Duncanville is 14-0 Since the Hail Mary and One Win Away From A Second Chance at North Shore

MCKINNEY, TX — December 22, 2018 will be remembered in Texas football history for a long, long time. 

AJ Carter's walk off touchdown catch against Duncanville last year was probably the craziest finish to a state championship game that you will find.  Down one point, North Shore scrambled to put together a drive after Duncanville took the lead with 1:02 in the fourth quarter.  The Mustangs made it to the Panther 45 before sophomore quarterback Dematrius Davis lofted a pass to the back right corner of the end zone with a couple ticks left on the clock.

AJ Carter, all 6'3" of him, reached higher than the rest and brought the ball down among a swarm of North Shore and Duncanville bodies.  Replay confirmed the touchdown and shock rippled throughout the 42,363 fans inside AT&T Stadium.

Since that day, Duncanville and North Shore have seemingly been destined for a rematch, and they are both one win away from making it happen.  Only Rockwall and Lake Travis stand in the way. 

The four-team battle to be the 6A Division I champion will get started on a Saturday filled with tremendous matchups.  Here is a preview of the two games:

#1 Duncanville 14-0 vs. #22 Rockwall 12-2 (Saturday at 2:30, McKinney ISD Stadium)

San Angelo Live and Cover1 will be covering this game and will have a full video and recap soon after it finishes.  Dual threat quarterback and Texas Longhorn commit Ja'Quinden Jackson completed all eight of his pass attempts for 183 yards in Duncanville's 49-35 win over Southlake Carroll last week.   The Panthers ran all over the Dragons for 334 yards on the ground. 

Rockwall, meanwhile, outlasted Prosper in a 59-42 shootout last Saturday in the Ford Center at the Star.  4-star wide-receiver and Ohio State commit Jaxon Smith-Njigba hauled in 11 catches for 218 yards and four touchdowns while adding two more scores on the ground.  Smith-Njigba is an instant mismatch for any defense and will need to have a huge game for Rockwall to have a chance.

Over the course of the season, Duncanville has beaten three ranked teams, #8 Lancaster to start the season and then #10 Arlington Martin and #6 Southlake Carroll in the past two weeks.  The Southlake Carroll game was the closest.

Rockwall's two losses came in week one against three time defending 5A DI State Champion Highland Park in the season opener 66-59 and to #4 Longview 49-3 in late September.  They beat Arlington Martin in the middle of the season and then #3 Allen in the playoffs.

#5 North Shore 13-1 vs. #11 Lake Travis 13-1 (Saturday at 4:00, Reeves Complex in Austin)

Lake Travis fell behind early against Converse Judson last week in the Alamodome, but 190 second half yards from Westen Stephens propelled them past the Rockets for a chance at a semifinal rematch against last year's champion.  North Shore dominated the Cavaliers in last year's semifinal 51-10, and, just like Duncanville, they want revenge on the Mustangs.

Lake Travis' sole loss this season came in week one against the Arlington Martin Warriors.  Martin ran away with it 35-14.  Since then, LT has had one close call, a 26-25 win against 6A DII State Semifinalist Westlake.  Westlake plays Katy Taylor on Saturday at 2:30.  Besides that game, LT has dominated even with Texas Longhorn commit and highly touted quarterback Hudson Card missing significant time and not returning until the Judson game.

North Shore comes in with the same record and same 13 game win streak.  Their loss in week one came against #2 Katy by a score of 24-21.  North Shore got payback, though, and knocked the undefeated Tigers out of the playoffs in the third round.  The Mustangs also have wins against #8 Westfield and #9 Atascocita.  They ran by Atascocita 76-49 last week. 

The next two weeks could be full of rematches and vengeance, but it could also end with North Shore continuing their dominance against the rest of Class 6A. 

You can follow live score updates of all the semifinal games here.