Duncanville, DeSoto football coaches keeping 'hunter' mentality while defending state titles

Panthers' Samples, Eagles' Mathis both won first Texas high school football titles last December

Update: The Duncanville vs. DeSoto game has been rescheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday due to heavy rain and lightning on Friday night.

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DESOTO, TEXAS - They’ve both achieved countless accolades and fielded outstanding teams in their long tenures as head coaches.

This season, though, Duncanville’s Reginald Samples and his counterpart at DeSoto, Claude Mathis, have had to deal with a new dynamic - adjusting to being on top of the mountain after countless year of pursuing that same goal.

After nearly 30 years as a coach, Samples finally reached his pinnacle when the Panthers claimed the Class 6A Division I championship last December. That same day, Mathis - who has had two stints coaching DeSoto since 2008 - got to hoist his own title trophy when the Eagles prevailed in 6A Division II.

• HOW TO WATCH DUNCANVILLE VS. DESOTO

Both Samples and Mathis have great chances to get back to AT&T Stadium in Arlington and play for a repeat championship. As the two North Texas superpowers collide Friday night in DeSoto when the undefeated Eagles welcome the equally undefeated Panthers in perhaps the state’s biggest game all season, both teams’ coaches don’t feel like their teams have been playing with a bullseye on their backs.

Rather, the approach Samples and Mathis are taking is acting as if they’re still pursuing a championship for the first time.

“I don’t look at it like that (being the hunted); in my mind, we’re still the hunter,” Samples said. “I think that one of the things that happens is when you’ve won and you’re up there and all that (and the high ranking), the worst thing you can do is start looking at that as if you’re that good and I’m totally the opposite.

“I’m happy that we won the state championship, but there’s just a feeling that you always have to do better because we know we’re going to get everybody’s best game.”

Mathis shares a similar sentiment.

“It’s different; it’s different,” he said. “We’re being the hunted, but we’ve also got to hunt our own self. So it’s a little bit different, but I’m just glad we have a chance to defend the title.

“We should be going (back to 6A) Division II and we’ve got a chance to defend our title right now, so we’re going to be up for it.”

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But, Mathis conceded that there are still constant reminders of what the Eagles were able to do last year in winning their first title since 2016 (Mathis had left DeSoto following the 2014 season to coach in the college ranks before returning in 2019).

The latest came in the form of a sign that was installed last week at the Eagles’ stadium, signifying their latest championship.

“It hit me (last Thursday) because we finally put (the sign) up there at our stadium,” Mathis said. “So I was a little teary-eyed because it meant so much and I know God has blessed me; we’ve worked so hard to get that title right there, so it means a lot to us, it means a lot to me, but it’s gone and now it’s this year, so we’re trying to get another one.”

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Likewise, Samples has spent all off-season receiving kudos. But in his first preseason meeting with his squad, Samples was more than ready to turn the page.

“The first thing I told them is I forgot all about last year,” Samples said. “And then I felt like it was going to be harder this year than last year because of the title and people are going to come after us.

“I also told them it was going to take a greater mental effort to stay focused because it’s natural that, sometimes when you’re very successful, you let down. So I just challenged them not to let down and to give it their best every week.”

So far, the Panthers have met Samples’ challenge, starting on Week 1, when they easily handled another defending state champ in South Oak Cliff. Then the following week, Duncanville bested Florida school Rockledge, the first of three straight shutout wins by the Panthers.

Perhaps the Panthers’ most impressive win this season was on Oct. 6, a 44-10 win at Waxahachie, a team that two weeks before lost to DeSoto but scored 35 points.

“It’s been up and down,” Samples said. “And one thing I can say about this team is that they’re pretty smart kids, and we play a good team like Waxahachie and I thought we played very well.

“And I think that (against DeSoto), we’ll play good again because they know the importance of the game and we’re going to start out (this week) practicing like we’re trying to win a district championship.”

The Eagles started their season impressively with a decisive 39-7 win at Allen before rolling past South Oak Cliff, 54-14, a game in which they led at halftime, 47-0. Earlier this month, they posted consecutive wins by the same score, 64-3.

“They’re a very good defense; they’re just solid,” Samples said of DeSoto. “They don’t give up a lot of points, don’t make mistakes, so we’re going to have to play our best offensive game.

“I think (the tough schedule has) prepared us. We’ve had some games that the score didn’t exemplify the play, but I think our schedule is going to get us ready, especially next week playing DeSoto.”

Last week, on back-to-back days, both the Panthers and Eagles had to clear one final hurdle before finally turning their attention to one another.

On Oct. 19, Duncanville rolled at home past Dallas Skyline, 49-3. But Samples found several faults from his Panthers despite that lopsided win.

“I really wasn’t happy with the way we played, it was kind of raggedy,” Samples said. “We had too many penalties, and I felt that way coming into the game, just after watching them.

“Sometimes we play down to the competition and I thought that’s what we did (on Oct. 19). We had some spurts where we played OK, but I really wasn’t happy; I didn’t think we were consistent in our play.”

Then the next night, Oct. 20, DeSoto played its contest. Mathis, though, really didn’t have to worry about the Eagles looking ahead to the District 11-6A showdown with Duncanville, as they were going up against another big rival in Cedar Hill.

Duncanville head coach Reginald Samples holds up a UIL Class 6A Division I state championship trophy in December 2022 / Photo by Tommy Hays

The Longhorns trailed by one possession (13-7) late in the first half before DeSoto pulled away for a 35-13 win in the “Battle of Belt Line,” with the winning team receiving, appropriately enough, a championship belt.

“Well, we knew it was a rivalry game, so it wasn’t hard to focus on this game right here,” Mathis said. “We knew we had the belt, and we had to maintain the belt, so we had to keep our focus and our kids did a great job of doing that and we’re going on to the next game right now.”

And now Mathis doesn’t need to remind his players for another week about not getting up for another big rival. That, along with something else at stake.

“It’s business as usual,” he said. “We’re going to come to practice like we normally come to practice, we’ll go in the weight room like we go to the weight room, we’ll go to school like we normally go to school and just practice hard (this) week and get ready for Friday night.”

Samples knows the challenge his talent-laden squad will face in another squad which is undefeated and features plenty of Division I commits.

“Great team, big game,” Samples said of the Eagles. “I’m excited; this is what you coach for, this is what you play for, these type of situations, and it’s going to really tell us how good we are.

“We’ve got to get prepared; we’ve got to work hard, we’ve got to have good practices and stay mentally focused.”

Not to mention continuing to stay on top Friday night and beyond. The Eagles - who lost 41-17 to Duncanville last season before eventually embarking on their title run - are determined to snap a five-game losing streak to the Panthers and get their first win against Duncanville since 2016.

“We’ve got a chance to defend the title, but more importantly, we’ve got a chance to win the district title so that’s our focus right now, to try to win a district title and we’ve got to focus on that,” Mathis said.

-- Buck Ringgold | buck@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveTX 

Photo of DeSoto coach Claude Mathis by Tommy Hays

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