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Lake Travis is second to defending 5A Division I champion Southlake Carroll in The Associated Press preseason Texas high school football poll released Thursday.

The Cavaliers are moving up to the state's highest classification after winning five straight championships in Class 4A. Lake Travis had one more first-place vote than Carroll but finished 12 points behind in balloting by sports writers and broadcasters who cover Texas high school football.

Stephenville and La Marque, a pair of longtime 4A powers, have the top two spots in 3A after dropping a classification.

Denton Guyer tops the 4A poll two years after losing in a 5A championship game.

Here is the list of the top ten preseason teams in all 5 classifications (teams of local interest in bold).

Others receiving votes: 11, Arlington Martin 41. 12, Manvel 18. 13, Pearland 15. 14, SA Madison 11. 15, The Woodlands 10. 16, Spring DeKaney 9. 17, La Porte 5. 18, Austin Westlake 3. 19, Hewitt Midway 2. 20, Lufkin 1. 20, Smithson Valley 1.

Others receiving votes: 11, Brenham 16. 12, Nederland 15. 13, Wichita Falls 11. 14, Kerrville Tivy 9. 15, Dallas Kimball 8. 16, Amarillo 3. 16, Wolfforth Frenship 3. 18, Sulphur Springs 2. 19, Sherman 1. 19, Corsicana 1.

Others receiving votes: 11, Henderson 36. 12, Tyler Chapel Hill 32. 12, Gilmer 32. 14, Monahans 14. 15, West Columbia 13. 16, Sealy 9. 17, Bellville 6. 18, Abilene Wylie 5. 19, Kennedale 2. 19, Kilgore 2. 21, Melissa 1.

Others receiving votes: 11, Arp 38. 12, Corsicana Mildred 30. 13, East Bernard 23. 14, Crockett 17. 15, Littlefield 11. 15, Rogers 11. 17, Franklin 8. 18, Garrison 6. 19, Clarksville 2. 19, Commerce 2. 21, Elysian Fields 1. 21, Idalou 1. 21, New Boston 1.

Others receiving votes: 11, Wellington 37. 12, Shiner 23. 13, Hubbard 16. 14, Ganado 14. 15, Albany 10. 15, Lindsay 10. 17, Alto 7. 17, Italy 7. 19, Muenster 6. 20, Joaquin 4. 21, Sunray 3. 22, Mount Enterprise 2. 22, Panhandle 2. 24, Stratford 1.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys are finally home, and out of training camp mode.

Even with two preseason games left in five days at Cowboys Stadium, where the team had a two-hour workout without pads Thursday, coach Jason Garrett said the team is making the transition to the regular season.

"We're a different team now than we were 3½ weeks ago when we started out there in Oxnard (Calif.)," Garrett said. "The training camp is behind us now. ... (Players) have to kind of shift gears, get back in the mode of being back in Dallas and get the right mindset to prepare themselves the right way."

The Cowboys (No. 15 in the AP Pro32) spent all that time in California for training camp, two preseason games and two days of practices with the San Diego Chargers. There is now less than two weeks before their Sept. 5 regular season opener at the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants.

"We've just got to keep the momentum going," linebacker Sean Lee said.

Quarterback Tony Romo and the rest of the healthy starters are expected to get their most extensive playing time of the preseason in Saturday night's game against St. Louis.

The preseason finale is against Miami on Wednesday night, a week before the season opener.

Among the starters who didn't practice Thursday and won't play Saturday are the top three pass-catchers, Pro Bowl receiver Miles Austin (hamstring), Dez Bryant (patellar tendinitis in his right knee) and seven-time Pro Bowl tight end Jason Witten (lacerated spleen).

Garrett said the team is remaining extra cautious with Austin, who missed six games last season because of problems with both hamstrings. Witten is making good progress from the spleen injury he sustained on a hard hit in the preseason opener Aug. 13.

"The most recent update on Witten is everything is going fairly well with him. Obviously it's a very serious injury," Garrett said. "The doctors have seen all of his tests, his blood work all throughout the process and he's scheduled to see another doctor on Tuesday, and hopefully we can get an OK from that. But this is all normal within the process of what we thought right from the outset. ... Everything has come back positive for him and we're hopeful that he can return sooner rather than later."

Austin, Bryant and Witten stood on the sideline for Thursday's session, which was open to the public.

Witten said he is feeling "a lot better" but that there is still a lot of uncertainty as he heals.

"We'll find out soon enough," Witten said while walking off the field. "I'm sure we'll evaluate next week and see where we're at and go from there."

When Austin started dealing again with hamstring problems a week into camp, the Cowboys said they planned to be careful with their top receiver. Garrett said there has been no setback, and that the focus for the Cowboys is to make sure not to bring him back too early with an opportunity to hurt his hamstring again.

"I think everything has been really positive with him since he had the injury. I think he's gotten better and better," Garrett said. "We're trying to, as a staff and as a medical staff, do the right things by him to make sure that these things go away a little bit. He's worked very hard, and in some ways how hard he works might contribute to this."

Cornerback Mike Jenkins still has to have another visit with Dr. James Andrews before he can get clearance to practice and possibly be ready for the season opener. Jenkins has been recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and last saw Andrews 2½ weeks ago.

