No. 8 Carroll (Southlake, Texas) vs. Fort Bend Hightower (Missouri City, Texas)Playing for a state championship is nothing new for the Carroll program, which has won seven titles in history including four in the last decade. But this is the Dragons' first trip to the finals since 2006 and their only appearance under coach Hal Wasson. They improved to 15-0 and punched their ticket to Saturday's
Texas Class 5A-I title game in dramatic fashion last week. Trailing nationally ranked Skyline (Dallas) 24-14 with less than 2 minutes to play, the Dragons scored a touchdown, recovered an onside kick, then scored another touchdown – all in the span of 21 seconds –
to win the game 28-24. Standout quarterback
Kenny Hill ran in the winning score from 35 yards out. The junior has more than 2,700 passing yards and more than 1,200 rushing yards with 45 total touchdowns this season.
Hightower blew past Madison (San Antonio), 54-35, last week to earn its second title-game berth in four seasons. Quarterback
Bralon Addison, a Texas A&M commit, led the way with 229 rushing yards and six total touchdowns. Wake Forest-bound running back
Joshua Wilhite added 153 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns. It was the Hurricanes' 13th consecutive win after starting this season with two straight losses.
Mitch Stephens: Carroll 35, Hightower 21
Steve Montoya: Hightower 35, Carroll 28
Stephen Spiewak: Carroll 35, Hightower 28
Kevin Askeland: Carroll 35, Hightower 14
Jamie DeMoney: Hightower 38, Carroll 35
Carroll advanced to the title game with a jaw-dropping comeback, while Fort Bend Hightower romped.
Photos by Greg Pierson/Robbie Rakestraw. Graphic by Ryan Escobar
