DeSoto Eagles Blast Way to Another State Title

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DeSoto ISD School board members and state trophy
Photo credit Mayor Rachel Proctor

The DeSoto Eagles put a definitive stamp on a season of dominance.

The Eagles set a state record, and receiver Daylon Singleton tied another as they had no trouble successfully defending their Class 6A Division II state championship on Saturday, Dec. 16, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

The Eagles scored the most points in a 6A championship game, defeating Humble Summer Creek 74-14 to cap a perfect 15-0 season. Also, receiver Daylon Singleton tied a 6A state title game record by catching three touchdown passes.

DeSoto dominated the contest from the outset, leading 36-7 after the opening quarter, in which Singleton also caught all three of his scores. Quarterback DJ Bailey found him for scoring passes of 26, 55, and 52 yards.

Bailey ended the night with 281 passing yards and four touchdowns. Almost half the yardage went to Singleton, who caught five passes for 136 yards.

The City of DeSoto is mighty proud of our DeSoto Eagles, who just won back-to-back 6A – D2 State Championships, But we are “extra proud” of City of DeSoto superstar intern Keylan “Keke” Abrams, who was named Defensive MVP in tonight’s Championship Game! Keke did an incredible job this summer with DeSoto Fire, and he used his fire training to help extinguish the offensive drives of the Summer Creek Bulldogs! Photo by City of DeSoto

Bailey was voted the Offensive MVP after completing 16 of 22 passes. Defensive MVP honors went to the Eagles’ Keylan Abrams, who had six tackles, three for a loss, a sack, and an interception.

Bailey, who was only a junior, ended his phenomenal season with 4,152 yards passing, 49 touchdowns, and just three interceptions.

And he accomplished this by playing one game less than most other state champions. Typically, teams play ten regular-season games, but the Eagles only played nine.

The Eagles indicated what would come when Marvin Duffey scored on a 54-yard run less than a minute into the game on his way to 151 yards rushing. Just over seven minutes into the contest, DeSoto had a 29-0 lead.

The Eagles were dominant on both sides of the ball. The offense racked up 548 yards (260 rushing, 288 passing), and the defense limited Summer Creek (14-2) to 156 total yards (64 rushing, 92 passing). The Bulldogs averaged 1.7 yards per rush and were 0-for-11 on third-down attempts.

The DeSoto defense forced two turnovers, six sacks, and 12 tackles for a loss.

The Eagles also had the ball for almost 10 minutes less than the Bulldogs.

Special teams also got in on the scoring. Andre Wisner blocked a punt, Sael Reyes picked it up and tossed a lateral to Brandon Booker, who took it 27 yards for a touchdown.

The Eagles never punted in the game themselves.

With 801 points this season, the Eagles had one of the most explosive high school offenses of all time nationally, according to the website Maxpreps.

The victory was also the 22nd straight for DeSoto. It was their third state championship, having also won one in 2016. They are now 3-0 in state championships.

It’s the second consecutive season the Eagles and rival Duncanville, both from District 11-6A, have won state titles. The Eagles defeated the Panthers 49-35 during the regular season in 2023, while their last loss before beginning their current win streak was 41-17 to Duncanville in 2022.

Earlier in the day, the Panthers defeated Galena Park North Shore 49-33 for their second straight title.

 

Class 6A Division II state championship

Saturday, Dec. 16, at AT&T Stadium, Arlington

DeSoto 74, Humble Summer Creek 14

 

DeSoto            36        10        14        14 – 74

HSC                  7          0          0          7 – 14

 

D – Marvin Duffey 54 run (Jamari Laye pass from DJ Bailey)

D – Deondrae Riden, Jr. 14 run (Angel Diaz kick)

D – Daylon Singleton 26 pass from Bailey (Diaz kick)

D – Singleton 55 pass from Bailey (Diaz kick)

SC – Lloyd Avant 6 run (Brian Mays kick)

D – Singleton 52 pass from Bailey (Diaz kick)

D – Diaz 33 FG

D – Bailey 1 run (Diaz kick)

D – Jaden Trawick 8 run (Diaz kick)

D – Ethan Feaster 26 pass from Bailey (Diaz kick)

D – Brandon Booker 27 return of blocked punt (Diaz kick)

SC – Avant 1 run (Mays kick)

D – Antonio Pride 12 pass from Chad Williams (Diaz kick)

 

Statistics

First downs: DeSoto 22, SC 10.

Rushes-yards: DeSoto 40-260, SC 37-64.

Passing yards: DeSoto 288, SC 92.

Caught-thrown-int.: DeSoto 18-24-0, SC 6-19-1.

Fumbles-lost: DeSoto 1-1, SC 2-1.

Punts-average: DeSoto 0-0, SC 8-26.4.

Penalties-yards: DeSoto 8-65, SC 3-18.

Third-down conversions: DeSoto 8-12, SC 0-11.

Fourth-down conversions: DeSoto 1-3, SC 1-2.

Time of possession: DeSoto 19:02, SC 28:58.

 

Individual leaders

Rushing

DeSoto: Duffey 12-151, TD; Riden, Jr. 12-73, TD; Jai Trawick 8-59, TD.

SC: Avant 20-42, 2 TD.

Passing

DeSoto: Bailey 16-22-0, 281 yards, 4 TD; Williams 2-2-0, 12 yards, TD.

SC: Blake Thomas, 6-19-1, 92 yards.

Receiving

DeSoto: Singleton 5-136, 3 TD; Pride 8-112, TD; Feaster 2-37, TD.

SC: Caleb Welch 2-51, Tre Brown 2-35.

Tackles

DeSoto: Keylan Abrams 6, Booker 6, Jason Douglas 6.

SC: Josiah Pratt 8, Brandon Jones 7.

Tackles for loss

DeSoto: Abrams 3, Marshall Kirvin 2.5, Douglas 1.5, Booker 1, Laye 1, Aundre Wisner 1, Camden Mathis 1, Sael Reyes 1.

SC: Pratt 1.5, Kyran Duhon 1.5, Jaylen Carter 1, Kaleb Walker 1, Collin Irving 1.

Sacks

DeSoto: Kirven 2.5, Douglas 1.5, Abrams 1, Booker 1.

SC: Irving 1.

Interception

DeSoto: Abrams.

Fumble recovery

DeSoto: Jaylin Jones.

 

 

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Rick Mauch
Rick Mauch is a veteran of more than four decades in the media. He began writing in high school and immediately went into broadcasting for almost a decade after graduating, working his way to morning drive in Birmingham, Alabama. However, realizing how much he missed writing (though he did continue to do some during his time in top-40 radio), Rick returned to what he loved and has been doing it ever since. Rick's career has spanned a plethora of media outlets, including community journalism, sports, entertainment, politics and more. He's worked in print, broadcast and online media. He also spent several years doing public relations for a children's home in East Texas - still writing on the side, of course. When he's not writing, Rick loves to play golf and do Bigfoot research. He's an avid believer. He also made his first hole-in-one in June of 2020. Rick is married to Junell Mauch. They have five children and three granddaughters