Todd Dodge, who built a dynasty at Carroll, Westlake rides into sunset with state title
Todd Dodge said in July that he was going to retire at the end of the season.
Looking for one more state championship to add to his already hall-of-fame career, his Austin Westlake Chaparrals delivered it on Saturday.
Westlake scored 20 unanswered points and set two UIL state championship records during a 40-21 victory over Denton Guyer in the Class 6A Division 2 final in front of 32,302 at AT&T Stadium.
The Chaparrals end the season 16-0 and capture their third straight state championship and second in the calendar year. They beat Guyer in the 2019 6A D2 final and Southlake Carroll in the 6A D1 final in January.
“We didn’t wish it any other way,” said Dodge, who won 103 games at Westlake since 2014. “We will savor it because we love the game of football and love each other, love being around each other. They made history tonight, they are in rare history in the state for big school football. It’s not done very often and I’m proud of them for that.”
Dodge, who also built a dynasty in the early 2000s at Carroll, ends his career with seven championship titles. He won four titles at Carroll from 2000-06 and posted a 98-11 overall record with the Dragons, including 79-1 from 2002-06.
“He’s made football in Texas, he’s changed it for the better,” Guyer coach Rodney Webb said of Dodge.
Guyer (14-2), who lost to Westlake 24-0 in 2019, went pound-for-pound with the Chaparrals through 2 1/2 quarters and took a 21-20 lead on Jackson Arnold’s 6-yard run with 6:46 left in third quarter.
But the Wildcats wouldn’t score again.
“We had to weather the storm and we took that lead midway in the third quarter and we were playing well at that point. We had another storm to weather after that we couldn’t overcome,” Webb said.
“We took the field tonight thinking we’re going to win. We talked about playing bold all week. We were the underdogs I think in every media outlet in the state.”
Clemson-bound quarterback Cade Klubnik and star wideout Jaden Greathouse connected on two long touchdowns of 69 and 71 yards. The first gave the Chaps a 30-21 lead late in the third and his second put them up 37-21 with 9:05 left to play.
Greathouse, a 4-star prospect, finished with seven catches and a UIL state championship record 236 yards (all classes) with a 6A-tying three touchdowns. The previous 6A mark was 218 yards and the overall was 224, both set in 2018.
Westlake kicker Charlie Barnett set another UIL state championship record in all classifications when he booted a 53-yard field goal that put the Chaps up for good at 23-21 with 3:11 left in the third period.
The previous long was 48.
Mark Sayegh added a 23-yard field goal late in the game.
“It’s tough to do, really tough to do,” Dodge said. “We had one title in 25 years before we won in 2019. Then we won in 2019 and it ignited our football program and the community.”
With Carroll, Dodge went 16-0 and the Dragons were named national champions by USA Today in 2006 after defeating Westlake in the title game. Riley Dodge, his son, was the starting quarterback.
This story was originally published December 18, 2021 at 10:21 PM.
