By Marcus Krum
staff writer
@marcuskrum
In the 28-24 defeat of the Coppell team, the Southlake Dragons proved in pivotal points throughout the game they simply caught more breaks. Even so, this is only the beginning of a new chapter in this storied rivalry.
In a game that came down to simply who made the least amount of mistakes, the Dragons came out on top. The Cowboys had the ball in the red zone four times and they only scored 10 points out of those drives.
“We have to score,” offensive coordinator Michael Odle said. “We got down [into the red zone] and we did not score, we missed a field goal and we kicked one. That was the difference for us, the execution in the red zone.
A key component of Coppell’s failure to score when they needed it most was due to penalties. On one drive in the third quarter, the Cowboys had three touchdowns that were called back because of penalties. All in all, they had nine penalties for 71 yards, a number that needs to be improved.
“We are not happy about it,” Odle said. “We will see the film, but we need to clean some things up.”
The Southlake offense, even though they were always digging themselves out of a hole, put together a terrific final drive to put them ahead for good that was finished off with a one yard touchdown run by Lil’Jordan Humphrey. Although they had some big stops when it was needed, the Cowboys’ defense just could not come up with one in crunch time at the end of the game.
“Our pass coverage has to get better,” senior linebacker Bo Anderson said. “We have to keep our eyes open when we tackle.”
This was the first time that these two teams have played since 2011. Southlake has not been in the same district as Coppell since that time. However, the rivalry between the schools still remains, and as this game showed, it could remain for a long time.
“We need a shot to beat these guys,” Anderson said. “We get so close every time.”
The big plays from the Dragons proved to be the key to winning Friday night’s game. However, even though the game ended with Southlake on top, you can be sure that this will not be the end of a revived rivalry.
