Texas football championships: Duncanville, DeSoto, Port Neches-Groves win state titles
Day four of the Texas high school football playoffs concluded on Saturday at AT&T Stadium. Port Neches-Groves, Duncanville and DeSoto won state titles.
DeSoto completely dominates Houston Summer Creek to win title
DeSoto’s Marvin Duffey quickly asserted his teams’ dominance, scoring on a 54 yard touchdown 54 seconds into the first quarter. It was all Eagles from that point on.
DeSoto (15-0) defeated Houston Summer Creek 74-14 to claim its second consecutive Class 6A D2 state title at AT&T Stadium. For the first time in program history, the Eagles are reigning and defending champions.
The offensive onslaught produced a new record for points in a Class 6A title game that wasn’t competitive from the start.
“It feels great, man,” DeSoto head coach Claude Mathis said. “Winning 22 straight games. But more importantly -- our kids went undefeated. We are the only team in Texas, in Class 6A, that’s undefeated. We can say that. We’re number one.”
AT&T Stadium was filled with 33,246 fans at the 7 p.m. CT kickoff, but by halftime even DeSoto’s side had plenty more seats available. With a 39-point lead at the break, DeSoto continued to score 28 more points, ending the high school football season with a statement win.
Mathis said it was hard to enjoy the first championship win last season because he was hyper-focused on winning. Against Summer Creek (14-2), Mathis savored the victory.
“This time around, I enjoyed it,” Mathis said. “It felt great. It was time for the kids to see me let go a little bit as well. I’m happy for our kids. I’m so excited for our kids.”
How did DeSoto stay focused after the championship win in the 2022 season?
“They’ve got to believe,” Mathis said of his team’s mentality. “And it’s discipline, and holding each other accountable. And that’s what we did throughout the whole season. ... We have some good leaders.”
DeSoto was in a dogfight in the state semifinal, besting Southlake Carroll 45-38 to advance. Clearly, the Eagles were able to carry over the momentum.
Quarterback Darius Bailey passed for 281 yards and four touchdowns on 16 of 22 passing. He managed an offense that averaged 8.6 yards per play.
“DJ (Bailey) is a great leader,” Mathis said of his quarterback. “And I told him in order for him to get a quarterback that leads to team this year, he’s got to get the young receivers straight. And he did.”
Bailey said the connection he shares with Mathis is a strong one. It translated to a complete dominance in a perfect season.
“When we came in as freshmen, he brought us in just like family,” Bailey said of his head coach. “Coach Mathis is a great coach and I love him to death. I’m glad and very blessed that he’s my coach.”
The Eagles’ leading receiver was Daylon Singleton, who tallied 136 receiving yards and three touchdowns on five receptions. He said he was thinking of all the fans in the stadium and tried not to let it bother him
“Once I got on the field I blacked everything out,’ Singleton said. “And I just played my ball.”
Four DeSoto players recorded a rushing touchdown: Duffey, Deondre Ridden Jr., Jaden Trawick and Bailey.
DeSoto’s defense completely shut down Summer Creek, holding them to 10 total first downs and 1.7 yards per carry. The Eagle defensive line brought the pressure, tallying six sacks.
“It’s exciting, to go back-to-back for our head coach,” Ridden Jr. said of winning the title. “It means a lot. We showed why we are the best team in the country. We continue to dominate game by game.”
Throughout the entirety of the game, Summer Creek didn’t convert on a third down in 11 attempts.
“It felt good to come out here and play as a team and as a family,” said Keylan Abrams, the Defensive MVP with six tackles and an interception. “We came to win for our brothers who are graduating this year and won’t get to play football ever again.”
Back-to-back: Duncanville bests Houston North Shore
Duncanville coach Reginald Samples said that Houston North Shore “owed them some” after the Panthers defeated North Crowley in the state semifinals last week.
Samples and the Panthers got one back on Saturday night. Duncanville raced out to a 25-point lead in the first half then kept the Mustangs at arm’s length the rest of the way in a 49-33 win over North Shore in the Class 6A Division 1 championship before 40,673 fans at AT&T Stadium.
Samples said the key to the game was not turning the ball over, and Duncanville kept moving the chains. The Dallas area powerhouse averaged 7.8 yards per carry and 14.4 yards per attempted pass.
“I thought the kids really played well,” Samples said. “My coaches did a great job of preparing the kids for the game. The kids went out and executed.”
No. 5 Duncanville (14-1) and top-ranked North Shore (15-1) have now played in five of the past six 6A D1 title games. North Shore had won the first three with the Panthers now winning back to back to close the series gap to 3-2 in favor of the Mustangs.
“I really don’t know how it feels,” Samples said of going back-to-back. “It’s still kind of numb.”
