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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 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.

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 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.

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.

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