Video: Shawn Robinson spin move and score
See the DeSoto (Texas) quarterback pull off an epic move.
DeSoto (Texas) football coach Todd Peterman went to the doctor Tuesday.
"My neck flared up," he said by telephone. "Need some medicine."
Watching the Eagles and quarterback
Shawn Robinson can be a little jarring. As in, exciting, frenetic, neck-snapping. Like a roller coaster.
The nation's No. 4 team has pulled out some crazy wins this season — regular-season ones over Midland (49-43) and South Grand Prairie (37-31) — before fighting back from a 16-7 deficit to beat Southlake Carroll 48-30 in the second round of the 6A D2 playoffs.
But nothing could beat DeSoto's 49-45 win over Abilene on Saturday, when the Eagles fought back from a 24-7 deficit and Robinson passed and ran for touchdowns in the final 2:15 to steal the win.
DeSoto will now face
Cedar Hill (Texas), a team it beat 33-18 on Sept. 23 and one that was ranked fifth nationally — No. 1 in Texas — to start the season. The quarterfinal playoff game is at AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
"It's exciting football, that's for sure," said Peterman, the second-year head coach who was an assistant for 22 seasons. "It's not been an easy road but all are hard roads in 6A Texas football. No need to complain about it."
DeSoto, which has never won a state championship, has been painstakingly close before. The most notable close call was a 41-40 loss to Allen last season in the second round of the playoffs. A missed extra point hit the upright that would have tied it late.
Peterman rattled off several other close calls over the years.
"It feels good to finally be on the other side of it," he said.
The other side came last Friday. After a Robinson 55-yard touchdown bomb to
Laviska Shenault jr. closed the gap to 45-42 with 2:15, Abilene fumbled on the next possession and
Kolby Watts recovered. DeSoto was out of timeouts so Abilene could have essentially run out the clock.
That opened the door for Robinson's 13-yard TD scamper with 49 seconds to play. DeSoto held on from there. Peterman noted that Abilene didn't just hand DeSoto the victory.
"Abilene didn't just fumble it away, we stripped it," he said.
And then, of course, the Eagles had to score from there. With the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Robinson in charge, DeSoto is always in good hands. The National Player of the Year finalist has completed 152 of 264 passes for 2,742 yards and 23 touchdowns. He's also rushed 102 times for 1,029 yards and 14 scores.
That's particularly impressive considering the TCU commit transferred to DeSoto from Guyer (Denton) last spring. His mother Andrea accepted the girls basketball coaching job at DeSoto and his father Othell is an assistant on the football team.
Peterman said Robinson's engaging and authentic personality won the team over immediately. He also had to beat out
Courtney Douglas (6-2, 215), a talented quarterback who started last season as a sophomore.
"He's got such a great personality, the kids naturally gravitated toward him," Peterman said of Robinson. "He won the job and both he and Courtney genuinely cheer each other on. It's not fake. It's a blessing to have such great kids."
A blessing too to have someone with the experience of Robinson, a four-year varsity starter, in tough situations.
"He's extremely calm and collected under pressure," Peterman said. "It's just what you expect from a coach's kid."
Peterman is expecting another extremely tight one with Cedar Hill, which is a three-time state champion under Joey McGuire. Of the team's 58 seniors, at least 10 have Division I scholarship offers. This is considered Cedar Hill's most talented team.
Among those with scholarship offers are quarterback
Avery Davis (Notre Dame commit), receivers
Charleston Rambo and
Camron Buckley (Texas A&M commit) and running back
Kaegun Williams.
With more than 60 seniors, Peterman believes his Eagles are poised and determined to prevent another late-season defeat.
"Coach McGuire might be the best in the state to get his guys to play their best just at the right time," Peterman said. "But if Shawn can extend plays and our running backs and receivers can break tackles and get extra yards, we'll be in good shape."
Unlike Peterman's neck.
