Saturday, November 12, 2005

#1 Carroll blows away MacArthur

By TIM MacMAHON / The Dallas Morning News, November 13, 2005

IRVING – Playoff performances don't get much more dominant than Southlake Carroll's against Irving MacArthur. Or so the rest of the teams in Class 5A Division II hope. Defending state and national champion Carroll cruised to a 48-21 victory over Irving MacArthur in a Region I bi-district game that was the nightcap of Saturday's Texas Stadium tripleheader.
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Imagine how bad it would have been if Carroll's starting quarterback played in the second half. Greg McElroy did plenty of damage before halftime, passing for 278 yards and four touchdowns and rushing for another score. "Let's bottle this up and pour it out every week," Carroll coach Todd Dodge said. Carroll (11-0), the No. 1 team in the nation, has eliminated MacArthur (9-2) in the first round three of the last four seasons. Carroll has recorded the three highest-scoring games against MacArthur during fourth-year coach David Beaty's tenure.

Carroll, which has won 58 of 59 games since its promotion to 5A, advances to play Allen in the area round at noon Saturday at Texas Stadium. Here's how lopsided this game was: Carroll had almost as many points (41) as MacArthur did yards (43) at halftime.

MacArthur, No. 7 in SportsDay's 5A area rankings, didn't pick up a first down until a Carroll offsides penalty with two minutes remaining in the half. MacArthur was scoreless at the half despite linebacker Justin Gent's interception return to the Carroll 7-yard line. That interception might have been McElroy's only mistake. He completed 20 of 24 passes. He had a 1-yard rushing touchdown to cap an 11-play, 80-yard drive on the opening possession.

Carroll's second and third possessions ended with touchdown catches by McKay Jacobson, who had nine catches for 181 yards in the half. Corbin Smiter also had two first-half touchdown catches. Tre' Newton, who gained 90 yards on 15 carries, finished the first-half scoring with a 1-yard touchdown run. Backup Riley Dodge added a 14-yard touchdown pass to James Allen in the third quarter.

MacArthur made the score a bit more respectable because of Ron Brooks' big-play trifecta in the second half. Brooks threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Smith, caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Matt Percle and scored on a 76-yard touchdown run.
McKay Jacobson pulls away from a MacArthur defender

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