Mansfield Summit rallies, holds on to stun No. 10 DeSoto in soggy District 7-6A slug fest

Mansfield Summit sophomore defensive back Ahmaad Moses intercepted two passes in the final five minutes to help the Jaguars rally then hold off No. 10 DeSoto 27-26 in a District 7-6A football game on Thursday night at a soggy Newsom Stadium.

Lightning delayed the start of the game for 15 minutes and for 30 minutes twice during the game. A moderate rain throughout plagued both teams.

Summit (7-1, 4-1 District 7-6A) was trailing 26-21 when a bad punt snap by the Eagles set Summit up at the DeSoto 16 yard line.

However, the drive was thwarted when Summit sophomore quarterback Phoenix Meza’s arm was hit as he threw and the ball wound up in the lap of DeSoto defensive lineman Devin Thompson who rumbled 15 yards out to the Eagles’ 35.

On the next play Moses’ first interception gave the ball right back to Summit at the DeSoto 36.

The Jaguars capitalized this time.

Quarterback David Hopkins, also a sophomore, picked up a fumbled snap on a fourth and four from the 30 and hit Hal Presley for a 25-yard gain to the DeSoto 5. Meza and Hopkins are rotating at quarterback in the absence of Kainen McKinney who is still out with an ankle sprain.

Two plays later Navy commit Xavier Toliver darted in from the four to give Summit a 27-26 lead with 2:19 remaining.

After a short kickoff, DeSoto (7-1, 4-1), ranked No. 10 in the state according to Dave Campbell’s Class 6A state poll and 4th in the area in the DFW Class 6A Top 10, took over at its own 34.

It took the the Eagles two plays to reach the Summit 37 with under two minutes on the clock.

DeSoto picked up a first down at the Summit 25, but an illegal procedure penalty and an offensive pass interference penalty pushed the Eagles out to the 45.

After an incomplete pass, that Moses broke up, he picked off a fluttering duck into the wind at the Summit 15 and brought it out to midfield as time expired.

“We came in with the mind set that we weren’t losing and that’s what we ended up doing,” said Moses, whose team needs one more win or a Mansfield Lake Ridge loss to clinch a playoff berth. “Nobody in the state of Texas, in the country, expected us to win this. We just did us.”

Summit trailed 20-7 at the half, but came out on fire to start the third quarter.

A 55-yard kickoff return by Toliver set the Jags up at the DeSoto 25. Eight plays later Hopkins hit Presley with a 9-yard scoring pass to cut the lead to 20-14 with 8:26 left in the third quarter.

Summit defensive back Jalon Rock pounced on a DeSoto fumble on the Eagles ensuing series and the Jaguars had the ball back at their own 49.

After a holding penalty, Hopkins threw a bullet into the wind that Kansas State commit Jaelon Travis managed to wrestle away from DeSoto defenders for a 54-yard TD.

The third lightning delay of the game preceded the point after try, but after being iced for 30 minutes kicker Keaton Foster made the PAT and Summit led 21-20 with 6:52 left in the third quarter.

DeSoto out gained Summit 309 to 265 in total yards, but if not for a 66-yard scoring run by DeSoto running back Joshua Jackson with 3:42 left in the third quarter the total yardage would have been about even.

Joshua Jackson’s TD gave DeSoto the lead back at 26-21.

Summit scored on its opening series of the game when Meza hit Brendan Sirls with an 18-yard scoring pass to give the Jaguars a 7-0 lead with 8:14 left in the first quarter.

But when the second quarter started, so did DeSoto.

DeMarcus Jackson capped a 12-play, 56-yard drive when he darted in for a 3-yard score on the first play of the frame to tie the game.

On Summit’s ensuing series, a fumble was picked up by DeSoto’s Ridarius Branch and returned 24 yards for a TD and just like that the Eagles led 14-7 with 10:50 left before halftime.

DeSoto added to its lead when Eagles’ quarterback Samari Collier hit Kansas commit Lawrence Arnold for 25 yards on fourth down at the Summit 3. Two plays later DeMarcus Jackson gave DeSoto a 20-7 lead with his second score with 5:26 left in the half.

The second lightning delay came with 1:30 left before intermission. The teams had a 10 minute halftime as a result.

This story was originally published October 25, 2019 at 4:02 AM.