Photo: Brandon McAuliffe
By Brian Gosset
ARLINGTON – When Galena Park North Shore and Duncanville met for the first time at the state championships in 2018, the former needed a miracle Hail Mary as time expired to stun the latter, beginning a historic rivalry at AT&T Stadium.
The Mustangs and Panthers met for the sixth time at state in eight seasons with Duncanville having a chance to pull even in the series at three wins apiece.
In an absolute defensive slugfest, North Shore hung on to beat Duncanville 10-7 in the Class 6A D1 title game on Saturday.
North Shore (14-2) leads the series 4-2 with wins in 2018, 2019 and 2021. Duncanville (12-2) had won the past two meetings in 2022 and 2023.
It was the lowest combined 6A champ game score since 6A started in 2014. The previous lowest was in 2019 when Austin Westlake beat Denton Guyer 24-0.
Duncanville’s seven points is also tied for the second lowest in a 6A champ game since 2014 (Guyer – 0 in 2019; Austin Lake Travis – 7 in 2015). The Panthers out-gained NS 297-275 including passing for 40 more yards (194-154).
After a scoreless first half, North Shore took a 7-0 lead in the third quarter. QB Kaleb Maryland threw a 44-yard TD pass to Jaylen Bocard that capped a 6-play, 72-yard drive in just over two minutes.
The score came with 4:12 left in the third quarter.
Daniel Cruz added a 27-yard field to extend North Shore’s lead to 10-0 with 9:53 left in the fourth quarter. The Mustangs ran 11 plays and killed over five minutes on the play clock.
The Panthers pulled within 10-7 on the ensuing drive. Ayson Theus picked up 13 yards on the first play of the drive; and Duncanville reached the NS 32. The big play finally came when Trenton Yancey took a snap out of the wildcat and tossed a 32-yard touchdown pass to Zach Turner with 5:33 left to play.
North Shore got back-to-back first downs as the Mustangs tried to ice the game. But Duncanville’s D stopped NS short on the next three plays and a punt followed.
The Panthers had a chance to tie or take the lead – starting a drive with 2:47 left in the final period.
After picking up 14 yards on the first play, QB J’Coryon Rivers hit Turner for 15 yards to the NS 45. The Panthers clawed their way to the 25. But on fourth-and-3, Rivers couldn’t connect on a short slant to Leon Wood as North Shore took over on downs and went into victory formation for the program’s sixth state championship.
