Ranked No. 1 in Texas, Southlake Carroll football eyes long-awaited state title
In the aftermath of a heartbreaking 24-17 loss in the 2024 Class 6A Division II state title game, Southlake Carroll head coach Riley Dodge said that, eventually, Dragon football will win a championship.
With any other program, that may seem like an overconfident remark — but at Carroll, a program with eight state and three national titles, competing at the highest level is the longtime expectation.
Deep playoff runs are the norm, but since 2011, the Dragons have fallen just short of getting over the hump.
Last season, Carroll had an extremely young squad that overachieved while grinding through a gauntlet of close playoff games. Making the championship game was a great accomplishment, but the team wasn’t satisfied with a consolation prize.
“Since the offseason, we’ve had that bad taste in our mouth,” said receiver Brock Boyd, an Ohio State pledge and the Star-Telegram’s No. 1-ranked area player to watch. “And we went back to work for about 27 weeks, we’ve been grinding.”
Carroll enters 2025 with something no other Fort Worth-area 6A team can match: 19 returning, battle-tested starters.
The expectations are higher than ever. Dave Campbell’s Texas Football ranks Carroll No. 1 in Class 6A, the highest level of Texas high school football.
Dodge said the process still goes in order — through district, Thanksgiving and state — just like any other season.
“We don’t hide from outside noise and praise,” Dodge said. “If someone’s going to name us the No. 1 team in the state of Texas, what is it supposed to look like each and every day?”
To Boyd and senior quarterback Angelo Renda, if the Dragons are going to be labeled as the kingpins of Texas football, they’re going to continuously earn that right with hard work fit for a champion. The downfall of top teams in often complacency.
The Dragons have a saying: Take the target on their back and put it on the team in front of them.
“We’ve got to come in with a chip on our shoulder,” Renda said. “We’re at Southlake Carroll — we’ve always had a target on our back. We want to compete to prove everyone right.”
Brock Boyd ‘best receiver in Texas’
With all those talented starters returning, the Dragons’ greatest assets are experience and continuity.
That starts with Boyd, who recorded 1,910 total yards and 20 touchdowns en route to a MaxPreps All-American selection. The Buckeye commit shredded double teams all season with blistering speed and surgical route running.
“I believe he’s the best receiver in Texas,” Renda said. “So, if I get him the ball in open space, he can make some plays. He’s a great teammate, great leader, and definitely a guy you want to have on your team.”
Getting Boyd the ball is Renda, a three-star Pitt pledge who passed for 3,899 yards and 40 touchdowns last season. He also rushed for 667 yards and 14 touchdowns en route to Star-Telegram All-Area First Team honors.
Renda will lead an offense that is far ahead of schedule on installation, which should allow the unit to start the season firing on all cylinders.
“[Renda] is our veteran. He’s our guy,” Boyd said. “So, I mean, I expect him to take control, but he’s not alone when he does it. We have a lot of guys around us that have played a lot of ball, so we can help kind of take on that load with him.”
That includes Brody Knowles, a 6-foot-4 receiver that Dodge calls a “matchup nightmare.” The talent runs deep with junior Blake Gunter, the 2024 Star-Telegram Newcomer of the Year, who is “as explosive as it gets,” Dodge said. The duo combined for over 1,300 yards.
“Whenever I get doubled, we have other dogs that can eat,” Boyd said.
At running back, the Dragons will return three-star Davis Penn, the 2023 Star-Telegram Newcomer of the Year. He suffered a season-ending knee injury in the 2024 playoffs. When healthy, he is one of the premier running backs in Texas.
“[Penn] is doing great,” Dodge said. “I’m going to put him on a pitch count — take care of him during fall camp. He is a veteran kid. He has played a lot of football for us. He is not going to get hit a lot during camp, but he’ll be ready to go for Week 1.”
The Dragons will lean on Penn for ground production but will have more backs that complement him and keep the backfield fresh.
They’ll operate behind an offensive line packed with Division I talent that includes junior Michigan pledge Tristan Dare, junior Oklahoma commit Luke Wilson and senior Memphis pledge Carey Clayton.
“They make my job really easy,” Renda said. “They’re a very talented group and very smart last year. Last year, there were a lot of first-year starters. ... They stepped up in a big way.”
A dangerous Dragon defense
Defensively, the Dragons have the same continuity and veteran experience. Although the Dragons are known for having state-leading offenses, the defense will start fast, strong and effective.
“Our defensive staff does an unbelievable job of putting a lot on our kids,” Dodge said. “It’s a big boy defense. We have to really communicate. But we have some smart kids.”
Senior defensive back William Chen, an all-state selection and a Brown pledge, will be a key player. So will linebacker Robbie Ladd, a District 4-6A first-team selection who had more than 100 tackles as a junior.
Also, keep an eye on kicker Gavin Strange and punter Zac Hays, who redefine what it means to be specialists; Strange made 41 tackles as a safety, and Hays had 77 tackles as a defensive end.
Fall camp goals
Even with the best talent in Texas, the injury bug can hit any football team. The Dragons know that better than most with Penn and running mate Riley Wormley, now at USC, going down to injury last year.
During fall camp, Dodge said the main priority is taking care of the players.
“We’re being physical during fall camp,” Dodge said. “We didn’t do spring ball, so it’s been since December since we put pads on. So, we got to knock the cobwebs off a little bit. But I want them to stay in the moment. I want them to worry about each and every day, not get too far ahead of ourselves.”
As the Dragons aim to maximize their potential, one of the staff’s main messages to the players is simple: know your role and “do your 1/11th.”
“We’re really experienced, so the stakes are pretty high for us,” Boyd said. “We have a lot to lose, but we don’t really feel the pressure. We’re all really, really excited to do what we’re supposed to do and work really hard.”
That hard work can be achievable for a day or two. To Dodge, he wants to see the same energy every practice — to keep building and building and stack up good days.
“It’s easy to come out here Day 1 and use helmets,” Dodge said. “But can we be consistent Day 1 and also Day 12? Does it look the same? Is it getting better? Are we improving the energy and the effort?”
The early wake-up calls and practice in the Texas heat can be challenging for any teenager to attack, yet Dodge said the team’s passion shines through in the tough moments.
“What fires me up about this locker room is that they love football,” Dodge said. “They have a fire in their belly, especially after last year ended.”
To win a state title at Southlake Carroll cements your legacy in a program that is arguably the greatest in the history of Texas football. This 2025 team can return the Dragons back to the top, somewhere they’ve been so close to for over a decade.
“We want to win for each other and win it for this program,” Renda said.
This story was originally published August 11, 2025 at 1:34 PM.
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