High school football: Duncanville defeats North Shore 28-21 in fourth Texas state championship meeting in past five years

It was pure euphoria on the No. 9 Duncanville sideline after the Panthers defeated No. 8 North Shore (Houston) 28-21 in the Texas 6A Division 1 championship Saturday night at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

This was the fourth title matchup in the state's highest classification between these two heavyweights since 2018 and for the first time in the recent series history, Duncanville (15-0) is the last team standing in Texas.

With Duncanville holding a 28-21 lead with 1:09 to play, North Shore quarterback David Amador lined up for a fourth down and four from the Panthers' 15-yard line. He was tackled a half-yard short, turning the ball over with a little over a minute to play in the game.

Duncanville took a knee and ran out the clock. It’s the first state championship in the long and storied career of Reginald Samples, who has won 323 games over three decades at multiple Dallas high schools. Junior four-star running back Caden Durham rushed for three touchdowns and sophomore quarterback Keelon Russell ran for another in the win for the Panthers.

With the game tied up late in the third, Duncanville took the lead on an 8-yard, fourth-down touchdown run by Durham.

North Shore was able to force a punt to get the ball back with 2:17 to play in the fourth. Amador used his legs to drive the Mustangs downfield and into the red zone. The excitement fell in line with the previous three state championship matchups.

In 2018 North Shore won 41-36 on a 45-yard Hail Mary touchdown from Dematrius Davis to Ajani Carter. The next season, it was a one-score game in the fourth quarter before North Shore pulled away for 31-17 victory.

Last year, the game was tied 10-10 late in the fourth quarter when North Shore quarterback Kaleb Bailey heaved a 40-yard touchdown to Amador to give the Mustangs a 17-10 win.

Tonight’s game was tied at halftime as Amador ran for two touchdowns and threw for another in the first half.

Duncanville answered with three scores of its own. Two on rushing touchdowns by Durham and the other, an 88-yard scramble by Russell, the 6-foot-4 sophomore quarterback.

A perennial contender under head coach Jon Kay, North Shore was denied its fifth state title since 2015. The Mustangs are 74-4 since 2018 and have finished the season ranked nationally by MaxPreps each of the past four years.