With a victory in its season opener eight days before meeting Northwestern, Southlake Carroll will tie the state record for big-school consecutive victories, 49, which has been held for the past 40 years by the Abilene Eagles (1954-57). Location: Southlake, Texas Enrollment: 2,408 District and Class: Southlake Carroll competes in the state’s largest classification, 5A. Region I, District 5 (of 32 statewide) includes seven other high schools: Colleyville Heritage, Grapevine, Haltom, Keller, Justin Northwest, Keller Central and Richland. The top four schools in the 5-5A standings after round-robin play advance to the playoffs; two schools with largest enrollments advance to the 64-team Div. I bracket and two remaining schools advance to the 64-team Div. II bracket. State Association: University Interscholastic League.The UIL’s 5A Football Finals for both the Div. I and II state championship games will be held Saturday, December 22 at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Head Coach: Hal Wasson. A former running backs coach at Southlake Carroll, Wasson was hired in January after Todd Dodge departed in late December for the head coaching vacancy at the University of North Texas. Wasson, who has an annual salary of $88,720 (a decrease from his former coaching stop), had served as athletic coordinator and head football coach at Fossil Ridge HS in Keller since 2003. Wasson was 28-15 in four seasons at Fossil Ridge and has a career mark of 122-83-2 in 19 seasons. Wasson’s son, Chase, was a record-setting quarterback at Southlake Carroll, playing three seasons at Texas State (both QB and WR). Chase graduated from Texas State last spring and is enrolled in graduate school at Oklahoma, where he will have a fourth season of eligibility this fall. Ironically, Oklahoma opens its 2007 season at home against Dodge and North Texas. Better yet: OU has awarded Wasson with jersey No. 11, which is the same number worn by Dodge at the University of Texas and is also won by Dodge’s son, Riley, who is quarterback of the Dragons. Nickname: Dragons Colors: Green and White Home Stadium: Dragon Stadium, which has seating for nearly 11,000 fans. Built in 2001, Dragon Stadium used to be the home for the Dallas Burn (now FC-Dallas) in the MLS. Dragon Stadium was utilized by Under Armour (which signed an exclusive apparel agreement with the Carroll ISD football program prior to the 2005 season) to film a TV commercial in June of 2006. Interesting scouting note: media and coaches in the press box at Dragon Stadium can monitor the scoreboard at nearby Mustang-Panther Stadium, which is just across Highway 26 and is home to both Grapevine and Colleyville Heritage high schools. Dragon Stadium has hosted two nationally-televised games involving Southlake Carroll: in 2004 against distrct rival Denton Ryan on ESPN2, and in 2006 against Shreveport (La.) Evangel Christian on FSN. Motto: ‘Protect The Tradition.’ Southlake Carroll also kicks in two new looks when the playoffs come around every November: black pants to replace the standard white, and Dragon players dye their hair blonde. 2007 Opener: After an open week on August 30, the Dragons start the slate Sept. 7 at home against Richardson Lake Highlands HS. Southlake Carroll will have a full week to prepare for Northwestern, but the following week will play at Rockwall on Thursday, Sept. 20. 2006 Record: 16-0 as Class 5A, Div. I state champions. History: The Dragons finished their 2006 season as Class 5A Division I state champions, with a 43-29 victory over Austin Westlake. Southlake Carroll won its first of three straight Class 5A state titles in 2004, with a 27-24 victory over Smithson Valley for the Div. II crown. The Dragons repeated as Div. II champions in 2005 with a 34-20 victory over Katy. The last loss for Southlake Carroll, which won 3A state championships in 1988, ’92 and ’93, was 16-15 to Katy for the 5A, Div. II state championship. Since 2002, Southlake Carroll is 79-1. Southlake Carroll started its football program in 1963 and has posted 13 undefeated regular seasons and 36 winning seasons. Pipeline: The most