UNIVERSITY PARK – The new era of Southlake Carroll football got off to a clumsy start with a fumble on the opening kickoff.

The end result, a 35-9 win over Plano West, looked like the Carroll of old. It just took a little while to get there.

When Carroll coughed up the opening kickoff at its 12-yard line, it couldn't rely on the likes of Riley Dodge and Tre' Newton to save the day. Both of the former Carroll greats are now in college.

Instead, it was up to the Carroll defense to take pressure off an offense filled with not-so-familiar names.

Carroll's defense held Plano West to a field goal after the opening turnover. Plano West didn't score again until there were less than two minutes remaining in the first game of the Tom Landry Classic at SMU's Ford Stadium.

"That was huge," Carroll coach Hal Wasson said. "When you turn it over on the 12 and hold them to three points, it doesn't get any better than that."

Kyle Padron, Carroll's new starting quarterback, passed for 247 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 35 yards and a score.

Padron and Josh Rake, who caught seven passes for 109 yards and a touchdown, helped get an inexperienced offense on track.

It wasn't until Rake scored on a 39-yard reception in the second quarter that Carroll's offense began to click. Rake took a short pass and spun out of two tackles for the score.

"I'm not going to lie to you, at first I was really nervous, but our defense really stepped up," Padron said. "That's the reason we won tonight."

Padron later led Carroll on a 15-play scoring drive, carrying it himself from the 1 just before halftime.

On Carroll's first possession of the second half, running back Tommy Avers took short pass 65 yards down the sideline for a 21-3 lead.

"We knew going in that we were going to have to dodge the emotional bullet a little bit," Wasson said. "Offensively, we're a work in progress. The only way to get maturity is to go out and play."

Carroll's defense, usually overshadowed by its prolific offense, got in on the scoring when Justin Agnew returned an interception 55 yards for a touchdown.

Plano West moved the ball well enough to gain 295 yards but couldn't finish drives. It took a 55-yard run by quarterback Travis Wilson to set up Plano West's only touchdown, a 1-yard plunge by Darrius Cohen.