Carroll again No. 1 in AP poll

DALLAS — Guess who’s No. 1 yet again.

Southlake Carroll will start another year as the projected team to beat in Class 5A, as the Dragons easily secured the preseason No. 1 ranking for fourth straight season in The Associated Press poll released Sunday.

It’s the 34th consecutive poll that the Dragons hold the top spot, a streak dating to 2004.

During that span, Carroll has won three state titles and 48 straight games.

The last time Carroll lost was Dec. 20, 2003, in the Class 5A Division II championship to Katy — the No. 2 team in the preseason poll, and recipient of the only two first-place votes Carroll didn’t receive.

“There’s not a lot of wiggle room here,” said new Carroll coach Hal Wasson. “The stakes couldn’t be any higher.”

Wasson is tasked with preserving the streak started by Todd Dodge, the Carroll architect who made the rare leap to a Division I head coaching job at North Texas. Dodge’s son, Riley, is Carroll’s senior quarterback and last season’s Class 5A player of the year.

Cedar Hill, the reigning Division II champion that is coming off a 16-0 season, is No. 3 in Class 5A. Rounding out the top five are Smithson Valley and Spring Westfield, which is mourning the loss of star linebacker Herman Mitchell after the senior was shot and killed Friday at a Harris County apartment complex.

A 19-year-old Louisiana man is charged with murder in the death of Mitchell, who had orally committed to play at Oklahoma next season.

But whereas Carroll captured 18 of 20 first-place votes in 5A, voters weren’t as unanimous in many other classifications.

Copperas Cove captured nine first-place voters to earn the No. 1 spot in Class 4A over No. 2 Waco — Cove’s rival in District 16-4A.

Copperas Cove and Waco lost in the 4A state championship games last year.

Waco lost its title shot to La Marque, which enters the season at No. 4 thanks to five first-place votes. Stephenville is No. 3 and Wolfforth Frenship, which perhaps gives West Texas its best chance to win a championship in 4A or 5A since Midland Lee in 2000, is ranked fifth.

The preseason Class 3A rankings are even closer.

Liberty Hill got the No. 1 spot by four points over Giddings, which fell by a touchdown to Liberty Hill in the playoffs last season. Third-ranked Texarkana Liberty-Eylau and No. 4 Celina each received five first-place votes, and in all, the top four teams are separated by less than nine points.

In Class 2A, defending champions Mart and Tatum start the seasons as Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. While in Class A, Alto enters the season with a Carroll-like consensus as the state’s top-ranked team, getting 18 of the first-place votes. No. 2 Windthorst received the other two.

The high school season begins Thursday.

THE POLL

Class 5A

Team Rec Pts Pvs

1. Southlake Carroll (18) 16-0 197 1

2. Katy (2) 13-1 171 4

3. Cedar Hill 16-0 130 6

4. Smithson Valley 9-2 116 9

5. Spring Westfield 13-1 90 7

6. Euless Trinity 11-1 76 3

7. Lufkin 11-1 70 2

8. Allen 13-2 63 10

9. Garland 12-3 42 -

10. Galena Park North Shore 11-1 31 5

Also receiving votes: Austin Westlake 24, Grapevine 20, DeSoto 17, Mesquite 11, Rockwall 9, San Antonio Madison 9, San Antonio Reagan 5, Abilene 5, San Antonio O’Connor 4, Odessa Permian 3, Longview 3, Cedar Park 2, Leander 1, San Antonio Warren 1.

Class 4A

Team Rec Pts Pvs

1. Copperas Cove (9) 12-3 178 -

2. Waco (3) 13-3 161 9

3. Stephenville (3) 10-2 145 8

4. La Marque (5) 15-1 133 6

5. Wolfforth Frenship 12-3 113 -

6. Rosenberg Lamar 13-1 68 4

7. Wichita Falls Rider 9-5 53 -

8. Corpus Christi Calallen 12-1 47 3

9. Dallas Highland Park 11-1 43 2

10. Brownwood 7-7 37 -

Others receiving votes: Texarkana 28, Aledo 24, Denton Ryan 21, Keller Fossil Ridge 13, Brenham 11, Alamo Heights 9, Wichita Falls 6, Austin Lake Travis 3, Denton 2, North Richland Hills 1, Dayton 1, Beaumont Central 1, Corsicana 1, New Braunfels 1.

Class 3A

Team Rec Pts Pvs

1. Liberty Hill (6) 13-2 160 9

2. Giddings (4) 13-1 156 3

3. Texarkana Liberty-Eylau (5) 12-3 153 -

4. Celina (5) 15-1 151 5

5. Snyder 9-4 92 -

6. Royse City 11-2 80 -

7. Gilmer 10-1 79 1

8. Cuero 12-1 41 2

9. Ingleside 12-2 33 -

10. Wimberley 12-2 27 8

Others receiving votes: Robinson 26, Graham 24, West Orange-Stark 17, Decatur 14, Hondo 7, Waco LaVega 7, Vernon 6, Sweetwater 5, Pleasanton 5, Kirbyville 5, Abilene Wylie 4, Midland Greenwood 3, Castroville Medina Valley 2, Canyon 2, Cameron Yoe 1.

Class 2A

Team Rec Pts Pvs

1. Mart (15) 15-1 195 1

2. Tatum (5) 13-2 177 5

3. Refugio 11-2 110 -

4. Cisco 14-2 109 -

5. Newton 8-3 107 4

6. Elysian Fields 9-4 100 -

7. Coleman 9-4 82 -

8. Jefferson 10-2 59 6

9. Farmersville 11-2 38 -

10. Marlin 10-3 36 7

Others receiving votes: Stratford 20, Holliday 15, Schulenberg 9, Lexington 8, Comfort 6, Boyd 6, New Boston 5, Winnie East Chambers 4, Blanco 4, Altair Rice 3, Canadian 3, Teague 2, Grandview 1, Littlefield 1.

Class A

Team Rec Pts Pvs

1. Alto (18) 14-0 195 2

2. Windthorst (2) 14-1 161 1

3. Shiner 8-5 142 -

4. Bremond 5-6 89 -

5. Roscoe 10-2 83 8

6. Joaquin 9-3 81 -

7. Goldthwaite 11-1 71 4

8. Sundown 9-3 68 -

9. Chilton 14-1 50 5

10. Quanah 7-5 44 -

Others receiving votes: Normangee 32, Thrall 27, Memphis 9, Granger 6, Beckville 6, Lovelady 5, New Deal 5, McCamey 5, Albany 4, Nazareth 4, Groveton 3, Gorman 2, Collinsville 2, D’Hanis 2, Falls City 2, White Deer 1, Wolfe City 1.

THE VOTERS

DALLAS — The voters in the 2007 Associated Press high school football poll: David Campbell, Bryan-College Station Eagle; Rick Cantu, Austin American-Statesman; Brice Cherry, Waco Tribune-Herald; Les Giles, Amarillo Globe-News; Oscar Gonzalez, The Monitor; Chris Gove, Odessa American; Tom Halliburton, Port Arthur News; Phil Hicks, Tyler Morning Telegraph; Matt Johnson, El Paso Times; Sam Khan, Houston Chronicle; Dan McCarney, San Antonio Express-News; Mark Miller, Killeen Daily Herald; Andy Newberry, Wichita Falls Times Record News; Evan Ren, Abilene Reporter-News; Benny Rogers, Athens Daily Review; George Watson, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal; Craig Way, High School Extra; Todd Wills, The Dallas Morning News; Nathan Wright, San Angelo Standard-Times; Eric Zarate, Fort Worth Star-Telegram