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DeSOTO — Duncanville quarterback Keelon Russell had called it “The Revenge Tour,” and on Friday night, his team made sure DeSoto wasn’t invited.
The Panthers’ defense sent a message in a 42-20 victory at Eagle Stadium, DeSoto’s lowest scoring output since 2022.
The dominant District 11-6A win was payback for last year, when DeSoto upset Duncanville 49-35.
On Friday, Duncanville worked to shut down DeSoto early, preventing the Eagles from scoring an offensive touchdown in the first half. DeSoto’s only touchdown was an 82-yard kickoff return by SMU commit Daylon Singleton.
Duncanville’s Jaylyn Manning said the defense was tired going into the second half, but the players expected to push through.
“Once they were running it, I was tired,” Manning said. “They were going tempo every time. I just had to push the team harder, [and] not to just push myself harder.”
It looked as if DeSoto might have a chance to rally in the fourth quarter, down 35-20 at the Duncanville 12-yard line. But the ball was snapped over the head of quarterback Kelden Ryan for a 26-yard loss.
Two plays later, Manning made a one-handed interception to put the game out of reach for DeSoto.
“It was amazing,” Manning said. “It was just like a lot of practice. It was a dedication to it. I was tired. I knew I had to push harder to do something good for the team.”
The last time DeSoto scored 20 points or less was in a 41-17 loss to Duncanville in 2022. DeSoto had scored at least 30 points in 26 straight games before Friday and entered the game with the No. 1 scoring average (57.6 points) and rushing offense (317.6 yards per game) among Dallas-area 6A teams. But Duncanville’s fifth-ranked defense (16.8 points per game) held DeSoto to 238 rushing yards.
Duncanville’s Dakorien Moore, who had 231 receiving yards and four touchdowns at wide receiver, also started at cornerback. He deflected multiple passes and took only a few plays off, even after scoring a plethora of touchdowns.
“He’s a football player,” Duncanville coach Reginald Samples said after the game. “He wants to do whatever he can to help us win.”
Ryan, a Virginia Tech commit, finished with 144 passing yards in front of the college’s head coach, Brent Pry, who was at the game.
The Duncanville defense held Singleton to seven catches for 33 yards. In last season’s upset, Singleton had six catches for 179 yards and two touchdowns.
Even in a dominant district win, Samples said he wants his team to continue improving.
“We gotta keep getting better,” he said. “We know we can play, but we’re not going to rest on this.”
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