ARLINGTON — Duncanville High School again became the UIL 6A Division I football state champion with a 49-33 win over Galena Park North Shore on Saturday at AT&T Stadium.
After a competitive start, Duncanville took control of the game with four consecutive scoring drives to finish the first half and thwarted North Shore’s second-half comeback attempts by executing touchdown drives of its own and creating a crucial turnover late.
“I thought the kids really played well. I’m really proud of the effort,” Duncanville head coach Reginald Samples told the media after the win. “My coaches did a great job of preparing the kids for the game, and the kids went out and executed. I thought the key to the game was not turning the ball over and also keeping the penalties down, but that’s the half we didn’t get done.”
Both teams scored on their first possessions as Duncanville senior running back Caden Durham, an LSU commit, ran the ball into the end zone from 26 yards less than a minute into the game, and North Shore responded with a five-yard score from running back D’Andre Hardeman Jr.
Duncanville followed with three straight scoring drives to open up a 28-7 lead. Durham added two more touchdown runs on his way to 213 yards and three touchdowns in the first half and 230 yards overall, while quarterback Keelon Russell, an SMU commit, connected with LSU commit Dakorien Moore for his first touchdown pass of the game.
Russell added another touchdown pass to Zach Turner, but North Shore refused to relent, adding a field goal and a nine-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Kaleb Bailey to wide receiver Christopher Barnes to stay just within striking distance at 35-17 at the half despite being outgained by more than 100 yards.
After a kickoff return for a touchdown was nullified by a penalty and deemed a fair catch on replay review, North Shore elapsed nearly half the third quarter and ended up with a field goal to come within 15 points.
However, that was as close as the Mustangs would get as the teams traded touchdowns for the rest of the game, and Duncanville sealed back-to-back championships with a late interception.
Durham was named the game’s offensive MVP. Russell added 288 passing yards and three touchdown passes, two of which went to Turner, one of two Panthers receivers to surpass 100 yards on the day.
Bailey led the North Shore effort with 365 total yards (239 passing and 126 rushing) and three touchdown passes.
