The Cooldown- Week Four
Cover Photo of Southlake Carroll's Riley Wormley courtesy of the Dallas Morning News and Staff Photographer Elías Valverde II.
There are now four weeks down of the 2024 Texas high school football season and seven weeks left to play in the regular season. Week four featured some impressive wins that will be recapped below, as well as a fair share of blowouts. DeSoto beat Mesquite 71-0 to open district play, North Crowley took down Rockwall 70-17 and scored all 70 points before the fourth quarter, Melissa hung 70 points on the scoreboard in a big win over Frisco Memorial, and Midlothian Heritage scored the most points of any team in the DFW area in a 75-11 win over Greenville. Now, let’s talk about more competitive results from around the metroplex in week four.
Southlake Carroll takes down Trinity
Here is a stat you may not have thought was possible for a game between the Dragons and the Trojans: Southlake Carroll averaged more yard-per-carry than Trinity did, and Trinity averaged more yards-per-pass than Southlake Carroll did. Part of that is due to the fact that Trinity finished with 44 attempts on the ground against just 23 passes, and Southlake Carroll attempted 36 passes compared to 28 runs. In the end, Southlake Carroll beat Trinity 56-48 at Pennington Field.
The Dragons actually jumped out to a 35-7 lead in this one, before Trinity capitalized on back-to-back possessions around halftime and got a key defensive stop to set up another touchdown drive. Trinity scored 20 unanswered points from late in the second quarter to midway through the third quarter to climb back in the game. Ultimately, the 28 point deficit was too much to overcome. Once Trinity cut the lead to 35-27, it was chasing those last eight points the rest of the night.
Southlake Carroll quarterback Angelo Renda completed 28 of his 36 passes for 376 yards and five touchdowns. Brock Boyd was Renda’s favorite target, catching 11 passes for 135 yards and a touchdown, while Riley Wormley added five receptions for 84 yards and a score and Blake Gunter chipped in five receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown. Renda spread his five touchdown passes to five different receivers, with Luc Jacquemard and Brody Knowles catching the other two touchdown passes. Wormley led the rushing attack with 181 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. Davis Penn added 14 yards and a score on five carries.
Trinity quarterback TJ Tupou completed 20 of his 23 pass attempts for 267 yards and a touchdown, and added 10 carries for 64 yards and three more scores on the ground. Ethan Wright led the receivers with seven receptions for 93 yards and Lukus Sanchez added a 13-yard touchdown receptions. JT Harris led the rushing attack with 15 carries for 113 yards and two touchdowns. Michael Saafi added six carries for 45 yards and a score, giving the Trojans six touchdowns on the ground.
Southlake Carroll now has wins over Byron Nelson and Trinity in district play and won’t play in another competitive game until the playoffs. The Dragons will likely finish the season as undefeated district champs and be a team to watch in the playoffs. As for Trinity, the Trojans have a big match-up at Byron Nelson this week in a game that will likely decide which team finishes second and which team finishes third in District 4-6A.
Lovejoy outlasts Anna
Lovejoy took down Anna in the shootout of the year so far, 66-62. The Leopards held as large as a 49-20 lead with around five minutes left in the second quarter before Anna rallied to make it 49-41 at the half. Yes, you read that right. Nearly 100 points at halftime. The Coyotes took the lead with around five minutes left in the game on a Ziondre Williams touchdown run to make it 62-59 but Lovejoy answered on the next drive in what was ultimately the game winning touchdown.
Lovejoy quarterback Jacob Janecek completed 15 of his 24 passes for 298 yards and six touchdowns and led the Leopards on the ground as well, going for 130 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. That’s EIGHT total touchdowns for Janecek. Zach Jones also added a touchdown run for Lovejoy, finishing with 61 yards on two carries. Zane Kuzenski led the Lovejoy receivers with six receptions for 175 yards and a score. Daylan McCutcheon added five receptions for 86 yards and two touchdowns and Coleman Reaugh chipped in three receptions for 60 yards and two scores. Ben Adams caught a touchdown pass from 11 yards out.
Anna quarterback Ziondre Williams completed 24 of his 33 passes for 196 yards and three touchdowns and added 112 yards and three more scores on 17 carries. Edward Chumley led the Coyotes rushing attack with 158 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. Ronald Bell led the Anna receiving corps with seven receptions for 61 yards and a score. Ashton Ansley caught six receptions for 54 yards and a touchdown and Chumley added four receptions for 49 yards and a score.
District 4-5A D-II is going to be an absolute dogfight. For context, after the thrilling win over a talented program in Anna, Lovejoy has to turn around and host Melissa, and then has back-to-back games against Frisco Emerson and Prosper Walnut Grove in October. There are five teams in this district that could win a lot of other 5A D-II districts, but only four of those teams will make the playoffs. That makes these matchups that much more important.
Duncanville beats Waxahachie
Duncanville opened district play with a tough matchup against Waxahachie and won 41-17. The Panthers showed, once again, why it is a state caliber program and that its offensive firepower is going to be too much for most programs to handle. Waxahachie did score first in this game, jumping out to a 7-0 lead, but Duncanville ultimately cruised to score 41 points in three quarters and another big win over a quality opponent.
Duncanville quarterback Keelon Russell completed 18 of his 23 passes for 351 yards and six touchdowns in the win. Russell spread it around, connecting with Dakorien Moore eight times for 147 yards and three touchdowns. Zach Turner caught five passes for 93 yards and two scores, and Trenton Yancey caught three passes for 76 yards and a touchdown. JaQualon Armstrong led the way for the Panthers on the ground, gaining 67 yards on 15 carries.
Waxahachie quarterback Jerry Meyer III completed 18 of his 34 passes for 198 yards. Wade Lemons led the way on the ground with 70 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. Nolan Barnard also scored a touchdown on the ground on one of his two carries. Kohen Brown led the Indians’ receivers with four receptions for 60 yards, and Tristian Gardner added five receptions for 55 yards.
The district schedule doesn’t lighten up for Waxahachie this week as the Indians face DeSoto at home. Duncanville gets Dallas Skyline on the road this week. Duncanville’s matchup with DeSoto looms large on October 11; likely the de-facto district championship game, however, don’t sleep on Waxahachie or Lancaster.
Offensive Player of the Week
My Offensive Player of the Week is Southlake Carroll quarterback Angelo Renda! Anytime Southlake Carroll and Trinity get together, it’s a big game. Renda showed he can handle the moment, passing for 376 yards and five touchdowns in the win. It certainly helps a quarterback starting his fourth game at a program with high expectations on the road in a tough environment to have as many playmakers at his disposal as Renda has, so props also go to Riley Wormley, Davis Penn and Brock Boyd. The rest of Southlake Carroll’s regular season may not be much to watch, but the Dragons will be one of the must-see teams in the metroplex come November.
Defensive Player of the Week
My Defensive Player of the Week is Sachse linebacker Sean DaVault! Sachse took down Wylie 44-17 and DaVault’s big night helped the Mustangs cruise to another win in District 9-6A. DaVault finished with 12 tackles, 11 tackles-for-loss, a quarterback pressure and two sacks in the win! Sachse takes on Lakeview Centennial in another district matchup this week.