High School

Duncanville races past DeSoto in star-filled Texas high school football rivalry

Keelon Russell has 6 TDs — four to nation's No. 1 receiver Dakorien Moore — as Panthers win UIL 6A District 11 clash of national powers

Andy Buhler

Duncanville's Keelon Russell, an 5-star Alabama-committed quarterback, returns in 2024 as a three-year starter.
Duncanville's Keelon Russell, an 5-star Alabama-committed quarterback, returns in 2024 as a three-year starter. / Photo by Robbie Rakestraw, SBLive

Don't look now - a Texas high school football powerhouse has reasserted itself.

Five-star prospects Keelon Russell and Dakorien Moore connected for four first half touchdowns to lead No. 1 Duncanville a 42-20 rivalry win over DeSoto in a nationally ranked district showdown at Eagle Stadium on Friday night.

Russell, an Alabama commit, finished with 429 passing yards on 26-for-36 attempts and six total touchdowns — four of them to Moore, an Oregon commit and the nation's consensus No. 1 wide receiver.

Moore, who entered the game averaging more than 100 receiving yards per game, went for 229 yards on nine catches.

The win puts the Panthers (5-0) in the driver's seat for a 6A District 11 title.

Moore had five first half catches and scored on four of them while amassing 179 yards. Duncanville took a 28-6 lead into halftime thanks to Russell's 246 first half passing yards.

DeSoto's lone first half score came on an 88-yard kick return for touchdown from Daylon Singleton.

Its offense gained 381 yards, but struggled to find the endzone late. Myson Johnson-Cook helped the second half comeback with 79 rushing yards after halftime and a 46-yard TD run.

The Eagles pieced together a late rally when a two-yard Deondrae Riden touchdown run pulled DeSoto within two touchdowns with just under five minutes left.

Keylan Abrams helped DeSoto's defense force a punt, then the Eagles drove to the Panther red zone and appeared poised to cut the lead to a score.

That's when an errant snap flew over Kelden Ryan's head. He attempted to corral the ball to throw it away, but it slipped out of his hand, forcing him to fall on the ball for a 26-yard loss and detonate a once-promising scoring drive.

Duncanville's Jaylyn Manning picked Ryan off with 5:04 left and the Panthers bled the clock from there.

Duncanville hits the road to face Lancaster in Week 8 next Friday and DeSoto plays Horn.

More Duncanville vs. DeSoto:

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

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Andy Buhler
ANDY BUHLER

Andy Buhler is a Portland, Oregon-based sportswriter with more than nine years of experience covering high school sports across the country. He's covered the likes of Paolo Banchero and Tari Eason, served on state tournament seeding committees and launched the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25 national boys basketball rankings. He has covered everything from the Final Four, MLS in Atlanta to local velodrome before diving into the world of preps. His bylines can be found in The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington), The Associated Press, The Columbian (Vancouver, Washington), The Oregonian and more. He holds a journalism degree from Gonzaga.

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