Seventy-Six on the Board: North Crowley Buries Lake Ridge, Stays Perfect at 7-0, and Gets a Short Week Before Skyline

By Coach Terrence Booker, RF Sports Radio DFW High School Football voice

DFW high school fans, I told you Friday that being No. 1 is a target, not a trophy. North Crowley answered the challenge by putting 76 points on the scoreboard. Lake Ridge came to play and still got buried.

The facts

North Crowley beat Mansfield Lake Ridge 76-35 on Friday, Oct. 16, at Crowley ISD Multipurpose Stadium, per MaxPreps and GM Sports Media's Week 8 scoreboard. It was a season-high point total for the Panthers, who are 7-0. Lake Ridge fell to 4-3.

Kiante Ingram rushed for 150 yards and three touchdowns on only nine carries, his second straight game with at least two rushing scores, per MaxPreps. G'Yrell Smith added 123 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Lake Ridge's Deshawn Edwards was terrific in the loss, rushing for 141 yards and three scores and throwing for 87 yards and two more. North Crowley has won 10 of its last 11 home games, and MaxPreps puts its average margin of victory at 30.5 points.

Around the Metroplex in Week 8, per GM Sports Media: Allen beat Prosper Rock Hill 70-14 on Thursday; DeSoto blanked Mansfield Summit 54-0; Duncanville beat Crowley 28-15; Waxahachie routed Red Oak 48-3; Lancaster beat Cleburne 75-0; and Highland Park beat Carrollton Creekview 63-6.

Next up: North Crowley faces Skyline on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., and Lake Ridge plays Red Oak on Friday at 7 p.m., per MaxPreps.

RF Sports Radio's take (opinion)

My take: give Lake Ridge credit — 35 points against the top team in the state is not nothing, and Edwards is a problem for anybody. But that is also the warning label for North Crowley. Seventy-six points covers up a lot. Allowing 35 at home is something the coaches will not ignore on film Saturday morning. In November, against Duncanville or DeSoto-level talent, those breakdowns cost you.

The offense is not the question. Two backs over 120 yards and Ingram averaging over 16 yards a carry tells you the line is moving people. The question is defensive discipline, and Thursday's short week against Skyline is a good place to tighten it up.

My call: North Crowley wins Thursday by four touchdowns and holds Skyline under 21. That is a prediction, not a report. DeSoto's 54-0 shutout is the scoreboard I would be watching if I were a Panther.

What to watch next

Thursday's North Crowley-Skyline kickoff is 7:30 p.m. Watch the Panthers' points allowed, Lake Ridge's bounce-back against Red Oak, and the next Dave Campbell's Texas Football 6A poll. For Friday's crown-check preview, read Friday's North Crowley crown-check preview, and follow the DFW High School Football page.

Radio question: after 76 points, is anybody in DFW beating North Crowley this year — and if so, is it DeSoto, Duncanville or Allen?

Sources: MaxPreps — North Crowley piles up the points against Lake Ridge; GM Sports Media — DFW Football Scores, Week 8; Fort Worth Weekly — Fort Worth HS football scoreboard, week of Oct. 16.