We made it.
After more than one month of looking back at the greatest Carroll football players of the Dragon Pride Era (2006-2026), we've finally arrived at the pinnacle.
Twenty years. Hundreds of players. Thousands of games, practices, touchdowns, tackles, catches and memories. There have been state champions, All-Americans, record-setters, future NFL players, and some of the most accomplished high school football players Texas has ever produced.
Narrowing that history down to 20 players was difficult. Narrowing it down to one was even harder.
Because what makes someone the greatest Dragon of this era isn't simply the number of yards they gained or touchdowns they scored. It's the mark they left on the program. It's what they accomplished wearing the green and white, what they meant to their teammates and community, and whether their influence extended beyond the field.
And when you look at the entire 20-year span, one Dragon's story stands apart.
If there is one Dragon who best defines the 2006-2026 era, it is Riley Dodge.
Dodge was a star quarterback when this era began, then returned a decade later to become the head coach who carried Carroll into a new generation. His connection to the program runs even deeper than that. He is the son of Todd Dodge, the legendary Carroll coach who won four state championships with the Dragons from 2002-2006 — including the 2006 title with Riley at quarterback.
Few families have ever had a more direct connection to Carroll football's past, present and future. But Riley's place at the top of this list isn't simply because of his last name.
In 2006, Riley wasn't just the coach's son. He was the quarterback leading one of the most dominant teams in Texas high school football history. Carroll went 16-0, won its third consecutive state championship and finished the season with a 48-game winning streak. For the season, Dodge threw for 4,184 yards and 54 touchdowns while adding 1,119 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns — numbers that helped earn him Texas High School Player of the Year and national player of the year honors. In the state championship game against Austin Westlake, Riley threw three second-half touchdown passes to lead the Dragons back from a 15-7 deficit and secure a 43-29 victory.
That was the beginning of a Dragon legacy that would eventually span two decades. And, arguably, his most significant contributions to Carroll football were still ahead of him.
As a senior in 2007, Dodge continued to pile up staggering numbers and finished his high school career as one of the most prolific quarterbacks in Texas history. Eleven years later, Dodge returned home as Carroll's head coach.
What followed was an eight-year run that belongs in the conversation with the greatest coaching stretches in Texas high school football history. Dodge went 108-10 at the helm, winning at least 12 games in every season. His Dragons won seven district championships, five regional titles and reached the state championship game twice. In five of his eight seasons, Carroll advanced to the state semifinals or beyond.
Then, in October 2025, came perhaps the most fitting milestone of all. Carroll demolished V.R. Eaton 66-7, giving Dodge his 100th career victory. He reached the mark in just eight years and seven weeks, making him the second-fastest coach in Texas high school football history to get there. Afterward, Dodge was presented with a helmet featuring 82 stars for his regular-season victories and 18 more representing his playoff wins.
But even that helmet doesn't fully tell the story.
Dodge's teams weren't simply good. They were consistently good. They dominated their district, developed Division I talent, and kept Carroll firmly planted among the state's elite year after year. And perhaps most fittingly, he did it while carrying the same expectations that had surrounded the program when he was a player.
That's ultimately why he's No. 1. Riley Dodge didn't just have one great career as a Dragon. He had two.