but I tell you they come as a packaged deal. They have a fantastic defense.

What about Abilene High you ask? The Eagles have won 12 games and some were my the skin of their teeth. 12-0 anyway you slice it. The offense has looked great at times and less than great at times. The Abilene High D has performed very solid all season, Without their solid performances, there would be no 12-0 record. That is not to say they have carried the team with the word team being the key word in that sentence.

Abilene High can beat SLC. I am not saying they will beat SLC but only that they can. A win by Abilene High will mean that the Offense hits on all cylinders and that we have no turnovers and few if any penalties. The better the ground game does the better the Eagles chances are of winning this game. Ball control and time management are the keys on offense. Abilene High’s passing game is a thing of beauty and they will complete passes. It goes without saying that the Offensive Line which has been stellar all season will have their biggest challenge of the season ahead of them opening holes for the running backs and protecting the quarterback when we pass.

The Defense will have to play aggressively and with emotion. More so than against Weatherford in the Bi-District game and I thought that was the most aggressive I had seen them all year. The pass defense must stop the awesome passing game of SLC. It will not stop there. The Eagles will have to shut down a powerful ground game as well. I don’t think the Eagles or any other team shuts down the ground or passing game of SLC. They must limit them as much as possible.

Special teams will have to be more than special. We will need to kick the ball deep on kickoffs. Deep as in no returns. Make SLC look at 80 yards every time they start a drive. Punts. NO blocked kicks. Field position will mean everything in this game. Kickoff returns will be crucial. The Eagles must make good judgments on handling the return chores. It sounds like what I am asking of the Eagles is to play a perfect game without any type of mistakes. That my friends is pretty much exactly what it will take for the Eagles to win. I have said all along if you want to be the best you have to beat the best. Right now, that opportunity is squarely in the hands of the Abilene High Eagles. I believe that this coaching staff and the players and the fans have waited for one year to have this opportunity again. The challenge is there. Do you accept?

Thanksgiving weekend and the Eagles are still playing football. That is a small reason to be thankful. We have so much more to be thankful for. Many a mile has been logged following the Eagles this season and as far as I know we have all been safe. Let’s keep it that way. Friday night 7:30 PM, Floyd Casey Stadium in Waco, Texas, Abilene High against the defending State Champion Southlake Carroll Dragons. Can it get any better than that?

GO EAGLES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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