Mike Wheeler is synonymous with Dallas Christian football. His name is on the stadium, and in all those championship runs since he took the job in 1992, he’d never had a freshman quarterback start the season opener. That is, until Luke Carney showed up in the fall of 2021.

That first fall camp, the Dallas Christian quarterbacks alternated throwing routes to loosen their arms. When Carney let one rip, the offensive line coach working a blocking drill 20 yards away whipped his head around. He’d heard the football whizz past.

Carney was named the starter that fall, beginning a historic three-year run. Since Carney took the helm, Dallas Christian has posted a 39–3 record and three consecutive TAPPS state championships. Last season, he earned DCTF’s Private School Quarterback of the Year honors after  compiling 4,566 total yards, 47 touchdowns and just six interceptions.

But Carney refuses to allow success to sap his work ethic. He sets a higher bar every offseason and clears it. At the end of his sophomore year, Carney promised Wheeler he’d bulk up from 175 pounds to 200 before the first game of his junior season, and the coach shrugged him off with a chuckle. Carney lifted heavy seven days a week, ate five times a day, and by kickoff of junior year he’d added 25 pounds of muscle.

“For me, it’s just always setting a goal. Trying to achieve something greater,” Carney said. “For me (this year), it’s to win four in a row.”

A state championship in 2024 would be Dallas Christian’s first four-peat in school history, surpassing the 1985-87 run. But Carney’s swan song will require more than just exceptional quarterback play. He’s expected to be the coach on the field, knowing every player’s role on every offensive play. Dallas Christian graduated 18 players from last year’s state title run, 11 of whom will play college football. 

“It’s different for me because I was usually the young guy starting early,” Carney said. “I think it’s important for me to step up as a leader this year, be a lot more vocal and kind of help the younger guys out. Because we’re going to have a younger team this year.”

One of those guys he’ll need to help learn the playbook is TCU commit Chance Ables. The wide receiver moved in from Garland Naaman Forest this offseason. 

Ables won’t have a steep learning curve. The 6-foot-3, 177-pound receiver has played varsity football since his freshman year. The culture shock is in the classroom, transitioning from a 6A high school to one that has just 579 students enrolled in K-12. There’s a 9:1 student-teacher ratio, and Wheeler’s not afraid to call any of those teachers up from the fieldhouse to check that his players are acting right.

If Wheeler had called earlier this afternoon, he might’ve uncovered Carney drawing up plays in class. The 7-on-7 circuit hasn’t started yet, but Carney and Ables are already thinking about the season, building chemistry for what they hope is a special year.

Ables is a Dallas guy through this school year in the mini-rivalry hidden within the DFW acronym. Then, he’ll migrate to Fort Worth. He’s loyal to TCU because they were his first offer. He was injured all of his sophomore season and had no film, but the Horned Frogs opened the recruiting floodgates in November of his junior season. 

Ables also resonates with TCU wide receiver coach Malcolm Kelly and hopes to emulate his journey. Kelly was a high-profile wide receiver out of Longview High School who earned First Team All-Big 12 honors in 2006 and 2007 with the Oklahoma Sooners. 

“He came out of high school and was highly doubted, (then) had a great high school and college career, going to the NFL,” Ables said. “He just had a guy, Quentin Johnston, get drafted in the first round last year. So I know I’ll be in a system where he’ll develop me to where I need to be.”

At this point in the process, Carney’s visits are all to out-of-state schools. Going out of state doesn’t scare Carney; he’s done it before. Carney’s brother, Isaac, was a seven-time high school All-American at IMG Academy. Luke attended the Florida school during his eighth-grade year before moving to Texas. 

He was in Provo last weekend visiting BYU, a school known as “Quarterback U” from the 1980s to the 1990s, with the likes of Jim McMahon, Steve Young, Ty Detmer and Steve Sarkisian. Cal is next up on March 12. Then, he’ll visit Syracuse on March 22, where he cites close relationships with new offensive coordinator Jeff Nixon, quarterback coach Nunzio Campanile and assistant QB coach Manny Harris.