6A

Duncanville Wins Back-to-Back 6A Division 1 State Titles

by
KP Kelly
December 16

For the 5th time in 6 years, the Duncanville Panthers and North Shore Mustangs faced off for the 6A Division 1 State Championship. North Shore got the best of Duncanville in the first three championship matchups, but Duncanville beat North Shore last year. North Shore came into the game undefeated and ranked either #1 or #2 in the state, along with DeSoto, and ranked as a top 10 team in the nation. Duncanville came in with just one loss, 1 35-49 loss to the DeSoto Eagles.

Less than a minute into the game, all-world running back Caden Durham broke free for a 26-yard touchdown, putting the Panthers up 7-0 and setting the tone for Duncanville. On the first North Shore drive, they converted on a third and short to keep the drive going in their first series of downs, and a few good runs from D’andre Hardeman got the Mustangs past the 40-yard line. But a sack backed up the North Shore offense, and they were forced to punt.

Duncanville was unable to move the ball on their next drive and punted. On the Mustangs’ next drive, QB Kaleb Bailey hit Terrance Guillory for a 66-yard pass down to the 1-yard line. The officials reviewed the call and ruled Guillory out at the 5-yard line. D’Andre Hardeman Jr. punched it in on the next play to tie the game at 7 with 5:17 to go in the first quarter.

Duncanville took the kickoff past the 40-yard line to put the Panther offense in great field position. Keelon Russel hit Dakorien Moore for a 5-yard pass on the first play. Still, a holding call on the play backed the Panthers up. 2 plays later, Duncanville ran a trick play that resulted in Russel running for over 30 yards, but an illegal motion call brought the ball back and had Duncanville in a 2nd and 23. On the next play, Durham broke free again, running for a 72-yard touchdown, taking him over 100 yards in the first quarter, and giving Duncanville a 14-7 lead.

The Duncanville Panthers forced a 3 and out for North Shore on the next drive, and got the ball back to their offense with just over 2 minutes to go in the first quarter. Durham picked up another 25+ yards rushing on a few carries in the next drive, then Russel hit Moore for a 39-yard touchdown and a 21-7 lead with 1:27 to go in the first quarter. North Shore started to move the ball on their next drive as the first quarter ended with the Mustangs having the ball 3rd and 8 from the 50-yard line.

Second Quarter

Bailey went deep on third down to start the second quarter, but it fell incomplete and North Shore punted back to Duncanville. North Shore pinned Duncanville back to the 8-yard line, but Caden Durham broke free again for a 92-yard touchdown to put him over 200 yards rushing just 1 minute into the second quarter and put Duncanville up 28-7.

On the following North Shore Drive, they faced a 4th and 2 from their own 46-yard line, but Kaleb Bailey broke through the Duncanville defensive line and ran down the sideline for 49- yards to the 5-yard line. The Duncanville defensive line wouldn’t let the Mustangs gain a yard from there, and North Shore had to settle for a field goal to cut the lead to 28-10 with 8:13 to go in the second quarter.

The Duncanville offense got right back to work on the next drive. Durham converted on a third down, then Russel hit Zach Turner for a 28-yard touchdown and a 35-10 lead. On the next North Shore drive, Bailey called his own number a few plays in a row, using his legs to get the Mustangs inside Duncanville territory. Two 15-yard penalties by Duncanville star Colin Simmons put North Shore inside the 5-yard line, and North Shore scored on a Bailey to Chris Barnes touchdown to cut the Panther’s lead to 35-17 with 5:01 to go in the first half.

The North Shore defenses forced their first stop and got the ball back to their offense with just over 3 minutes to go in the first half. However, the Mustangs could not get anything going on offense and punted back to Duncanville with 1:10 to go in the first half.

Second Half

North Shore started to get the offense going with a long drive to start their opening drive of the half, lasting half the quarter. They stalled out at the 18-yard line and connected on a 35-yard field goal to cut the lead to 35-20. However, a few minutes later, with 2:02 to go in the quarter, Russell hit Turner for a 75-yard touchdown. On the kickoff, Devin Sanchez returned it 58 yards to the Duncanville 41-yard line. North Shore scored on a Bailey to Barnes 11-yard touchdown pass, but the two-point conversion was no good. The lead was 42-26 with 10:24 to go.

On the next Duncanville drive, they picked up a first down on a 4th and 1 near midfield, then Russell hit Ayson Theus for 28 28-yards to put the ball down to the 10-yard line. Russel ran it in on the next play for his 4th touchdown to push the lead to 49-26 with 6:29 to go in the game. On the next Mustangs drive, they connected on a 48-yard pass from Bailey to Deion Deblanc to the 28-yard line. They then scored on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Bailey to Jaylen Bocard and cut the lead to 49-33 with 5:46 to go.

North Shore attempted an onside kick on the kickoff and had a chance to recover it, but Duncanville recovered. The Panthers were not able to move the ball on their drive, and went for it on 4th down in their own territory. They did not get it and turned it over on downs. North Shore had life, but, on the next play, Colin Simmons caused a fumble and Duncanville recovered the ball.

North Shore made a stop and got the ball back once more, but Ka’Davion Dotson-Walker intercepted Bailey to ice the game. Russell took 3 knees to end the game.