Running back helps DeSoto overwhelm Coppell

By Travis L. Brown

Special to the Star-Telegram

ALLEN -- Text messages flooded DeSoto coach Claude Mathis' phone all week.

As early as Sunday, Mathis' players felt the need to voice their readiness for Saturday's Class 5A Division I area-round matchup game Coppell.

The messages rang true in a near-flawless performance against Coppell, running away with a 42-14 win at Allen's Eagle Stadium.

Speedy running back Dontre Wilson carried the ball 24 times for DeSoto (12-0) for 199 yards and four scores, including one spanning 71 yards in the first quarter.

"Once we get our zone going and the holes start opening -- that's where it happened," Wilson said.

In the second quarter, a 46-yard catch-and-run off a screen pass proved his superior speed and agility. After pulling in the catch with one hand, Wilson cut by a defender into the middle of the field, only to spin out of traffic toward the other sideline.

"We knew it but it's not like you could grab your scout team and duplicate it," Coppell coach Joe McBride said. "You just had to grab your track shoes and run as fast as you can and it wasn't fast enough at times."

For Coppell (11-1), Saturday marked the end of a successful yet difficult season, finding ways to heal after the death of wide receiver Jacob Logan and yet remaining one of the top teams in the state and, according to Mathis, the best defense DeSoto has faced this season.

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