High school football preview: No. 11 Southlake Carroll 2020 schedule, players to watch

Riley Dodge begins his third season as the Carroll (Southlake, Texas) head coach after leading the Dragons to a 26-2 record that includes back-to-back quarterfinal appearances. Both losses came against Duncanville, which finished as the runner-up in both years.

Dodge led the Dragons to one of their eight state championships in 2006 as a junior and was named the MaxPreps' National Player of the Year after throwing for 4,184 yards and 54 touchdowns to go with 1,119 yards rushing and 13 more scores. They finished the season 16-0 and were the No. 1 team in the country.

This year's squad has the same potential as that 2006 team and even has a junior quarterback who, like Dodge, could be named the National Player of the Year.

Quinn Ewers checks in as the top-rated player in the Class of the 2022 and the Texas commit was named the MaxPreps' Sophomore of the Year after throwing for over 4,000 yards and 45 touchdowns while completing over 72 percent of his passes. He added another 500-plus yards on the ground and nine more scores.

Carroll has been one of the top schools at producing big-time quarterbacks that include the likes of Chase Daniel, Greg McElroy, Kenny Hill and Ryan Agnew.

Ewers and the Texas power begin the year ranked at No. 11 in the MaxPreps Top 25.

The Dragons lost some players to graduation, led by R.J. Mickens who's now at Clemson, but there is a ton of talent surrounding Ewers.

Brady Boyd and Owen Allen will both be big factors on offense. Boyd, a 2021 Minnesota commit, hauled in 66 receptions for nearly 1,000 yards and eight touchdowns last season while Allen led the team in rushing as a freshman, piling up 1,100-plus yards and 15 scores.

The defense lost some impact players but expect Avyonne Jones and 2021 Hawaii commit Cinque Williams to both be key pieces for Dodge on that side of the ball.

Another weapon for the Texas power will be Joe McFadden. The 2021 Connecticut commit is great on all three phases of the kicking game. He has already been selected to the Jan. 2 All-American Bowl roster.

Southlake Carroll will be trying to tie Aledo's record of nine state championships for 11-man football as the Dragons try to win their first since 2011. They also won titles in 1988, 1992, 1993, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006.

2020 Schedule

Oct. 2 — vs. Rockwall-Heath (Rockwall)

Oct. 8 — at Rockwall

Oct. 16 — vs. No. 31 Guyer (Denton)

Oct. 22 — at Byron Nelson (Trophy Club)

Oct. 30 — vs. Keller

Nov. 6 — at Keller Central (Keller)

Nov. 20 — vs. V.R. Eaton (Fort Worth)

Nov. 25 — at Timber Creek (Fort Worth)

Dec. 4 — vs. Fossil Ridge (Keller)