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Duncanville vs. DeSoto is greatest rivalry in Texas, and here are their best players ever

NFL Pro Bowlers, Super Bowl champions and a plethora of state champions headline these lists.

Duncanville vs. DeSoto has become the biggest rivalry in Texas, and the two national powerhouses that are nine miles apart meet again at 7 p.m. Friday at DeSoto.

Only 19 schools in UIL history have won three or more state titles in a row in 11-man football, and Duncanville and DeSoto both have a chance to join that prestigious list this season. The only Dallas-area schools to achieve a state title three-peat or better are Celina (1998-2001), Southlake Carroll (2004-2006), Allen (2012-2014) and Highland Park (2016-2018). Aledo, west of Fort Worth, has had two three-peats (2009-2011 and 2018-2020).

Duncanville has finished in the top 25 in the MaxPreps national rankings each of the past six years and is No. 4 this season. DeSoto is No. 17 this year after finishing 21st in 2022 and fifth last season.

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A lot of great talent has come through the two schools, especially recently. Here is a look at the top 10 players in each school’s history, as ranked by Staff Writer Greg Riddle. What the players did in high school, along with what they did in college and/or the NFL factored into the choices.

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Duncanville

1. Barry Foster, RB

He was a two-time Pro Bowler with the Pittsburgh Steelers and was a first-team All-Pro in 1992 after ranking second in the NFL with 1,690 rushing yards. He finished second that year behind Cowboys Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, and Foster had more yards than Hall of Famers Thurman Thomas and Barry Sanders.

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2. Ray Crockett, DB

He is a two-time Super Bowl champion and played 14 seasons in the NFL, recording 36 interceptions.

LSU running back Caden Durham (29) runs for a touchdown in the second half of an NCAA...
LSU running back Caden Durham (29) runs for a touchdown in the second half of an NCAA college football game in Baton Rouge, La., Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. LSU won 34-17. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)(Gerald Herbert / AP)
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3. Caden Durham, RB

The four-star LSU signee was the nation’s fifth-ranked running back in the Class of 2024. As a senior last year, he was a MaxPreps first-team All-American and ran for 2,027 yards and scoring 40 touchdowns (36 rushing) for a state championship team that finished No. 8 in the MaxPreps national ranking. Durham ran for 3,987 yards and 72 touchdowns in his final two seasons, and he scored a touchdown in all 29 games that he played in during that span. He was on Duncanville’s state championship 4x200-meter relay team that broke the high school national record last season with a time of 1:22.25, and he ran on Duncanville’s state runner-up 4x100 relay team that ran 39.47, the fourth-fastest time in U.S. history. As a freshman, he is the leading rusher for nationally ranked LSU.

4. Keelon Russell, QB

Duncanville is 33-1 with Russell at quarterback and has won back-to-back Class 6A Division I state titles. This year, Duncanville is ranked No. 4 in the nation by MaxPreps and has a chance to finish in the top eight nationally for the third straight season. The five-star Alabama pledge, the nation’s third-ranked quarterback in the Class of 2025, has thrown for 4,920 yards and 58 touchdowns, with only four interceptions, in 19 games since the start of the 2023 season while completing 73% of his passes. He is averaging 359.3 passing yards and five touchdown passes per game as a senior.

Duncanville’s Dakorien Moore (1) pushes past Galena Park North Shore’s Chace Calicut (33)...
Duncanville’s Dakorien Moore (1) pushes past Galena Park North Shore’s Chace Calicut (33) the Class 6A Division I state championship game on Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.(Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)

5. Dakorien Moore, WR

The five-star Oregon pledge is rated the No. 1 wide receiver in the nation, the No. 1 recruit in Texas and the third-best player in America in the Class of 2025. The MaxPreps first-team junior All-American had 71 catches for 1,523 yards and 18 touchdowns while averaging 21.5 yards per catch for Duncanville’s state title team last year, and he is averaging 109.5 receiving yards per game as a senior this year while also playing some cornerback and punting. He ran on Duncanville’s 4x200 relay team that broke the national record last season and also ran on the state runner-up 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams.

6. Colin Simmons, DL/LB

The five-star Texas signee was rated the No. 2 edge rusher in the nation and the No. 5 recruit in Texas in the Class of 2024. The Under Armour All-American had 199 tackles, 70 tackles for loss and 44.5 sacks in his final three years at Duncanville. As a junior in 2022, he broke the school record for most sacks in a season with 22.5, and he also had 33 tackles for loss and 45 quarterback hurries while being named a first-team MaxPreps All-American and The Dallas Morning News All-Area Defensive Player of the Year as undefeated Duncanville won its first state title since 1998.

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7. Adam Butler, DT

He has a Super Bowl ring, and now in his seventh season in the NFL, he has 22 career sacks.

8. Ricky Williams, RB

This isn’t the former Texas star who won the Heisman Trophy in 1998 and played 11 seasons in the NFL. Duncanville’s Ricky Williams was a star at Texas Tech and ran for 1,582 yards in 1998 and scored 42 career touchdowns in his college career. He led the Big 12 in receptions with 92 in 2001 and ranked second in the conference in rushing yards in 1998. He played two years in the NFL, both with the Colts.

