Southlake Carroll 59-35 Trinity
Player of the Game: QB Quinn Ewers & WR Brady Boyd- These two were a dangerous tandem on Saturday morning as the Dragon passing attack lit up the Trinity defense. Ewers threw for more touchdowns than incompletions during the contest as he went 37 for 41 for 450 yards and six touchdowns. His favorite target on the day was Minnesota commit Brady as the two combined for 17 completions for 261 yards and four touchdowns, powering Carroll to an impressive victory as it earned its first semifinal berth since 2011.
Play of the Game: With just under five minutes to go in the second quarter, Trinity had cut Southlake Carroll’s lead to 28-14 after fullback Joseph Luna rumbled for a 46-yard touchdown. It took just 1:50 for Carroll to answer. Brady Boyd got behind his man, checked up just a bit to haul in Ewers’ pass, and shrugged off an attempted Trinity tackler for a 59-yard score to restore Southlake Carroll’s 21-point advantage. That touchdown proved key as Carroll was able to hold Trinity at arm’s length throughout the rest of the game en route to a 24-point victory.
Ewers’ 59-yard TD pass to Boyd (Courtesy of Nolan Ruth): https://twitter.com/RealNolanRuth/status/1345429068091686916
Story of the Game: Trinity was always playing from behind in this one as Carroll jumped out to a 21-0 lead thanks to a rushing touchdown by sophomore Owen Allen and two passing touchdowns by Ewers, including a perfect 33-yard touchdown pass to Boyd down the sideline.
Trinity’s star running back Ollie Gordon did his best to keep his team in it by responding with a 75-yard touchdown run. Gordon finished the game with 204 yards rushing, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Carroll’s passing attack.
Ewers and Boyd responded to Gordon’s 75-yard scamper with two touchdowns completions, either side of Luna’s 46-yard touchdown for Trinity. One came on a screen pass from 11 yards out before the aforementioned 59-yard bomb behind the Trinity defense gave Carroll a 35-14 lead with time in the first half running out.
Trinity did get a late touchdown back in the second quarter as quarterback Valentino Foni squeezed a ball through the Carroll defense to his receiver Pofele Ashlock for a 13-yard score, but a field goal to end the half and an 11-yard touchdown pass from Ewers to his receiver Landon Samson on a comeback route five minutes gave Carroll a convincing 45-21 lead with just under seven minutes left in the third quarter.
From there, the teams traded scores as Gordon added a four-yard touchdown run and a 95-yard kickoff return, while Allen had another touchdown run and Boyd caught a five yard out route for a score to complete the 59-35 victory.
After this impressive victory, Carroll will need every bit of its explosive offense next week in the semi-finals when it takes on powerhouse Duncanville for a spot in the state title game.
