Matt Wixon

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IRVING – Southlake Carroll entered this year's playoffs without the star power it has had in recent years. But Saturday at Texas Stadium, it still made Colleyville Heritage see stars.

Especially the high-scoring Heritage offense. Carroll shut it down by stuffing the run, sacking the quarterback six times, intercepting two passes and returning a fumble for a touchdown. The result was a 31-7 win, a spot in the Class 5A Division II Region I area round and the return of some swagger to the state's most dominating program of the decade.

"The offense did its job, and the defense did its job," said senior defensive end Brayden Burnett. "When we come together like we did today, it's amazing what we can do."

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The defense was pretty amazing against Heritage (9-2), which previously hadn't scored less than 28 points in a game. Heritage finished with 243 yards, punted six times and turned the ball over on downs five times.

Its only touchdown was set up by an 85-yard kickoff return by Bryan Head. Carroll (8-2) slammed the door on every other drive, just two weeks after allowing more than 600 yards in a loss to Hebron.

"These guys went through a lot of adversity this season," Carroll coach Hal Wasson said. "The only way to achieve your goals, in my opinion, is to overcome adversity."

Carroll faced some of that adversity early in the game, when it punted after three plays on its first two possessions. But on the third possession, quarterback David Piland capped a seven-play, 61-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.

Carroll made it 10-0 with Cade Foster's 30-yard field goal on the final play of the first half. The drive was set up by when defensive back Shawn Hoagland intercepted a pass with 1:33 left.

That was one of many Carroll defensive gems, but the biggest play came when Heritage trailed, 17-7, in the fourth quarter and was driving toward midfield. Carroll stripped Head of the ball and defensive back Seth Jameson scooped it up and ran 47 yards for a touchdown.

That closed the season on Colleyville Heritage, which has now lost to its neighbor six times in the last five seasons. This game was closer than the other lopsided losses, but it was probably more painful. Saturday was Heritage's best chance to get some redemption against its nemesis and advance to next week's matchup with Cedar Hill (10-1).

But with the help of backup running back John Nathan, who ran 22 times for 84 yards and two touchdowns after replacing the injured Tommy Avers, the Carroll offense did enough. The defense took care of the rest.

"We heard about their offense all week," Jameson said. "We put it in our minds that we weren't going to give them anything. We wanted to make a statement, and I think we did."