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9. Ja’Quinden Jackson, QB

The four-star Texas signee was a high school All-American and led Duncanville to back-to-back state runner-up finishes in 2018 and 2019. He was the No. 3 dual-threat quarterback in the country in the Class of 2020 and was moved to running back in college and spent one season at Texas (was redshirted), three at Utah and is now at Arkansas.

10. Ennis Rakestraw Jr., DB

The 2019 Dallas Morning News All-Area Defensive Player of the Year didn’t allow a touchdown pass that season as Duncanville was the state runner-up. He was a standout at Missouri and was a second-round pick by the Detroit Lions in the 2024 draft.

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Just missed the cut: CB Dashaun Phillips, RB Josh Harris, RB William Powell, OL William Glass, DB Chris Thompson Jr. Phillips, Harris, Powell and Glass all played in the NFL, and Thompson was a high school All-American.

Los Angeles Rams outside linebacker Von Miller holds up the Lombardi Trophy after the Rams...
Los Angeles Rams outside linebacker Von Miller holds up the Lombardi Trophy after the Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl on Feb. 13, 2022, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)(AP Photo/LynneSladky)

DeSoto

1. Von Miller, LB

He has won two Super Bowls, been a Super Bowl MVP, has been selected to the Pro Bowl eight times and is a three-time All-Pro selection. He was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft and has 126.5 career sacks, tied for 17th in NFL history. He has seven seasons with 10 more sacks and has 167 career tackles for loss.

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He is currently serving a four-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. The NFL did not reveal the reason for the suspension when it was levied Oct. 1. Miller was accused last November of assaulting his pregnant girlfriend and turned himself in to Dallas-area police. No charges have been filed. Miller said in July he considered the case closed based on feedback from his attorneys.

2. Byron Hanspard, RB

He ran for 4,135 yards and 29 touchdowns in three years during an All-American career at Texas Tech, and he finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1996. He was a second-round pick in the 1997 NFL draft and ran for 718 yards in two seasons in the pros.

3. Tatum Bell, RB

He was a second-round draft pick in 2004 and ran for 2,773 yards and 16 touchdowns in five years in the NFL. His best season came in 2006, when he ran for 1,025 yards for the Denver Broncos.

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4. Jalen Mills, CB

He has a Super Bowl ring and has seven career interceptions in the NFL. He was an All-American at LSU.

5. Ed Ingram, OL

He played on LSU’s 2019 national championship team, blocking for Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow. He was also on DeSoto’s 2016 state championship team. He was a second-round draft pick in 2022 and started the first 36 games of his NFL career for the Minnesota Vikings.

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6. Ellis Hobbs, DB

He played six years in the NFL and had 10 career interceptions and returned three kickoffs for touchdowns.

Texas wide receiver Johntay Cook II (1) scores a touchdown against UTSA during the first...
Texas wide receiver Johntay Cook II (1) scores a touchdown against UTSA during the first half of an NCAA college football game in Austin, Texas, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)(Eric Gay / AP)

7. Johntay Cook II, WR

The five-star Texas signee was the No. 3-ranked wide receiver in the nation in the Class of 2023. He had 84 catches for 1,478 yards and 22 touchdowns for DeSoto’s 2022 state championship team, and he was named The Dallas Morning NewsAll-Area Offensive Player of the Year.

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8. Patrick Crayton, WR

He had an eight-year NFL career and spent six of those seasons with the Cowboys. He had 247 career catches for 3,650 yards and 25 touchdowns.

9. Keylan Abrams, DE/LB

The TCU pledge was The Dallas Morning News All-Area Defensive Player of the Year as a junior last season after setting a new school record with 23.5 sacks as DeSoto won its second straight Class 6A Division II state title. He had six sacks in a 49-35 district win over 6A Division I state champion Duncanville and five sacks in a 54-14 nondistrict rout of 5A Division II state runner-up South Oak Cliff. Abrams had 161 tackles, 44.5 tackles for loss and 34 sacks during his sophomore and junior years.

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10. DJ Bailey, QB

DeSoto has had higher-profile recruits than Bailey at quarterback, with Illinois signee Samari Collier, TCU signees Shawn Robinson and Desmon White and Oregon signee Tristen Wallace. And Ryan Polite ranks 14th in state history with 10,721 career passing yards. But Bailey, a three-star Sam Houston State signee, had more success at DeSoto than any QB in school history. DeSoto was 29-2 and won back-to-back Class 6A Division II state titles in the two years that Bailey was the full-time starter, and he threw for 7,144 yards and 89 touchdowns, with only four interceptions, in that span. While leading DeSoto to a 15-0 record and No. 5 national ranking as a senior, Bailey threw for four touchdowns in a 49-35 win over 6A Division I state champion Duncanville in district play, and he accounted for five touchdowns in a 65-31 win over Willis and Gatorade National Player of the Year DJ Lagway (a five-star quarterback who signed with Florida) in the regional semifinals.

Just missed the cut: WR Laviska Shenault Jr., QB Shawn Robinson, RB Cyrus Gray, DT Marcus Tubbs, DT Byron Murphy II. Tubbs and Murphy were first-round NFL draft picks, and Gray and Shenault have also played in the NFL. Robinson was a star quarterback on DeSoto’s 2016 state title team.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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