ARLINGTON— Southlake Carroll couldn’t overcome two turnovers in the first half as Austin Vandegrift held on for a 24-17 win in the Class 6A Division 2 state championship on Saturday in front of 26,247 at AT&T Stadium.
The Dragons were denied a chance at their ninth championship, which would have put them in a tie for third all time. They dropped their first game of the season and ended with a 15-1 record.
Carroll was making the title game for the 11th time and first since 2020. The Dragons haven’t won a championship since the 2011 season.
Senior linebacker Scott Buchanan was voted defensive MVP with seven tackles, one fumble recovery and two pass breakups. QB Miles Teodecki was offensive MVP with 248 yards passing and two touchdowns. Teodecki finished 14 of 17 passes.
After having to punt on its opening possession, the Carroll offense went to work with a 7-play, 74-yard drive capped by a 9-yard touchdown from QB Angelo Renda to Brody Knowles with 3:18 left in the quarter.
It didn’t take long for the Vipers (15-1) to answer as they scored two plays later on an 84-yard TD pass from Teodecki to George Farley 30 seconds after the Carroll score. The 84-yard TD was the longest passing and receiving touchdowns in Class 6A state championship history. It was also tied for the second longest in the two largest classification.
Vandegrift took the lead with 8:47 left in the second quarter on a 2-yard rush from running back Brendan Fournier. The Vipers marched 75 yards on nine plays.
The Vipers picked off a pass attempt on the next Carroll drive as Jack Huerkamp got in front of one at the 6:46 mark. The turnover didn’t hurt the Dragons as a 35-yard field goal was missed wide right.
Carroll was able to move past midfield, but Buchanan recovered a fumble with 1:04 to go before halftime. The Vipers got a huge score just before the break on Teodecki’s 10-yard pass to Fournier.
Fournier finished with 160 yards on 28 carries and added three catches for 27 yards.
The Dragons’ defense opened the third with a three and out and three plays into the next Carroll drive, Renda hooked up with his 3-star TCU commit Brock Boyd from 23 yards out to pull them within 21-14.
Carroll then stopped Vandegrift on fourth and 2 inside the 5, however, the Vipers got it back when Matthew Draeken intercepted a pass with 5:45 left in the period.
Vandegrift would kill off more than six minutes on 14 plays before getting a 33-yard field goal from Noah Kalberer to extend the lead to 24-14 with 6:51 remaining in the game.
Carroll got to the Vipers’ 1, but a loss of four and two incomplete passes made it fourth down at the 5. The Dragons couldn’t convert and the Vipers still led by 10 with 2:32 to play. Carroll did get a final field goal from 47 yards by Gavin Strange with one second on the clock.
Renda went 27 of 38 for 351 yards and added 23 on the ground. Christian Glenn, the son of the late former Dallas Cowboys Terry Glenn, rushed for 30 yards.
Boyd had 13 catches for 178 yards. His 13 receptions are second most in a 6A champ game and tied for second most overall in any class. His older brother Brady Boyd had 12 for Carroll in 2020 against Austin Westlake.
