Another hurdle
Senior LB Flagg stays grounded during playoff run
» North Shore ready to face powerhouse Lake Travis in state semifinals.
Corey Flagg Jr. slipped out of bed the Sunday morning after he helped North Shore advance to the state semifinal, but football wasn’t on his mind.
The North Shore senior linebacker typically spends Friday nights under the lights with his teammates and uses Saturdays to get treatment and watch some game film.
On Sundays, Flagg doesn’t slow down — he grabs the keys to his mother’s Toyota Avalon and is out the door. Flagg drives to pick up teammates Upton Stout and Jermaine Caldwell, and the trio heads down the road to God’s House of Worship and Praise in Channelview for service that begins at 10 a.m.
The group walks in the church, and talk of the Mustangs deep playoff run is left at the front door.
“It’s always a great thing to go to church,” Flagg said. “It’s a better thing when you go to church with your brothers and your teammates. Just knowing that they’re on the same page as you, just one core building that chemistry. It’s always great to go to church to get the word of God and really focus in what our pastor, Andrew Walter, says. We really appreciate what he preaches and teaches us. We’re zoned in at church, listening.”
Flagg and the Mustangs’ defense has been in the zone, especially in the last two weeks as the Buffalos took down some of the state’s elite teams in Katy and Atascocita.
North Shore made school history with the most points scored in a playoff game when it defeated Atascocita 76-49. The win propelled the Mustangs to their second straight regional title.
Now, the Mustangs (13-1) will get another challenge, taking on state power Lake Travis (13-1) in a Class 6A Division I state semifinal at 4 p.m. Saturday at Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex in Round Rock.
The Cavaliers are coming off a 48-35 win over Converse Judson in the Region IV-6A final.
It’s a rematch of last year’s state semifinal, where North Shore routed Lake Travis 51-10.
“They have a great system,” North Shore coach John Kay said. “Their kids are bred to run that system. (Dual-threat quarterback) Hudson Card being back gives them a dynamic that they didn’t have since the beginning of the year. I’m really impressed with their receivers. They have the ability to make plays in space, and they have great running backs to go with a good offensive line.”
Card, who is committed to Texas, returned from a foot injury last week. He had last played in a 26-25 win over Austin Westlake in Week 7.
At the beginning of the year, the big question for North Shore was its defense with only three returning starters in Flagg and cornerbacks Stout and Joseph Wilson.
“Their experience and leadership was going to be important to our development of our other guys,” Kay said. “I think everyone has a good skill set and can bring something different to the table, but it was just a lack of experience that was concerning. That’s something that you can’t say this far into the season.”
The Mustangs’ defense shut out Atascocita 27-0 in the second quarter, but the Eagles racked up 594 yards of total offense.
“When you get into the playoffs, I think it’s important to realize that it’s not all about statistics, and I think our defense has done a good job of understanding that,” Kay said.
Stout faced bigger receivers last week and will face the same challenge against Lake Travis
“I don’t (worry) about that,” said Stout, who had two interceptions last week. “They might be bigger than me, but I know what my capabilities are, and I play with a chip on my shoulder. I never think just because someone is bigger than me that they’re going to be better than me.”
North Shore’s offense has been clicking with junior quarterback and Virginia Tech commit Dematrius Davis, who has rushed for more than 200 yards in the last two playoff games and scored five touchdowns in the win over Atascocita.
No one has been able to stop the Mustangs’ offense, which scored at least 50 points in their four playoff games this season.
Slowing down big-time teams like Katy and Atascocita has given the defense a lot of confidence heading into the state semifinal against Lake Travis.
“It builds up a lot of confidence that we’re stopping powerhouses like that,” Flagg said. “It’s a big deal, and it brings us a lot of energy. Now we have to get ready for Lake Travis this week. We need to keep on building from these last two games and take it into the Lake Travis game.”