MaxPreps.com Staff Report
SKOKIE, Ill. --- Texas vs. Florida and potentially preseason national No. 1 vs. No. 2. It doesn't get much bigger than Friday's announcement that Miami's Northwestern High will travel to the Lone Star State Sept. 15 to face consensus defending national champion Southlake Carroll.
Paragon Marketing Group and TITUS Sports Marketing made the blockbuster pairing official after several months of negotiations and anticipation by high school football fans.
Southlake Carroll captured its third-straight Texas 5A title in December, finishing at the top of MaxPreps National Rankings for the second-consecutive year. The Dragons will enter the 2007 campaign riding a 48-game winning streak and have won 79 of their last 80 games.
"There has been quite a bit of interest in the Carroll Dragons playing a nationally-ranked opponent," Southlake Carroll athletic director Ronnie Tipps said in a press release. "These two teams are recognized by man as having the top high school football programs in their respective stats. It ought to be a very exciting matchup."
With several key contributors back, including MaxPreps National Player of the Year in quarterback Riley Dodge, the Dragons will be a popular choice as the preseason national No. 1.
Northwestern dominated its 2006 schedule, going 15-0 en route to Florida's 6A title. The Bulls didn't allow a point in seven-straight games from Sept. 16 to Nov. 3, and beat their opponents by an average margin of 36 points per game.
The Miami school has been a pipeline to Division I football programs, and the 2007 team will continue that tradition, with at least a dozen major college prospects in the senior class alone. Northwestern could challenge the Dragons for the top spot in some preseason national polls.
"It's an honor to play against the No. 1 team in Texas and a program as distinguished as Southlake Carroll," Smith said. "We hear great things about Texas high school football and are anxious to see how we match up with them."
The game is expected to be played at Gerald J. Ford Stadium on the campus of Southern Methodist University, although details have not been finalized.
