No. 1 Southlake Carroll explodes in second half, blanks Hurst L.D. Bell — PHOTOS

BEDFORD

Maybe it was the 4:30 p.m. start time, or that a 15-play, 94-yard drive in the final 2:50 before halftime yielded no points, but Southlake Carroll, the state’s No. 1-ranked Class 6A team, led Hurst L.D. Bell by only 14 at halftime Friday.

Whatever it was, the Dragons caught fire coming out of the break, making lightning-quick strikes en route to 35 second-half points to blank the Blue Raiders 49-0 in a District 4-6A contest Friday at Pennington Field. The game was moved up two-and-a-half hours because of bad weather in the forecast.

The victory ensured Southlake Carroll (9-0, 7-0), ranked No. 10 nationally by MaxPreps, of its 31st district title, while L.D. Bell (5-3, 3-3) suffered its third consecutive defeat after beginning the season 5-0 and is in danger of missing the playoffs.

Davis Penn, Angelo Renda and Parker Harris each rushed for a pair of touchdowns, and Blake Gunter put an exclamation point on an explosive second half with a 75-yard TD run midway through the final quarter.

The big-play Southlake Carroll offense amassed 701 total yards — 445 in the second half — utilizing a balanced attack (395 passing and 306 rushing).

Penn had a pair of 5-yard TD runs, one to open the scoring, and the other on the second play of the fourth quarter after the Dragons held on downs and took over at the Bell 30-yard line. A hook-and-lateral from Brock Boyd, who had taken a pitch from Renda, to Penn produced a 25-yard run to the 5. Penn then scored on the next snap.

Penn finished with 15 carries for 65 yards. His 11 rushing attempts in the first half eclipsed his season-high for any game total (by one) this year as Southlake Carroll has managed his workload after the standout tore his ACL in last year’s second-round playoff win over Wolfforth Frenship.

Head coach Riley Dodge said his workhorse back is fully recovered.

“The training wheels are off for Davis Penn,” Dodge said. “He is full throttle ahead. Been great to see him work his way back.”

Though the standout running back has yet to hit the 100-yard mark this season, he is finding the end zone. Penn, who scored three rushing TDs in each of his two previous outings, added two more to increase his season total to 12.

“I feel great,” Penn said. “Excited to part of this team. Full speed ahead. Feels better and better each game.”

Renda did not throw any TD passes, but completed 23 of 29 passes with no interceptions for 383 yards. The Pitt pledge came out smoking hot after intermission, engineering a six-play, 75-yard drive that featured 5-of-5 passing — to five receivers — before capping the march with a 3-yard TD run himself.

Renda added a 14-yard TD scamper later in the third quarter to finish off an eight-play, 99-yard drive that featured a 46-yard Renda run from his 1-yard line.

Disappointed in not finishing off the long drive just before intermission — running out of time on a swing pass from the L.D. Bell 4-yard line that was stopped for no gain — Renda said the team just “kept calm” and came out determined to start the second half to assume control.

“The second half our offense really came on,” said Renda, who added 82 rushing yards on five carries. “Our defense was amazing the entire game, but we played much better offensively in the second half.”

Dodge credited the Bell defense with keeping the game close in the first half.

The Dragons unveiled a new offensive wrinkle in the game as starting defensive back Parker Harris — operating out of the wildcat formation — scored on runs of 2 and 4 yards.

“We put that in this week,” Dodge said. “Parker and the offense executed it perfectly.”

Harris, who was part of Gunter’s Class 3A Division II state title team in 2023 before transferring to Carroll before the 2024 season, was excited to get to run out of the wildcat.

“Awesome,” he said. “We game-planned that this week. And it worked in the game just like practice.”

The second Harris TD came after Gunter hauled in a 74-yard pass from Renda midway through the third quarter, breaking at least six tackles along the way, down to the Bell 4-yard line, where Harris scored on the next snap.

Harris was equally proud of the defense earning its second shutout of the season (also 49-0, in the season opener against Midland).

“Great job by our defense all night,” he said. “And we were determined not to let them in the end zone.”

The Dragons stopped the Blue Raiders on fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line with 3:18 left in the game on an incomplete pass, preserving the shutout.

The Carroll defense held Bell to 175 yards of total offense, including zero passing yards on one completion in the second half. The Blue Raiders were blanked for the first time since a 48-0 loss to Euless Trinity in 2021.

Gunter finished with 95 receiving yards on four catches and added 85 rushing yards on just two attempts.

Boyd, a senior Ohio State pledge, grabbed a game-high nine passes for 170 yards.

“Just a great team win,” said Boyd, who had 144 of his receiving yards in the first half on seven catches. “The offense came out big time in the second half, and our defense was lights out the entire game.”

Carroll will look to finish off an unblemished regular season, the 21st in program history and sixth in Dodge’s eight-year tenure, when it hosts Keller Central (5-3, 3-3) at 7 p.m. Oct. 31.

Bell was led by running back Jacob Preskenis, who finished with 86 rushing yards on 26 carries.

The Blue Raiders face Trophy Club Byron Nelson (6-2, 5-1) at 7 p.m. Oct. 31 at Northwest ISD Stadium before tangling with rival Euless Trinity to end the regular season Nov. 6.

Bell, seeking to make the postseason for the first time since 2013, is at risk of missing out again as Keller Central holds the tiebreaker over the Blue Raiders.

Only one playoff spot in 4-6A is seemingly up for grabs, as Carroll, Byron Nelson and Trinity are in line for berths.