Both teams are for real.
Duncanville and South Oak Cliff both showed why they are both serious contenders to make it back to state championship games this year. In a nationally-televised game on ESPN2, both teams showed they deserved the Top 25 national rankings from Sports Illustrated Power.
South Oak Cliff is the defending 5A DII State Champion, having beat Liberty Hill 23-14 in 2021 to become the first Dallas ISD school to win a state title since 1958. They are the favorites to repeat. The Golden Bears are Dave Campbell’s #1 Ranked 5A DII Team, one spot ahead of LoveJoy, and will likely be ranked well inside our Top 25 overall rankings next week when they debut. They are a team loaded with players with D1 offers, including over 2/3 of their starting defense.
Duncanville is in the Top 25 of most national rankings and ranked anywhere from the 2-5 best team in Texas. They were the runner-ups to North Shore for the 6A DI title last year. Like the Golden Bears, the Panthers are also a loaded roster full of 4 and 5-star players with D1 college offers.
While South Oak Cliff is the overwhelming favorite to win another state title and will likely be favored heavily in all remaining games, with the possible exception of DeSoto, the conventional wisdom was that Duncanville would be too much for them. But, the Golden Bears showed they could hang with the bigger 6A school, and then some.
Both defenses looked dominant. It is hard to imagine any team scoring more than 25 points on either defense. South Oak Cliff struck first in the game and held a 7-0 lead for most of the first half. With just under 6 minutes to go in the first half, Panthers running back Caden Durham got free for a 99-yard touchdown run to tie the game.
Duncanville had several mistakes you’d expect early in the season, but seemed to get things going in the third and were up 9-7 as they drove towards a score late in the third. But, the South Oak Cliff defense stepped up.
The Golden Bears made a goal-line stand against Duncanville with 3 minutes to go in the third quarter. It seemed like South Oak Cliff took the momentum in the game, but South Oak Cliff couldn’t move the ball against the Panthers.
The Panthers scored on the first play of the 4th on a Jamier Willis to Zach Turner to go up 16-7. The Golden Bears were only able to put up 3 points in the second half. Duncanville put the game away when the backup Quarterback, who entered the game after Willis injured his leg, Keelon Russell, connected with Kaleb Kenney on a 30-yard touchdown pass.
Duncanville held on to win, 23-10.
South Oak Cliff will travel to play at Lancaster next week, while Dunancille will face Jones from Florida.
Photos by First Down Photos
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