Southlake Carroll walks off Longview with field goal, advances to state championship

Kicker Gavin Strange lined up for a potential game-winning field goal for Southlake Carroll.

Then, Longview called a timeout to ice him on a sunny afternoon at Gerald Ford Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 14.

Finally, the junior had a chance to send the Dragons to the Class 6A Division Two UIL high school football state championship game with a make. Strange missed the 41-yard attempt wide right but was hit by a Longview player on the play.

The diving attempt by the Lobos player turned into a running-into-the-kicker penalty. With a 36-yard attempt, Strange made it to secure a 20-17 win and advance to Dragons to their first state championship game since the 2020 season.

“I wasn’t like, ‘I missed the last one, I got to make this one,’” Stranger said. “It was more like, ‘I get to make it.’ I have visualized this moment hundreds and hundreds of times. Every time I go to bed, I visualize kicking the game-winning field goal.

“Now, it’s not a visualization anymore. As soon as I was kicked I was doing a little lean and was like ‘Oh my gosh, this is it.’ I look over and see all the stands and my teammates running over. It’s the best feeling in the world.”

Carroll coach Riley Dodge thought it would be a roughing the kicker penalty. Strange, who also played in the secondary on defense in the game, delivered to send the Dragons to the state title for the 11th time in school history.

“We got one of the best kickers in the state of Texas, and man, what ice waters in his veins,” Dodge said of Strange, who is now 7-for-9 this year on FG attempts.

He made two in a game for the first time this season — booting a 40-yard field goal in the second quarter to make it 10-3 at the time.

However, the last time that Strange attempted a field goal was back on Nov. 1.

The Dragons will face Humble Summer Creek or Austin Vandegrift at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21 at AT&T Stadium. Carroll will seek its first state title since 2011.

The win over Longview marked the third time in five postseason games the Dragons (15-0) won a one-possession game. Last week, Carroll rallied from a two-score deficit to beat Denton Guyer by nine.

Longview (12-3) went up 3-0 on a 29-yard field goal by Alexandre Mitchell with 3:42 left in the first quarter.

Carroll scored the next 10 — on Strange’s first field goal and then a 35-yard run by Christian Glenn with 8:31 left in the second.

Longview, which knocked off defending two-time Class 6A Division II champion DeSoto last week, tied the game at 10-10 late in the second quarter on a 1-yard run by Johnny Hamilton.

Both teams scored in the third. Quarterback Angelo Renda connected with Blake Gunter for a 63-yard touchdown. Longview answered with a 9-yard run from Kelvin Washington.

The teams then traded turnovers in the fourth. Southlake went for it at their own 38 but didn’t get it. That set up the Lobos with opportune field position but on 4th-and-4 from the 32, Southlake forced a turnover to get the ball back with 6:23.

Longview never got the ball back.

Renda hit Brady Knowles on a crossing pattern to get the ball near midfield. On third-and-short, Renda had a head-first dive to get the ball to the Longview 22. Dodge said once the Dragons got the ball inside the Longview 30, he was comfortable turning to Strange to win it.

Four plays later, Strange won it.

“This group’s resilient,” Dodge said. “They’re young, and they’re banged up. They just keep finding a way. We’ve done it a lot of different ways this playoff run, and I’m just proud of the kids.”