The Brandid Sports Week 4 Game Of The Week between Texas powerhouses Duncanville (TX) and district rival DeSoto (TX) did not disappoint. DeSoto got out to a 14-0 lead, but Duncanville proved to be too much for the Eagles. Duncanville won the district matchup 42-21 and earned Coach Reginald Samples his 300th victory as a head coach.
Samples, is the winningest African-American coach is Texas UIL history. Getting his 300th win was big, but taking the lead in district was more important to Coach Samples. "It was big for us, because we want to win a district title. We want the first round of the playoffs to be in Duncanville. I'm always proud to get that 300th win, but more than that I'm proud of what it does for our team this year." Samples
(Pictured right to left: Cameron Williams, Omari Abor, and Jaylen Early)
The Panthers won the battle of the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The Panther offense rushed for 349 yards, while the DeSoto Eagles rushed for only 58 yards. Oregon commit Cameron Williams and Florida State commit Jaylen Early led the way for Malachi Medlock and Caden Durham who both rushed for over 100 yards and 2 score a piece.
Duncanville QB Solomon James didn't start the game well, but he settled down and took command of the offense. He made smart decisions and constantly kept the Panther offense ahead of the chains. "We just came together as a team. We were down 14, we just knew we had to come together like Coach Samples said all week. We got to grow together as a team and we did that. We scored 21 points in the second quarter and we came back." James
DeSoto got out to a 14 point lead with two Matt Allen touchdown passes. The first was a 99-yard touchdown pass to Johntay Cook on a double move. Allen next touchdown went to Oregon commit Stephon Johnson, as he caught a 7-yard out route to put the Eagles up 14-0. Duncanville would go on to score 21 straight points before half. Allen, threw for 247 yards and three scores. His last score went to Jaylen Bean.
The Duncanville played a complete game in all three phases of the game. The Panther defense caused four turnovers and were disruptive all game. Even though the defense line was without five-star defensive end Omari Abor, they were the strength of the defense with countless sacks and tackles for losses. Colin Simmons and Quincy Wright, were standouts for the Panthers front. Arkansas commit linebacker Jordan Crook, was all over the field and the heart of the Duncanville defense.
Special teams scored on a exciting Dayvian Bluitt 78-yard punt return. I don't know if it was the Brandid sleeve he had on, but Bluitt made a few Eagles miss and got a key block from Keonte Williams to spring him to end zone. The Bluitt return gave Duncanville the lead for good right before halftime.
Duncanville will host Waco Midway next week, while DeSoto will travel to Mansfield to play the Tigers.
YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/GeVQRk-T4v0