"He's improving," Garrett said. "Strength in his shoulder is getting better, the range of motion is getting better, his conditioning is getting better."

Notes: There was an announced crowd of 10,121. There were also 54 former Cowboys players, including Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach, who won two Super Bowl titles. ... LB Isaiah Greenhouse, who broke his thumb two weeks ago, was released. The Cowboys have 87 players on their roster, 12 above the limit for the first roster cuts Monday. ... Texas Lottery officials said more than $150 million has been spent on a Cowboys-related game since a partnership that began four years ago. ...

Online: http://bigstory.ap.org/NFL-Pro32 and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL

IRVING, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys have released receiver Raymond Radway and seven other players.

The team also Monday waived two injured players, receiver Donovon Kemp and linebacker Caleb McSurdy, and declared center-guard Kevin Kowalski physically unable to perform because of an ankle injury.

With the 11 moves, the Cowboys still were at 76 players on their roster. They had to make one more cut before the NFL mandated 75-man roster deadline later Monday.

The other released players were tackles Levy Adcock and Tyrone Novikoff, receiver David Little, tight end Harry Flaherty, running back Javarris Williams, cornerback C.J. Wilson and punter Delbert Alvarado.

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston Texans coach Gary Kubiak says rookie kicker Randy Bullock is out for the season after tearing a muscle near his groin.

Bullock, a fifth-round draft pick out of Texas A&M, was competing with veteran Shayne Graham. Bullock was 3 for 4 on field goals and Graham has gone 5 for 5 in the preseason.

Kubiak said Sunday that Bullock's groin "had been bothering him" in recent weeks and he had played through it. Bullock was "black and blue" and could barely lift his right leg, Kubiak said, when he came into Reliant Stadium for treatment following Saturday's 34-27 loss in New Orleans. He will go on injured reserve.

"A sad situation," Kubiak said. "He's going to kick in this league, he's going to kick a long time. Thankfully, we have Shayne, who's done a hell of a job, too."

Graham, 34, is entering his 12th season. He's bounced around the league as an injury replacement following seven years in Cincinnati, which included a Pro Bowl spot in 2005. He went 12 for 12 for New England in 2010 after Stephen Gostowski went on injured reserve with a thigh injury, and kicked briefly for Miami and Baltimore last season.

Graham is 145 for 157 on field-goal attempts inside 40 yards since 2001.

"I think we would've been proud with either one of them," Kubiak said. "I think this situation obviously calls for Shayne to move forward and be our guy. We expect him to do well."

The Texans (No. 6 in the AP Pro32) wrap up the preseason against Minnesota (No. 29) on Thursday night.

Kubiak said center Chris Myers and star receiver Andre Johnson were "both fine" after leaving the game early against the Saints. He said nose tackle Shaun Cody (back) and defensive end J.J. Watt (dislocated left elbow) will both practice this week, but won't play against the Vikings.

Kubiak says he'll decide later whether backup quarterback T.J. Yates will play on Thursday night. Yates, pressed into duty last season following injuries to Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart, is 19 for 32 in the preseason. Veteran John Beck and undrafted rookie Case Keenum are competing for the No. 3 spot on the depth chart at quarterback.

"I've got a decision to make there," Kubiak said.

Yates may get some playing time, because Kubiak wants to see improvement from the second-team offense. Yates went 6 for 11 for 72 yards and was sacked in New Orleans.

"The last two weeks, it's not been very good," Kubiak said. "We struggled up front with some issues, some protection schemes and stuff. In a lot of ways, T.J., he didn't play with the confidence that he normally plays with back there."

Kick returner Trindon Holliday and rookie receiver Keshawn Martin both fumbled twice in New Orleans. The 5-foot-5 Holliday shined in the first two preseason games, returning a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown in the opener, then running back a punt 87 yards for another score in the second. He atoned for the miscues in New Orleans with a 62-yard kickoff return, but Kubiak says he's still hasn't decided whether to keep Holliday on the final roster just to return kicks.

"I've been very pleased with what Trindon has done, but he can't turn the ball over," Kubiak said. "The question is going to be, when we go and set this roster next week, we've got to look at the big picture. Is there a room for just a returner? That question is not going away."

Martin, a fourth-round draft pick, finished his college career at Michigan State ranked second in punt return yards (659) and eighth in kick return yards (1,100). Kubiak said Holliday will field all the kicks on Thursday night, but he's also confident that Martin and safeties Shiloh Keo and Danieal Manning could also handle kick-return duties.

Manning has averaged 27 yards per return in 114 attempts since 2006, the second-highest average since that year.

"Danieal Manning, to me, could be the best kick returner in football if we let him do it," Kubiak said.

Kubiak is also still keeping a close eye on the competition between offensive linemen Derek Newton and Rashad Butler. Newton started against the Saints.

"I think it's been a very good battle," Kubiak said. "I think I'll settle down on that, make a decision here in the next day or so before we get onto Thursday. They both continued to do good things, but nothing's perfect yet, obviously."

Kubiak also said Sunday that linebacker Darryl Sharpton will go on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list as he continues to nurse a quadriceps injury.

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Online: http://bigstory.ap.org/NFL-Pro32 and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL