Duncanville’s ground game simply too much for Dallas South Oak Cliff

Last week, the passing game did the heavy lifting for the Duncanville offense.

Against Dallas South Oak Cliff on Friday night, it was the ground game’s turn to make a statement.

Senior running back Trysten Smith broke loose on a 53-yard touchdown run on the team’s first offensive snap. He was one of four Panthers rushers to score a touchdown in a 59-3 victory at Panther Stadium.

The nondistrict contest represented a matchup of two highly ranked teams. Duncanville (2-0) entered the night as the No. 1 ranked 6A team, according to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. South Oak Cliff (1-1) is ranked No. 10 in 5A Division II.

The Panthers forced a Golden Bears three-and-out to open the game. On the first play of the ensuing drive, Smith, a Central Arkansas commit, made a quick cut and raced 53 yards up the middle to pay dirt. Smith finished with 73 yards on eight carries. As an offense, the Panthers piled up 227 yards on 30 carries and 339 total yards. Senior running back Camaron Gray, who scored on runs of 10 and 62 yards in the fourth quarter, led all rushers with 84 yards.

Duncanville was set up for another first quarter score after its special teams forced a 10-yard punt. Duncanville took full advantage of the Junior receiver Roderick Daniels capped the resulting seven-play, 30-yard drive on a seven-yard run around right end for a 14-0 lead with 4:49 left in the first quarter. In the third quarter, Daniels took a 99-yard kickoff return to the house for his second score of the night.

The Panthers added to their early lead a few minutes into the second quarter when junior running back Suavevion Persley found the end zone on a 7-yard run.

Defense also played a pivotal role in the Panthers’ success. The lead stretched to 28-0 when senior linebacker Paul Pickens picked up a fumble and rumbled 42 yards. South Oak Cliff’s offense was stifled throughout the first half, but a last-second drive reached the Duncanville 4. However, the Panthers D forced an incompletion on fourth-and-goal with 19.8 seconds remaining in the second quarter.

For the game, the Golden Bears were held to 163 yards of offense. South Oak Cliff’s only points came on a 29-yard field goal by Antonio Loya in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, Duncanville continued to pour it on the in the second half, scoring 31 points, including a 62-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback Chris Parson to receiver Marquelan Crowell.

This story was originally published September 6, 2019 at 10:43 PM with the headline "Duncanville’s ground game simply too much for Dallas South Oak Cliff."