The purpose of this feature is to help provide some historical context behind the Elo ratings referenced throughout the blog - methodology/primer here.
If you’ve missed the previous releases in our TNG Timeline series, those can be accessed here… Historical Superlatives. Next up, a program that needs no introduction, our preseason #7 ranked Southlake Carroll Dragons.
Our scores database currently goes back to 2008, so that’s where our timelines pick up. It’s programs like this that make us eager to further build out the scores database in order to chart a longer time frame (and we will do just that). From the time legendary Todd Dodge took over in 2000 until he moved into the collegiate ranks in 2006 the Dragons, with their state playoff trademark bleached blonde hair, took over TV screens every December to compete for state championships.
Southlake Carroll moved into the state’s highest classification, 5A at the time in 2002, from relative obscurity as a rapidly burgeoning program from the 4A ranks. Carroll had not won a state championship since their 3A golden years in 1992 and 1993 when they captured back-to-back titles.
The Dragons did not manage a state championship appearance in 4A before making the big jump up to 5A. Class 4A was dominated by La Marque and Stephenville throughout the 90s, and Carroll neighbors Grapevine won two 4A state championships in 1996 and 1998. It was Art Briles’ Stephenville who signaled the tactical shift towards spread offense that would overtake the entire Texas high school football landscape, with the Dragons at the helm, at the turn of the millennium.
Texas high school football was generally dominated by power football, particularly the 5A level throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The spread offenses that did exist in that era were generally in the smaller classifications. The Wing T and triple option were entrenched among the most dominant programs Odessa Permian, Converse Judson and Plano. Austin Westlake’s 1996 state championship with Drew Brees at quarterback, followed by Spencer Stack’s remarkable 1997 championship season at Flower Mound Marcus, were the first warnings sent at the 5A level of the shifting landscape.
Southlake Carroll did not merely arrive at the 5A level in 2002, they kicked the doors down in a kind of furious barrage the state of Texas simply had never seen before and certainly not from a program that had just moved up classifications. Winning state is a self-explanatory achievement, but the Dragons did so in a consistently dominant manner that changed the way programs throughout Texas played the game through spread concepts and the overall management of space and match-ups on the field.
The Dragons won state in 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006 before hoisting the golden trophy yet again in 2011. They were state finalists in 2003 and 2020.
Todd Dodge’s Amazing 2002-2006 Stretch (79-1):
2002: Southlake Carroll 16-0, state champions 45-14 over Smithson Valley
2003: Southlake Carroll 15-1, lost title game 16–15 to Katy
2004: Southlake Carroll 16-0, state champions 27-24 over Smithson Valley
2005: Southlake Carroll 16-0, state champions 34-20 over Katy
2006: Southlake Carroll 16-0, state champions 43-29 over Austin Westlake
The timeline chart above doesn’t capture any of this dominance given the current date limitation in the data, so we felt it necessary to dedicate some space here to an unprecedented era.
It does a good job of highlighting what the post-(Todd) Dodge era has looked like. It was always going to be a near impossible task of filling those shoes, but Hal Wasson took over in 2007 and spent the next 11 seasons at the helm.
While there was an expected tactical shift from Dodgeball to Wasson, this era wasn’t without early success. Hours prior to the start of the 2010 season, the Dragons received news that their transfer-in starting quarterback, Daxx Garman, had been ruled ineligible. Week 5 saw the introduction of a sophomore signal caller named Kenny Hill. An immediate ascent occurred and culminated a season later with a familiar sight, the Dragons hoisting their 8th overall state championship trophy. The six seasons that followed never saw the Dragons get any further than an appearance in the regional championship. The Wasson era came to an unfortunate end with his resignation following an investigation into his handling of program culture by the Carroll ISD board.
Enter Riley Dodge. The last time most of us saw him in Dragon green, he was doing legendary things like this in a state title game…
Nearly ten years on from this moment, he was named head coach of the Carroll program. Entering his fifth season in charge, the Carroll program under Riley Dodge clearly is on the rise back towards the heights of the early 2000s. Only Duncanville, who has fielded its best ever teams in recent seasons, and Austin Westlake (the most on fire program in the state currently) have prevented the full resurrection of the Dragon program to a state champion level.
One of the more memorable state championship games in the modern era, and in the overall context of Texas high school football history, was played in 2020 when dad Todd (Austin Westlake) met son Riley (Southlake Carroll) in the Dodgebowl. While dad won the game 52-34, Riley signaled the rebirth of a Texas high school football Dragon.
Southlake Carroll enters 2022 as our #7 rated team: TNG Preseason Top 50
See below for videos corresponding to the chart annotations above:
Dodgeball:
2011: Kenny Hill led the Dragons back to the promised land vs. Fort Bend Hightower on the back of his four touchdowns.
Kenny Hill Highlights:
2018: Riley Dodge hired as Head Coach
2020: Dodge Bowl Preview, followed by the game highlights.
Quinn Ewers highlights:
Owen Allen highlights: