Photo by Garrett Caywood
The DeSoto Eagles head into their 2016 season ranked as the No. 8 team in the nation according to MaxPreps in their top 25 list. The Eagles graduated a slew of talented players on last year’s team, but are back in the discussion as far as top teams are concerned.
Their high ranking comes as a result of the elite talent DeSoto will have suiting up this year for them. Four of DeSoto’s players have committed to top tier FBS programs that include Texas, Missouri, LSU and TCU.
Edward Ingram, Xavier Newman, Hyrin White, and Shawn Robinson rank towards the top in their respective positions and are pivotal players that have DeSoto in the mix whenever potential state champions are mentioned.
Edward Ingram is a four-star recruit and will be leading the warfare in the trenches at offensive guard. Ingram at 6-foot-4 and 325 pounds is ranked as the 10th-best guard in the country by 247Sports.com and No.14 by the SportsDay’s Area Top 100 list. Ingram will be making his way to Baton Rouge as he has committed to LSU.
Hyrin White another offensive linemen at the tackle position for the DeSoto Eagles has committed to Missouri. He is listed at an impressive height of six-foot-four and 292 pounds. White is a three-star recruit and ranks at No. 61 for his position.
Continuing the trend of offensive lineman commits is Xavier Newman. Newman will continue suiting up in the state of Texas as he has committed to the University of Texas. The 6-foot-4, 272 pound senior will be lining up opposite of offensive guard Edward Ingram.
Newman is a three-star recruit ranked at 24 and with a trio including himself, White and Ingram battling upfront, this offense is an onslaught waiting to happen.
All three linemen last year helped paved the way for an offense that rushed for 262.3 yards per game along with former standout quarterback and Oregon signee Tristen Wallace lined up behind center. Now that Wallace has graduated there will be a new signal caller and one of the best in the state of Texas.
Shawn Robinson is a transfer from Denton Guyer and heralded as one of the area’s top quarterbacks. If it weren’t for another top quarterback in the 7-6A district named Avery Davis, from Cedar Hill, Robinson would be a shoo-in for District MVP. Robinson accounted for 3,152 yards of total offense and 29 touchdowns on his way to District 5-6A Co-Offensive MVP last year for Denton Guyer.
Robinson is ranked fourth at the position of dual-threat quarterback and the 12th-best quarterback in the state. Robinson will find himself staying in the DFW as he has committed to TCU.
These four gentlemen lead a team that has some of the best recruits in Texas.
Besides their success on the field, there success in the classroom and realizing the importance of being a student-athlete has garnered their respective recruiting process.
Head coach Todd Peterman and his staff do an excellent job of ensuring the success of their athletes in the classroom and on the field.
“One of the reasons that we have a lot of kids offered is they all have excellent grades and already have their SAT scores. DeSoto doesn’t have kids commit and they don’t have the grades, that doesn’t happen,” Peterman said. “So we start when these kids are freshmen and hammer them with grades, parent calls and all the things needed to be successful, SAT tutors and ACT tutors, that goes on behind the scenes to get these early offers.” Coach Peterman said.
“You’re not going to get early offers really if you don’t have good grades and that’s why we have so many besides the kids being great athletes,” Coach Peterman said in regards to why DeSoto has so many FBS commits.
DeSoto will have their season-opener August 26th vs Dallas Jesuit as they begin their run for a 6A State Title.