notable is Houston Texans kicker Kris Brown, who ranks as the all-time leading scorer in Nebraska history. A stable of former quarterbacks includes Chase Daniel, a starter at Missouri and Greg McElroy, who will compete for a starting job this fall at Alabama. While Southlake Carroll is gradually sending more and more players to Div. I football, the success of the program is still tied to coaching, year-round conditioning, discipline and fundamentals – and less on pure athleticism and 5-star athletes. Consider: only three Div. I-A head coaches visited the Dragons during May. Offensive Firepower: Quarterback Riley Dodge (6-0, 185, 4.4), who gained Class 5A Player of the Year honors by throwing for 4,237 yards and 54 TDs (he added 1,140 yards rushing), has loads of intangibles, including leadership and elusiveness. Northwestern will be intimidating to the Dragons during warm-ups, but you can bet Dodge will be there to re-focus his teammates. One of the state’s top RBs, Tre Newton rushed for 2,031 yards on 274 attempts, with 20 TDs as a junior. The offensive line is anchored by center Nick Leppo (6-3, 260), left guard Jake Jackson (6-5, 275) and left tackle Sam Schwartzstein (6-5, 270). Dodge’s primary targets will be Chris Brainard (6-0, 185), Blake Cantu (6-3, 190, 4.4), Ethan Cunningham (6-2, 190), Jared Freeman (5-10, 165) and Ford Renfro (5-11, 165). Cantu was a huge playmaker for the ’06 Dragons, with 79 receptions for 1,285 yards and 14 TDs, while Renfro is the son of former NFL receiver Mike Renfro, who played collegiately at nearby TCU before a 16-year stay with the Houston Oilers and Dallas Cowboys. Defensive Firepower: The Dragons possess one of the top spread offenses you’ll see, but stout defense has been the foundation of the program’s success the past few years. Southlake Carroll’s defense yielded 224 yards per game last fall ( 58 rushing/166 passing) and will be led by linebacker Derek Tomlin (6-1, 215, 4.6), who tallied 185 tackles last fall and returned three INTs for scores. Recruiters have taken note of two underclassmen who both were eye-opening during the Green and White game in May: junior end Braeden Burnett (6-3, 250) and sophomore end Jackson Richards (6-4, 245). Burnett and Richards are complemented by tackles Robert Prigmore (5-11, 200), Ben Carroll (5-11, 205) and Jackson Beall (6-0, 240). Safety Luke Anderson (5-11, 185, 4.4) notched 108 tackles last season. Another sophomore will appear in ’07: Tommy Avers (5-7, 155), who can play either running back or cornerback. Key loss from the 2006 squad is linebacker Justin Padron, who leaves behind brother Kyle Padron (6-4, 190), the backup QB. Also heading to North Texas and following Dodge was defensive end Kyle Russo. If the kicking game has a chance to win the game for Southlake Carroll, sophomore Cade Foster has a capable leg to make such a difference. Verbal Commitments: The University of Texas received a pair of commitments in the spring from QB Dodge, son of current North Texas and former Southlake Carroll head coach Todd Dodge, and RB Newton, son of former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Nate Newton). Riley, however, changed his mind in July and is headed to North Texas. Cantu has committed to Oregon, while O-Linemen Leppo, Jackson and Schwartzstein should have plenty of offers in the fall. Major college recruiters are definitely waiting in the wings for Burnett and Richards. Notable: Southlake Carroll is looking to become the second defending 5A, Div. I state champion in the past three years to defeat a Florida power. In 2005, Tyler Lee held off Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna, 34-28. Other Texas high schools in the 1990s to win battles against Florida, all in Orlando, include 4A Aledo (5A Stuart), 5A Arlington Lamar (Rutherford), 3A Bridgeport (5A Niceville) and 5A Spring (5A Coco Beach). 5A Dallas Carter and 5A Miami Southridge split their home-and-home meeting in 1997 and ’98. Southridge was coached by Mark Guandolo, who later coached for Chaminade-Madonna before heading to 6A Cypress Bay outside Hollywood this past spring.
|
