Oh no, not again! North Shore beats Duncanville, Samples with late TD in state final
Duncanville has been one of the best teams in the nation for the past four seasons.
The Panthers have won 52 games during that stretch with three trips to the state final.
But Galena Park North Shore is the Panthers’ kryptonite.
North Shore denied Duncanville and head coach Reginald Samples yet again, 17-10, in the Class 6A Division 1 state championship game on Saturday at AT&T Stadium.
“They’re not the fastest defense, but probably most athletic. They’re a very athletic team,” Samples said. “I’ll reflect later on, but just kind of numb right now.
“Told them we had a good year. I think we played above expectations. This game, they just did a good job at taking advantage at some of our weaknesses, and we didn’t block well.”
It was the third meeting between the two programs in the state final in the last four seasons.
Duncanville and North Shore first met in the 2018 6A D1 state championship and Duncanville was on the doorstep from a title until North Shore scored on a 45-yard Hail Mary as time expired to pull off the stunner.
The two teams returned in the 2019 final where North Shore won, 31-17.
“Couldn’t focus on revenge or playing them for a third time. You start to think like that and you play scared and out of character,” North Shore coach Jon Kay said. “This was going to be the 2021 team vs. 2021 Duncanville and we said the same thing in 2019 and 2018, and if we’re lucky enough to play them again, we’ll say it again.”
In the trilogy on Saturday, Duncanville and North Shore struggled offensively and were knotted at 10-10 for most of the second half. Both defenses were the highlight of the contest as Duncanville was held to 192 yards. North Shore was limited to 226.
After Duncanville’s seventh and final punt, the Mustangs took the lead on the next play from scrimmage. Quarterback Kaleb Bailey hit David Amador from 39 yards to put North Shore on top 17-10 with under three minutes remaining.
Jayven Anderson picked off a Duncanville pass on the ensuing drive and North Shore ran the clock out.
North Shore’s Ronald Wilson was voted defensive MVP with nine tackles, three for loss and 1 1/2 sacks. Bailey, just a freshman, was offensive MVP with 107 yards on 10 of 13 passing, two touchdowns and 54 yards rushing.
“He’s a good player that you’ll have to deal with in the future. A very talented young man,” Samples said of Bailey.
The teams traded back-to-back-to-back punts to start the game.
Duncanville’s second punt went 37 yards and North Shore had a nice return to set up good field position.
Nine plays and nearly 4 1/2 minutes later, the Mustangs landed the first punch with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Kaleb Bailey to brother Jhalyn Bailey with 2:55 left in the opening period.
The Panthers answered the bell with a dominating drive going 87 yards on 14 plays and eating up more than 6 1/2 minutes. Quarterback Solomon James hit Marcus Vinson to convert a fourth-and-7 and North Shore got tagged with a pass interference that placed the ball at the Mustang 4.
Four plays later, Jordan Crook scored from the 1 out of the wildcat formation that tied the game at 7-7 with 8:15 left in the second quarter.
Both teams made field goals in the third quarter to square the game at 10-10.
Duncanville star running back Malachi Medlock rushed 22 times for 114 yards. James was held to 74 yards on 10 of 18 passing. Crook led the defense with 14 tackles and two for loss.
Amador made seven catches for 76 yards and Xavier Owens rushed 19 times for 71 yards to lead North Shore.
“We’re primarily a running team and we had trouble running the ball,” Samples said. “We were out of our element. We were behind the chains, and that’s not our game. We get into second and long, third and long and we’re out of our element. They have a very good defense and knew that coming in.”
This story was originally published December 18, 2021 at 5:58 PM.
