Dear Dragons,

What a festive week we have upon us. Soon there will be a new Homecoming King & Queen, a new class of Hall of Honors members to induct and 6 Dragon sports just keep rolling along. I can't give all the fun away so read today.

On Friday, Oct. 9th the 2015 Hall of Honor class will be inducted at Dragon Stadium at half time.

This stellar class is a wide ranging group as always. Two former football lettermen will join in former Heisman finalist Chase Daniel and multi sport star and multi year starter Aaron Luna. Former Carroll football head coach Todd Dodge joins the class. He led Southlake Carroll to 4 straight titles in 5 years and a 79-1 run. Kristi Eveland starred on Matt Colvin's Lady Dragon Soccer team and went on to become a National Champion at North Carolina. Athletic supporter E.L "Shup" Shuping will join the ranks as well. His contributions to the Dragon program are too numerous to list here. In the early days of Dragon football the program could not have survived without his assistance. Colby Lowe will also join the group. He was simply dominate during his time, spear heading the CXC machine. 

FOOTBALL:

Any time a one loss Southlake team travels to Coppell to open its district play you just know it is going to be good. This game did not disappoint. In fact it had everything. The home team raced out to an unbelievable start to take a 14-0 lead and eventually leads 24-7 near the end of the 3rd quarter before the visiting team responds. The visiting white clad Dragons could have so easily thrown in the towel, called it a night, surrender to adversity - pick your cliche here. But that is simply not the history of this rivalry. Zach Farrar caught 2 of his 3 touchdown passes in the 2nd half - one a 75 yard gallop to put the Dragons back in the game. The 2nd cut the lead to 24-21 with just minutes remaining in regulation. And from the I told you this game had everything department - the Dragon offense worked a textbook 2 minute drive which ended in a field goal by Kole Ramage with 12 seconds remaining in the game to knot the score at 24. But a closer look tells you that holder Montana Murphy might have saved the night by scooping up the hold and placing it on the tee. This set the stage for much overtime drama. 

Coppell drew first overtime blood on a running play by their running back, #22 Rice. The extra point was good and Coppell surged again to a 31-24 lead. The Dragon offense drove promptly to the Coppell 7 yard line, but a stiff Coppell defense made its biggest 3 plays of the night, setting up a 4th and goal from the Coppell 7. One more stop would have made it a very sad night indeed. Enter senior receiver Kam Duhon. Mason Holmes took the snap and surveyed the field. With all hope dwindling quickly Duhon ran a "button route" and scooped up a perfect dart in the back of the end zone. Mason Holmes' 4th touchdown pass on the night extended the game to a 2nd overtime. This time the Dragons drew first blood on a touchdown run by Lil'Jordan Humphrey. The extra point was good and the Dragons led 38-31. Everything looks comfy, right? Not so fast. Back down the field came the Cowboys who instantly answered with what could have been the tieing touchdown. But wait, there is a pause as Coppell calls timeout and elected to go for 2. QB McBride takes the snap, runs to the right straight into the waiting arms of Robert Barnes. Ball game 38-37 SLC. The 4th straight win since the Westlake loss and the first in 7-6A play. 

The team is now 1-0 in district play and 4-1 overall. And yes we actually get to play a home game this week. Its Homecoming in fact. Richland (3-3, 2-0) will compete in Dragon Stadium on Friday at 7:30pm. 

Tickets will be on sale Thursday from 8-4 at Dragon Stadium and Friday from 8-noon. They will be on sale at CSHS & CHS on Thursday during lunch. Prices are $6.00 Adult and $4.00 Students and will be $8.00 at the gate. Parking $3.00.

Metro Sports is back for their 13th season as the official broadcast home of your Southlake Carroll Dragons. As always Chuck Kelly will provide the play by play with Kelly Milligan providing color commentary. Travis Smith is Mr. Sidelines. The pre game one hour countdown to kickoff will begin at 6:30pm.

Follow the Dragons on Twitter @slcathletics and like us on Facebook at Southlake Carroll ISD Athletics. We will be live tweeting and you can follow the play-by-play on Facebook. 

