All-Time Matchup Monday: 2006 Southlake Carroll vs. 2008 Lake Travis

LTSLCMainEditor’s Note: Every Monday during the offseason, we’ll bring you our new running series, All-Time Matchup Monday, where we’ll pit two of the greatest teams in Texas high school football history against each other, throw a few theories around on who might come out on top, and then we’ll ask you to settle the debate for us. You can also nominate all-time teams and games. Just tweet @dctf with the hashtag #MatchupMonday with your nominations. Week 1:2000 Midland Lee vs. 1996 Austin WestlakeFan vote results: 2000 Midland Lee Week 2:1970 Austin Reagan vs. 1973 John TylerFan vote results: 1973 John Tyler Week 3:2015 Katy vs. 2013 AllenFan vote results: 2015 Katy Week 4:1983 Daingerfield vs. 1988 Dallas CarterFan vote results: 1983 Daingerfield Why Southlake Carroll would win A win over Westlake in the 2006 Class 5A Division I championship placed Southlake Carroll in rarified air. The victory gave the Dragons and head coach Todd Dodge their third championship in a row, fourth in five years. The 43-29 victory in San Antonio over Westlake also made the winning streak 48 games. Few teams dominated like Southlake Carroll under Dodge, and 2006 was the peak of its powers. Riley Dodge, the coach’s son, was setting records at quarterback. Running back Tre Newton made the offense two-dimensional. Southlake Carroll trailed at halftime to Westlake in the state finals game, but three rushing touchdowns by Newton and some timely passing by Riley Dodge secured the win and a place in history. Dodge, now at Westlake, helped bring in the new age of Texas high school football. Now, his prints are all over offenses around the state. The evolution of 7-on-7 sped up around this time and it helped launch the success and popularity of the modern-day spread offense. Dodge was ahead of his time in that department and tore through the state because of his innovation and the program’s talent. Southlake Carroll averaged over 44 points a game and didn’t score fewer than 40 points in the season until the playoffs. Why Lake Travis would win It took Lake Travis less than a decade to go from one of the worst teams at its classification to a team that won five-straight state championships. The 2008 group is regarded as the best, mostly due to the passing prowess of all-everything quarterback Garrett Gilbert. The future Texas Longhorn set a state record for passing yards in a single season. The perfect record was secured with a win over Longview in the state title game. Lake Travis was 0-10 in 2002 when Jeff Dicus took over. He led Lake Travis to the 2007 title before moving on, and Chad Morris, now SMU’s head coach, was named head coach heading into the 2008 season. His offense crushed teams, even scoring 48 points in the state championship game against a loaded Lobos team, too soon forgotten by those outside East Texas. Morris is an innovator of the highest order, so this is a matchup of not just extremely talented players, but also coaches. Morris went 32-0 at Lake Travis, and had a knack for exploiting a defense's slightest weakness, turning it into a gaping hole. In one year under Morris' guidance, the Cavaliers went from a team that could compete with anyone in the state, to a team that knew it would win every time it stepped on the field. The Cavaliers went on to win three more titles, making it five in a row at the Class 4A level. It was an era of dominance unmatched in the state’s history. It goes down as one of the best dynasties of all-time, while the 2008 team is in the conversation for best singular team in state history. [poll id="94"] Craven’s Pick: Southlake Carroll Lake Travis struggled when it moved up to Class 5A and for those same reasons I’m picking Southlake Carroll. The Dragons could put up as many points as Lake Travis, while the defense and running game were slightly better. Greg Tepper’s Pick: Lake Travis The greatest team in one of Texas high school football's great dynasties. It's hard to see this group of Cavaliers losing to many teams. Max Thompson’s Pick: Lake Travis This wasn't just a team led by Gilbert at his apex, it was a team with three receivers who went on to play DI football in varying roles (Conner Floyd - Tulsa, Michael Brewer - Virginia Tech, Cade McCrary - Texas), two CenTex Players of the Year (Gilbert, Andy Erickson), and an assistant coach who would win state titles at Lake Travis, too, in Hank Carter. All that said, I'd still have them by just a hair over the Dragons. Fan vote: Will be announced next Monday.