Photo by Brian McLean
By Nolan Ruth
X – @RealNolanRuth
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ARLINGTON— Texas’s most decorated football coach has gotten another ring, and is officially out of fingers for rings. Scott Surratt and his Carthage Bulldogs took AT&T Stadium by storm on Friday afternoon, dominating from start to finish, 49-21 over the West Orange-Stark Mustangs.
Despite a slower start than they are used to, the Bulldogs scored 21 points in the final four minutes of the first half to take complete control and cruise to victory in the second half, holding off a last minute comeback attempt.
“It’s just unbelievable,” Surratt said in his postgame press conference. “It’s crazy. We’ve stacked a lot of them together obviously. Just a tribute to my coaches, the community and these great players.”
The initial score came on the second play from scrimmage as KJ Edwards broke free up the middle and raced 87 yards to paydirt. From there, the Bulldogs went quiet until the second quarter. West Orange-Stark was able to put together a good drive on the ensuing possession, but failed on downs.
It was not until the 3:57 mark in the second quarter that Carthage got back into the end zone when Edwards scored from 11 yards to make the score 14-0. Edwards was named offensive MVP after rushing for 153 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns. Unfortunately, he missed the entire second half with an injury.
After a quick three-and-out, it only took one play for quarterback Jett Surratt to hook up with Junior Henderson deep down field for a 77-yard touchdown. Surratt finished his final game for his father completing 20 of 28 for 232 yards and three touchdowns.
Again, the defense came up with a stop, and the Bulldog offense scored again on a 13-yard pass from Surratt to Bryston Price with 11 seconds left on the clock, making the halftime lead 28-0.
The second half started off with just as many fireworks as the first. After forcing the Mustangs into a three-and-out, Tylin Williams broke through the line to block the punt. He then picked it up at the nine yard line and strolled in for the touchdown. Williams was named defensive MVP for his 11 total tackles on top of the blocked punt touchdown.
Another three-and-out set up another scoring pass from Surratt to Carson Crawford from one yard out, making the score 42-0 after three quarters of play.
With the starters pulled, the Bulldogs turned on cruise control. Benny Smith took a handoff up the middle and sliced through the defense from 52 yards away.
West Orange-Stark finally broke onto the scoreboard with just under four minutes to go in the game when Kwalin Dugas found Michael Turner III from 10 yards, cutting their deficit to 49-7. The defense then forced a Carthage fumble at the 29 yard line. One play later, Dugas found Anterrion Fontenot over the middle for another score with 2:43 to go.
The Mustangs started to believe. Then on the ensuing kickoff, they forced another fumble and recovered at the 18. Two plays later, Dugas found Turner again to make the score 49-21.
At that point, the Bulldogs put its starters in as the hands team for the onside kick to make sure they could end it. The onside kick did not make it the needed 10 yards, and Carthage was able to kneel out the clock, solidifying its eleventh state championship.
