DeSoto looks like national football powerhouse in rout of Georgia's Creekside: 3 takeaways

Two-time defending Texas high school football champion, nation's No. 4 team dominate Georgia 5A runner-up 70-0 in Week 1

Ethan Feaster breaks loose for a DeSoto touchdown in Sept. 2023. | Photo by Robbie Rakestraw, SBLive /

DeSoto did nothing on the opening day of the 2024 Texas high school football season to suggest its done anything but pick up right where it left off.

The two-time defending UIL (Texas) 6A Division II state champion and nation's No. 4 ranked team trounced last year's Georgia 5A runner-up Creekside, clearing its first hurdle toward a UIL three-peat.

The score: 70-0. Dominance confirmed.

• NATIONAL POWER 25 | TEXAS POWER 25

DeSoto, the top-ranked team in Texas, finished the 2023 season at No. 2 in the country after a 14-0 season that included a win over fellow national power Duncanville and a repeat title, and the Claude Mathis-coached Eagles returned enough in 2024 to warrant a No. 4 preseason ranking.

Kelden Ryan threw for 213 yards and accounted for three total touchdowns, Texas A&M-bound running back Deondrae Riden turned 15 carries into 1013 yards and two more touchdowns and Eagles didn't look back.

Here are three takeaways from the Week 1 tilt:

REPUTATION-MINTING DOMINANCE

Fellow Top 10 team Chaminade-Madonna (Florida) faltered for the second straight week and dropped to 1-2 after being upset by Blanche Ely a week after (defensibly) losing to No. 3 St. John Bosco.

No. 7 IMG Academy dropped a showdown with No. 17 Corner Canyon (Utah). While fellow Texas national power No. 10 North Shore blew out South Oak Cliff 38-0, Duncanville still waits for its season opener on Friday with those same golden Bears.

Meanwhile, DeSoto debuted without flaw. Its offense fired on all cylinders and its defense forced three turnovers on its way to posting a shutout.

KELDEN RYAN FITS RIGHT IN

DeSoto knew it had big shoes to fill replacing a multi-year system starting QB in DJ Bailey, who is now at Sam Houston State.

And they entered the year with a strong candidate in Ryan, a Virginia tech commit who already boasted a productive three-year high school resume.

As a junior at Fort Worth All Saints, he had 2,110 passing yards, 786 rushing yards and 21 total touchdowns after two productive seasons at Keller Central.

Not that Ryan wasn't provably capable. But Bailey accounted for 3,366 passing yards, 49 total touchdowns and shoes are shoes.

On Saturday, he was remarkably solid. He completed 12 of 21 passes, threw for two touchdowns and rushed for a third. His favorite target was one of his two four-star prospects out wide, Daylon Singleton, who turned four catches into 113 yards and two touchdowns.

Myson Johnson-Cook, a younger new face, also made his first mark in Eagle green.

The four-star sophomore running back/linebacker from Illinois finished rushed for two touchdowns, first a 9-yard TD to go up 27-0 early in the second quarter, then the final touchdown of the game on a 17-yard run with 9:45 left.

NO TIME TO REST

On one hand, DeSoto's strong was more than it needed to win its season opener.

But on the other, the Eagles' don't have much tune-up time.

DeSoto turns around and faces No. 5 North Crowley at 7 p.m. on Friday in Week 2, which gives us the first Top 5 Texas high school football showdown of the season.

North Crowley itself passed a Week 1 test, escaping Lancaster 29-21 on Saturday behind a standout showing from quarterback Chris Jimerson Jr..

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-- Andy Buhler | andy@scorebooklive.com | @sblivetx