Southlake Carroll has risen from 20th to No. 16 in the latest MaxPreps Xcellent 50 National Baseball Rankings. The Dragons are 30-4-1 and will play Midland in a best-of-3 5A Region I quarterfinal starting Friday.
Carroll is the only team from the Dallas-Fort Worth area in the rankings. Here are the Texas teams in the top 25, along with their class and region. (Region … [visit site to read more]
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After spring football, SportsDay put out projected rankings for this fall. In Class 4A, Denton Guyer was No. 1, Highland Park was No. 2 and West Mesquite was No. 3. I think any of those teams could end up No. 1 in the area rankings at some point during the upcoming season.
And I think the same about No. 4 Wylie East. With the kind of weapons Wylie East has coming back on offense, the Raiders might even be worthy of the No. 1 spot in the preseason.
I know that’s a tough sell for some. Wylie East will only be playing its third varsity season and it has yet to win a playoff game. The Raiders also might not have much depth and get bitten by a key injury, but great depth is rare in 4A.
Wylie East has a solid core coming back on defense, including linebacker Chase Eckles and defensive back Tieric Bible. But what comes back on offense could be really scary for opposing defenses.
WR Marcell Ateman caught 67 passes last season for 1,047 yards and 10 TDs. WR Quan Jones had 41 catches for 420 yards and 4 TDs. Both those guys are 6-4 and among the area’s top receiving recruits. Tight end Jesse Brubaker caught 22 passes for 262 yards and 3 TDs.
Throwing to them will be junior Garrett McCain, who was the District 10-4A Sophomore of the Year last season. Excellent numbers for a sophomore, with 2,215 yards passing and 21 TDs to only 5 INTs.
And at running back, Jabari Anderson is back. He only rushed for 2,144 yards last season, averaging nearly 200 yards per game.
Wylie East will have a lot of newcomers on the offensive line, and yes, an offense without a solid line can collapse like a house of cards. But the Raiders could be very scary when they have the ball.
They’ll certainly be fun to watch.