It’s not uncommon that the final score of a game paints an inaccurate picture of a football game. Such is the case with Thursday night’s final district match-up between DeSoto and South Grand Prairie. Bouncing back from a halftime deficit, the Eagles pulled off a convincing 37-31 win by the time the clock expired.
In a nationally televised competition at the Gopher-Warrior Bowl, South Grand Prairie went tit-for-tat in the first half answering every DeSoto touchdown with one of their own and finishing the first half with a narrow 17-15 lead. The Eagles began to dominate in the third quarter scoring 15 points and completely shut down South Grand Prairie’s offense. Momentum shifted again late in the fourth quarter and the Warriors came within six points of DeSoto. Although the Warriors put forth incredible effort, they were not able to punctuate the Eagle’s perfect season.
DeSoto’s Shawn Robinson, a TCU commit, passed for 201 yards and 1 touchdown and carried for 99 yards and a touchdown. South Grand Prairie’s Nakia Brown racked up 243 passing yards and a touchdown as well as two more rushing touchdowns and 62 yards. J’vian Jackson had 168 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Due to Grand Prairie High’s loss to Duncanville, South Grand Prairie secures the Division 1 2-seed spot for the playoffs. This marks the Warriors’ third consecutive season to advance. DeSoto’s victory marks their tenth win this season and clinches the District 7-6A title. They will proceed into the post season as a 1-seed for 6A Division 2. Due to the Eagles’ Division 2 alignment, they will not meet Allen in playoffs. This likely comes as a welcome transition for the number 2 ranked Eagles who have suffered post-season ending defeats to Allen for the last four years.
