Southlake Carroll Again No. 1 In AP Preseason Poll

DALLAS (AP) _ Guess who's No. 1 _ yet again. <br/><br/>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

Sunday, August 26th 2007, 6:54 pm

By: News On 6

DALLAS (AP) _ 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 left Southlake to make 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 of the state's other classifications.

Copperas Cove captured nine first-place voters to earn the No. 1 spot in Class 4A, beating out No. 2 Waco _ which is also Copperas Cove's rival in District 16-4A. Both 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.