Southlake Carroll dominates Highland Park in Texas high school playoff showdown

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - Davis Penn didn't hesitate when asked if his performance Friday for Southlake Carroll was his best all season.

“Absolutely," said Penn, a sophomore tailback. "I ran with a lot of confidence behind our game plan and good things happened.”

Good things certainly did happen for Penn and the Dragons. And they came in threes.

In their third postseason game of 2023, the Dragons scored on their opening three offensive possessions and Penn reached the end zone three times in Friday's Class 6A Division II Region I semifinal against Highland Park. Southlake Carroll went on to end the Scots' season with a 45-14 win Friday afternoon at Choctaw Stadium in the Class 6A Division II Region I semifinals.

Southlake Carroll generated 499 yards of total offense, 367 of that on the ground. Penn had 210 of those yards on 14 carries along with those three TDs.

“I didn’t even know that, that’s great to hear," Penn said. "I think that’s only the second time I’ve ever done that, so that’s really great to hear, I’m really happy.

“We were firing on all cylinders, great team chemistry within our team and everything just matched up perfectly."

The Dragons also made some defensive stands, forcing a missed Highland Park field goal in the first half and also forcing fumbles as the Scots were on the verge of scoring. One of those fumbles led to Penn's 90-yard sprint to the end zone in the second quarter, which gave SLC a 28-0 lead.

Southlake Carroll (12-1) moves on to next week's Region I championship game against the winner between Trophy Club Byron Nelson and Coppell, which will be played Saturday afternoon, also at Choctaw Stadium.