Carthage football coach Scott Surratt is the All-East Texas Coach of the Year. (Michael Cavazos/News-Journal Photo)

CARTHAGE — Winning one state championship as a head coach is a great accomplishment in itself.

Winning multiple championships can be considered somewhat of a bonus.

What Carthage head football coach Scott Surratt has achieved in his 11 years at the helm is simply unheard of.

On Dec. 20, 2017, Carthage defeated Kennedale, 49-21, to give the Bulldogs the Class 4A Division I championship. It was Carthage’s second consecutive title and sixth crown in Surratt’s 11 seasons.

So yes, that means Surratt has won more state championships than he has lost playoff games. It has been a special run for the Bulldogs, and they added to it with another remarkable season.

Carthage opened 2017 as the No. 1 team in Class 4A and finished with a perfect 16-0 record, which is why Surratt has been selected as the Tyler Morning Telegraph All-East Texas Coach of the Year.

“It was a special season,” Surratt said. “To be ranked No. 1 going into the season and have that pressure on you, that bull’s-eye, and finish No. 1 is a credit not only to the coaches, but also the players.

“A lot of times, teams who are ranked No. 1 and look at all of that ink poisoning, they underperform. Even with all of the pressure, this group still overachieved, and great character teams do that.”

In 2016, Carthage had to compete in several close games on the way to the state title. The Bulldogs had 10 games that were decided by 14 points or fewer in 2016, and they went 8-2 in those contests.

This season, Carthage only had two games with margins of less than 20 points — a 48-38 victory over Texarkana Liberty-Eylau in Week 2 and a 46-39 win against Waco La Vega in the state semifinals.

“The biggest challenge for us was to improve from Week 1 to Week 16 as much as the 2016 group did and stay relatively healthy,” Surratt said. “I thought we did exactly that. We were only down once at the half all year, and we had one close game in the playoffs. It’s hard to play six straight really good football games in the playoffs. We had that one game against La Vega, and we overcame it.”

The Bulldogs were led by All-American running back Keoantay Ingram — a Texas signee — but had several players make contributions throughout the season to help bring another state title back to Carthage.

“This group means a lot to me,” Surratt said. “I know a lot of coaches say this after they win a championship, but this may be the most special group I’ve had in my 28 years in terms of character. We had great leadership, and they were fun to coach. They always had fun, and they loved to practice. When you have teams that have talent and love to practice, you have a chance to have something special, and that is what happened.”

In the past 10 seasons, Carthage is 125-24 (.839 winning percentage) with state titles in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2017. The Bulldogs also reached the state semifinals in 2012 and 2015.

 

TWITTER: @BrandonOSports