VOLLEYBALL:

Lady Dragon Volleyball travelled to Coppell on Friday for its toughest 7-6A road trip so far. Coppell was once ranked #2 in the state early in the pre-season. The Lady Dragons set the tempo by winning the first set 26-24 and then totally dominating the 2nd set with a 25-5 obliteration. The Cowgirls re-asserted themselves in set 3 with a 20-25 victory which marked the 1st set the Lady Dragons had dropped in 7-6A play. The 4th set was fraught with drama as well as the Lady Dragons narrowly avoided being pushed to a 5th and deciding set with a 29-27 overtime victory. This resulted in a 3-1 win on the road.

They took on the Blue Raiders from LD Bell to open the 2nd half of district play. All things considered the Lady Dragons returned to their dominant form with a routine 3-0 victory. They remain perfect in 7-6A play with a 7-0 record. 

For their stellar week two Lady Dragons were named LoneStarVolleyball player of the week honorable mention. Halley Hallgren nearly received her 2nd player of the week nomination for the season as she registered 28 kills & 22 digs. Lisie Kit also picked up a honorable mention nod with 84 assists on the week.

Lady Dragon Volleyball is now 35-3 overall and 7-0 in district 7-6A play. 38 down and 5 to go in regular season play.  Up next LDVB host Richland on Friday, Oct. 9th at 6:30pm and then on Tuesday, Oct. 13th they travel to WG Thomas Coliseum to take on Haltom at 6:30pm. 

They remain #1 in the state this week for a 6th consecutive week in the TGCA poll and are #1 in the nation according to the MaxPreps Composite Computer Rankings. They are #2 in the TexasTop20 according to Lonestarvolleyball.com

CROSS COUNTRY:

Cross Country travelled to Fayettville, Arkansas and the Chili Pepper Festival. The Lady Dragon CXC took 1st place led by Alison Esparza in 4th and followed by Gillian Mortimer in 6th, Tig Archer in 9th, Ari Lopez in 12th & Sarah Odneal in 15th. 

The Dragons ran a very strong 2nd place overall but the main headline story was Reed Brown capturing the individual meet running the 10th fastest time in Chili Pepper history with 15:06. He was followed by Charlie Gardner in 12th, Michael Simcho in 19th, Shea Whatley in 29th & Nic Fernandes in 30th. 

Up next the out of state road swing continues as the top 14 boys & girls travel to the Clovis XC Invitational in Fresno, California on Saturday, Oct. 10th. 

TENNIS:

pionsportsradio.com/tea

Tennis challenged itself with the toughest non-district match possible, taking on #1 ranked in 6A Highland Park and falling 11-8. But never let it be said this Dragon Tennis group does not respond to adversity as they returned to 7-6A and in the famous words from the movie Bull Durham - they "announced their presence with authority" by shutting out Euless Trinity 24-0. They are now 12-4 on the year and still undefeated in district play at a sparkling 5-0. They will step away one final time from 7-6A on Saturday, Oct. 10th at 8am by hosting WF Rider. They finish the regular season on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at Coppell at 4pm. 

GOLF:

The Dragon Green team made its debut at the Lantana Golf course in a tourney hosted by Denton Guyer. They took 1st place with a team of Young, Sorenson, Fisher, Perkins & Sargent. 

The Boys Black Golf team headed to the state preview at Wolfdancer GC and gained valuable experience with a 4th place finish. 

The Lady Dragons Black team teed-off their season at the Swing for the Cure tournament in San Antonio. Always good to get the season under way ladies.

Up next the Green boys team heads to "The Classic" in Texarkana on Oct. 9 & 10. 

SWIMMING:

Swimming opened their season with the regular season dive in at the Ranger Relays in The Colony. This was an all relay event as the Dragon Team split into 2 squads and swept 1st & 2nd place. The Black team took top honors with 282 while the Green team finished in 2nd place with 266. The Lady Dragons also had a successful debut in The Colony, also splitting the squad into pairs with the Green team finishing 1st with 280 points & the Black team 3rd with 242. 

The home season gets under way tomorrow vs. Flower Mound in a dual meet at 6pm in the Carroll Aquatic Center.  Great job at the Ranger Relay Meet of 2015.

Southlake Carroll ISD Athletics

 @SLCAthletics