UIL State will wrap up with two familiar foes squaring off in the 6A Division I State Title Game.
Saturday will mark the fourth meeting between North Shore and Duncanville in the state title game in the past five years.
Their first meeting back in 2018 will go down in history as North Shore scored on a Hail Mary on the final play of the game to rip the title from Duncanville’s grasp.
WHAT. A. GAME. 🤯#UILSTATE pic.twitter.com/a5LA0uhhvF
— Texas UIL (@uiltexas) December 23, 2018
The Mustangs have gone on to win the two meetings that followed in 2019 and 2021, meaning Duncanville has yet to be able to add to its 1998 state championship.
Will Saturday finally be Duncanville’s night on the fourth try?
Here’s what to watch for in the final state title game of the week at 7:00 on Saturday.
North Shore Mustangs (15-0)
Head Coach: Jon Kay (9th season: 117-17 record)
Distance to AT&T Stadium: 266 miles
2022 Playoff Results
Bi-District: W 49-3 vs. Dobie
Area: W 43-34 vs. Dickinson
Regional Semifinal: W 49-21 vs. Cinco Ranch
Regional Final: W 38-7 vs. Atascocita
State Semifinal: W 49-34 vs. Westlake
Key Players and Storylines
North Shore made headlines last week by ending Westlake’s 54-game win streak behind 133 yards and three touchdowns from running back Rashaad Johnson and 94 yards and another score from D’Andre Hardeman Jr.
But the story of the season for the Mustangs has been the flexibility of David Amador. After sophomore quarterback Kaleb Bailey went down with a season-ending injury against CE King in late September, Amador slid over to quarterback from his wide receiver position.
He and Evan Jackson have split time at the position in the playoffs with Amador throwing for 174 yards and three scores in the playoffs, while also adding 392 yards on the ground. Jackson, meanwhile has thrown for 405 yards and six touchdowns himself.
North Shore head coach Jon Kay said Amador has been a model teammate with the way he’s handled switching back and forth between quarterback and receiver.
“I don’t think words can describe what David means to this team,” Kay said. “His selfless attitude and unyielding work ethic will serve as an example to the hundreds of younger athletes in this program for years to come.”
Now, Kay said the question will be whether North Shore can maintain the success they found last week against Westlake and throughout the season against Duncanville.
“Duncanville has an amazing football team and it’s easy to see why they have had so much sustained success,” Kay said. “We need David to just relax, focus, and do the things that got us here. We will find out, soon enough, if that’s enough to compete against a team this good.”
When the Mustangs do turn to the air, Duncanville will have to keep close watch on Christopher Barnes, who leads the Mustangs with 295 receiving yards in the playoffs.
Defensively, the Mustangs have two highly touted defensive backs in safety Jayven Anderson and cornerback Jacoby Davis.
On the defensive line, North Shore has been blessed by move-in Elijah Fields. Duncanville will have to find a way to contain him in the trenches on Saturday in order to give its backfield space to operate.
Duncanville Panthers (14-0)
Head Coach: Reginald Samples (8th season; 90-18)
Distance from AT&T Stadium: 15 miles
2022 Playoff Results
Bi-District: W 74-13 vs. Bryan
Area: W 41-0 vs. Wylie
Regional Semifinals: W 35-3 vs. The Woodlands
Regional Final: W 28-21 vs. Spring Westfield
State Semifinals: W 41-0 vs. Prosper
Key Players and Storylines
Reginald Samples and his Duncanville Panthers hope that Saturday will mark the day that they finally earn the state title that has eluded them for the past four years.
The Panthers were buoyed in the state semifinals by running back Caden Durham. He rushed for 206 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. Against DeSoto earlier this year, he topped that by rushing for 309 yards to help carry the Panthers to victory in that game.
When it’s not Durham dominating on the ground, sophomore Keelon Russell has risen into the quarterback role this year to lead the passing game.
The Panthers have plenty of talent at the receiver position to match North Shore’s secondary. Sophomore Dakorien Moore had 83 yards last week and already has 28 Division I offers. Lontrell Turner, meanwhile, is a three-star receiver with 10 Division I offers, giving Russell two good options in the passing game.
Defensively, the Panthers are loaded with talent.
On the defensive line, juniors Colin Simmons and Alex January already have a multitude of Division I offers, while the secondary boasts two three-star cornerbacks in Deldrick Madison and Lamodrick Spencer that will look to make life tough for Amador or Jackson when they’re throwing the ball for North Shore.
Final Thoughts
Both these teams will lean on their ground game with Rashaad Jackson leading the way for North Shore and Caden Durham carrying the rock for Duncanville.
And with the immense talent that both teams possess, expect the nightcap on Saturday to be a relatively close game.
At the end of the night, it could very well be just a play or two that serves as the difference between North Shore getting the better of the Panthers yet again or Duncanville finally earning that elusive second state title in school history.
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