4 takeaways from Duncanville's late rally past St. Frances Academy football

Panthers coach Reginald Samples tells team to 'go get it' in wild, back-and-forth Texas vs. Maryland showdown

Duncanville quarterback Keelon Russell, an Alabama commit, surveys downfield during the 2022 Texas high school football playoffs. / Photo by Tommy Hays

DUNCANVILLE, TEXAS - There were some costly mistakes and were a second-half deficit to overcome.

With the game on the line, though, Duncanville came through when it mattered the most, and the Panthers pulled off a 28-24 win over Maryland power St. Frances Academy in an entertaining Saturday night game at Panther Stadium/Reginald Samples Field.

• HOW THE TOP 25 FARED

Duncanville, the two-time defending UIL 6A Division I state champs, were the No. 1 ranked team in Texas and No. 4 in the nation entering Saturday while St. Frances Academy was No. 23.

Here, now, are four takeaways from Duncanville’s win.

‘Go Get It’

Duncanville (2-0) made a litany of miscues; fumbling the ball into the end zone, a fumble that was returned for a touchdown by SFA, a punt that glanced off a Duncanville player that set up another SFA TD, a missed field goal and an interception that led to a St. Frances TD with 4:36 left, giving SFA a 24-21 lead.

The Panthers, though, weren’t fazed, and simply put together a efficient six-play drive that started at their own 13-yard line.

On a second-and-long from the SFA 22, Duncanville quarterback Keelon Russell - an Alabama commit - found receiver Zach Turner streaking wide open toward the end zone. Turner was all alone in the end zone as he caught the pass with 1:57 left.

Prior to that drive, Duncanville coach Reginald Samples basically gave three words of advice to his players.

“Go get it, go get it,” Samples said. “We work really hard, and what I tell the kids all the time is trust your work, and we just believed that if we work hard enough, we’re going to get it done in the end.”

Russell completed 20-of-26 passes for 265 yards and three TDs and added 40 yards rushing with a TD.

“He is that guy; he’s a good quarterback and he doesn’t get that notoriety for nothing, he gets it because he’s a good player,” Samples said.

Wrap It Up

Duncanville’s defense, and in particular senior linebacker Nehemiah Borner, then made that late lead stand.

Borner registered not one, not two, but three sacks on St. Frances’ final drive, including back-to-back sacks on third and fourth down. That allowed Duncanville to take over inside the final minute, and with SFA out of time outs, the home team was able to run out the clock.

“We have a little scheme, and he’s pretty elusive as far as getting off of those blocks, so we had the same call each time and he made the play,” Samples said of Borner.

Grab and Go

Duncanville also prevailed despite senior standout receiver and Oregon commit Dakorien Moore being held to four catches for 34 yards. But Turner caught 11 passes for 131 yards, and junior receiver Ayson Theus added five catches for 101 yards and two TDs.

“We’ve got a lot of good players on offense, and that’s the good thing,” Samples said. “We try to spread it around, so when that time comes, they’re ready to make a play.”

The Panthers got some big runs from senior tailback JaQualon Armstrong, who finished with 88 yards on 21 carries. He had 70 of those yards in the second half.

Armstrong’s biggest run was a 28-yard gain to the St. Frances 37 during Duncanville’s game-winning drive.

“I knew I had to put the team in the red zone and I had the team on my back,” Armstrong said. “I know if I get down there, get the team hyped then we’re going to get up in that box. “We were down going into halftime, but we kept our heads up and motivated our team and just kept it going; do what we really do.”

• More on Durham's call to Armstrong here

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