BY NOLAN RUTH
X – @RealNolanRuth
ALLEN— In five of the last six years the Duncanville Panthers have played for the state championship in class 6A, winning the last two. However that will not be the case in 2024 after the North Crowley Panthers finally got over the hump with a 36-34 victory, avenging last year’s semi final loss.
“This is huge,” head coach Ray Gates emotionally said after the game. “To be standing here after losing to them 370 days ago, it’s a long time to get back to this point. And we were ready to get back to this point.”
North Crowley wasted no time delivering the first blow on the opening drive when North Texas signee Chris Jimerson found Colorado commit Quentin Gibson over the middle from 32 yards out.
The connection between Jimerson and Gibson was a big one for the Panthers, with Jimerson completing 11 of 17 for 185 yards and 4 touchdowns, with Gibson accounting for six of those completions for 107 yards and two touchdowns.
They then recovered an onside kick and scored again on a 26-yard pass from Jimerson to running back Cornelius Warren up the seam to make it 12-0 before Duncanville could even possess the ball.
“It was huge,” Gates commented about the quick start. “You can’t play a team that has that type of firepower and stall in the first half. So the entire game coming in was about an aggressive mindset. We’re going to be aggressive, we’re going to steal possessions, I didn’t care for the moment, I didn’t care if we were backed up. We weren’t going to go home saying ‘I wish I would have.’”
They attempted another onside kick, but Duncanville recovered and finally took possession. However they could not make anything of it and were forced to punt. North Crowley ended the first quarter on a long drive into Duncanville territory, and extended the lead on the opening play of the second quarter with a 26-yard field goal from Diego Gonzalez to make the score 15-0.
Then Duncanville came storming back. A 10-play, 80-yard drive put them on the board when JaQualon Armstrong punched it in from two yards out. Then after turning away North Crowley on fourth down, quarterback Keelon Russell kept it himself and scrambled in from 14 yards away to make it 15-14.
North Crowley drove down the field and attempted a field goal as time ran out in the first half, but the attempt was no good and the teams went into the locker room with a one point difference.
Duncanville got the ball to start the third quarter and got the big play it was looking for when Russell completed a pass to Dakorien Moore who cut all the way back across the field and scored from 58 yards out to put Duncanville in front 21-15. North Crowley responded after an excellent kickoff return set them up with great field position. Jimerson stepped up in the pocket and found Cam Hunter from 16 yards out to reclaim the lead before the end of the third quarter.
Just over a minute into the fourth quarter, Jimerson connected with a wide open Gibson on fourth down from the Duncanville 49 yard line for a big touchdown play, making it 29-21. However, Duncanville was not going to go without a fight. Armstrong scored his second of the game from six yards out. The ensuing drive saw Warren put North Crowley on his back, driving the ball 54 yards down the field on his own and capping off the drive with a one yard score on fourth and goal.
Warren finished the game with 178 yards on 42 carries and a touchdown, adding 45 yards receiving on two catches and another score.
Once again, Duncanville had one final blow to deliver on a 31-yard scoring pass from Russell to Ayson Theus to make the score 36-34. North Crowley recovered the kickoff and ran out the clock to secure the school’s first state championship appearance since 2003.
Duncanville’s season comes to an end with a record of 13-1, while North Crowley improves to 15-0 and will play Austin Westlake for the 6A Division I state title at 7 p.m. Saturday, December 21 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