Duncanville dominated the first half behind the 213 yard rushing performance of Caden Durham, a 4-star LSU commit. Durham scored on runs of 26, 72 and 92 yards. The 92-yard score was the second longest in 6A title game history, just ahead of teammate Keelon Russell who had an 88-yard rushing touchdown against North Shore a year ago.
“They are such a well coached team,” North Shore Willie Gaston said of Duncanville. “They are so talented. … I think coach Samples and his staff do a tremendous job with those guys.”
Russell added touchdown passes of 39 and 28 yards to Dakorien Moore and Zach Turner, respectively. The latter gave Duncanville a 35-10 lead with 6:59 left in the second quarter.
Christopher Barnes caught a nine-yard TD pass from Kaleb Bailey with 5:01 left in the first half to keep the Mustangs hanging around at 35-17. D’Andre Hardeman also had a touchdown on a five-yard run to tie the game at seven late in the first quarter.
North Shore shut Durham down in the second half, but his 231 yards rushing on 22 carries and three touchdown performance was enough to earn the Offensive Most Valuable Player for the second consecutive year.
Russell, who’s headed to SMU, took over after the break hitting Turner over the middle for a 75-yard score to give the Panthers some breathing room at 42-20 with 2:02 left in the third quarter. Russell added a 10-yard scoring run with 6:29 left in the game.
Russell completed 14 of 20 passes for 288 yards and rushed seven times for 28 yards. Gaston said his play is one of the main reasons why Duncanville is hard to contain, saying he makes the team “more explosive.”
Turner has 13 offers with 11 coming from Power 5 schools. Moore has committed to LSU and the 5-star prospect is the top wide receiver in the country in the class of 2025 as well as the top 2025 player in Texas and the No. 4 2025 player in the nation.
Colin Simmons also went back to back winning the Defensive MVP award. Simmons, a 5-star University of Texas commit, had eight tackles including three sacks and forced a fumble.
Bailey had a big game for North Shore with 239 yards passing completing 19 of 25 and three touchdowns. He added 126 rushing yards on 17 attempts.
Port Neches-Groves defeats South Oak Cliff to win 5A D2 title
Port Neches-Groves scored 11 fourth-quarter points in the final seven minutes to stun Dallas South Oak Cliff 20-17 in the Class 5A Division 2 state championship game on Saturday before 33,913 onlookers at AT&T Stadium.
It is the first state title for PNG (15-1) since 1975 and the Indians fourth overall in eight trips to the championship game. The Indians, No. 3 in the final 5A D2 state poll, lost to No. 4 SOC (13-3) in the title game last season.
“We fought,” said South Oak Cliff head coach Jason Todd, whose team was making its third consecutive appearance at state, winning the first two times. “We came up a little short today.”
PNG head coach Jeff Joseph said the title win was a culmination of the Indians’ hard work.
“We talk all the time -- that doesn’t happen on accident,” Joseph said. “You get what you work for. And these guys have truly bought into that mentality and put in the work.”
South Oak Cliff took a 17-9 lead with 5:17 left in the third quarter when running back Danny Green Jr. found a hole up the middle and raced 44 yards for the score.
Green, who finished with 111 rushing yards on 13 carries for South Oak Cliff, scored the Golden Bears first points with a three-yard run where he stretched to break the plane of the goal line and did.
The Golden Bears defense came up big time and time again, but in the end Port Neches-Groves finally broke through.
The championship game Most Valuable Player was PNG kicker Gio Oceguera who kicked his fourth field goal of the game from 23 yards out to cut the lead to 17-12 with 7:39 left in the game. Oceguera’s four field goals set a Class 5A state title game record and tied the mark in all classes.
Oceguera had field goals of 32, 21 and 31 yards in the first half.
PNG followed with a successful onside kick that was recovered by Max Scroggs at the South Oak Cliff 48. The Indians drove to the SOC 10, but it looked as if the Golden Bears’ defense would hold again and force another field goal, but a controversial pass interference call on third down gave PNG a first down at the South two yard line.
On third and goal from the one, Shea Adams faked a run up the middle out of the Wildcat formation, but raced around right end for the touchdown with 3:32 left in the game to give Port Neches-Groves a 20-17 lead after a two-point conversion run by Isaiah Nguyen.
SOC picked up a couple of first downs on its ensuing drive, but a couple of sacks and a penalty had the Golden Bears eventually facing a fourth and 26 from their own 24. South Oak Cliff tried a trick play, but Mason Wuenschel tackled SOC quarterback William Little for a seven-yard loss with 24 seconds left and PNG was able to run out the clock.
Scroggs finished with eight tackles, five solo, and had a fumble recovery to earn Defensive MVP honors. Nguyen had 111 yards rushing on 19 carries and PNG quarterback Connor Bailey threw for 179 yards completing 14 of 24 passes.
This story was originally published December 16, 2023 at 2:59 PM.
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