BY BRIAN GOSSET
MANSFIELD – Newsom Stadium has suddenly become the place for playoff comebacks. On Friday, Frisco Lone Star rallied from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Aledo.
On Saturday, DeSoto trailed Southlake Carroll 37-21 with 5:10 left in the third quarter before mounting its own come from behind victory 57-44 in their Class 6A D2 state semifinal game.
DeSoto (12-3) knocked off Carroll (14-1), which came in #1 in the 6A rankings by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football and #3 in the national by MaxPreps. The Eagles reach the champ game for the fourth time in program history and third time in the past four seasons. They are 3-0 in title games with wins in 2016, 2022 and 2023.
The Eagles had one of the most dominant title game performances when they beat Humble Summer Creek 74-14 in the 6A D2 title match two years ago. They will face Houston King (13-2) in the championship game at 7 pm Saturday Dec. 20 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. King took out defending 6A D2 champ Austin Vandegrift on Saturday night.
Trailing 51-44 with three minutes left to play, Carroll’s Landon Harris blocked a DeSoto punt attempt and the Dragons started a drive at the DeSoto 32. The drive lasted 16 plays with Carroll coming away empty handed. The Dragons were gifted with two pass interference penalties by DeSoto that kept the drive alive. The second came in the end zone that placed the ball at the 2.
A false start pushed the ball back and DeSoto’s Jace Hill-Douglas made a great tackle on a short pass to set it at the 10 with 29 seconds remaining. Carroll QB Angelo Renda threw a pass in the end zone to Brock Boyd, who caught it but it was broken up by 5-star USC bound Ethan “Boobie” Feaster. On fourth-and-goal from the 2, Renda called his own number and was met at the goal line by three defenders. The line judge initially called a touchdown, but after a couple of minutes, the officiating crew ruled it just short to give DeSoto the ball on downs up seven and four seconds left.
DeSoto RB SaRod Baker capped off a big game by taking a hand off for a 99-yard touchdown as time expired. Baker finished with 345 yard rushing and over 400 yards total offense. He scored seven touchdowns last week against Willis in the regional final.
Legend Howell hit Court’lyn Jackson on a 59-yard touchdown that gave DeSoto a 7-0 lead with 4:54 left in the opening quarter. Carroll scored on the ensuing drove when Renda found Blake Gunter for 58 yards. Renda is head to Pitt while Boyd is among the top receivers in the country and headed to Ohio State.
Gunter and Renda connected for four touchdowns on the day with their second going for another long score to give Carroll a 14-7 lead late in the first period. DeSoto would fumble on the kickoff and the Dragons recovered, but they came away with no points after missing a 39-yard field goal early in the second quarter.
Howell found Antron Edmundson inside the 10 and Feaster made a touchdown catch that tied it at 14 with 6:26 to play in the half. Gunter’s third touchdown gave Carroll a 21-14 lead two minutes later and then the Dragons’ defense made a stop on fourth down before Renda threw his fourth touchdown pass to Brody Knowles – giving his team a 27-14 halftime lead.
Gavin Strange (Duke) made a 42-yard field goal to give the Dragons their biggest lead at 30-14 with 10 minutes in the third quarter. Then Howell found a wide open Baker in the middle of the field, who turned it into a 56-yard touchdown that helped pull DeSoto within 30-21.
Renda and Gunter connected on TD #4 from the 3-yard line to give Carroll a 37-21 lead with 5:10 left in the third. Baker got back-to-back runs that moved the chains before Howell called his own number on a 28-yard keeper and it was 37-29 with 2:48 left.
DeSoto forced a Carroll punt, but the ball was touched by the Eagles and bounced in the end zone. The DeSoto return man was able to pick it up and escape several Dragons and get out of the end zone. The officials threw a flag on what appeared to be a blind side block in the end zone which would’ve given Carroll a safety and two points, but the crew waved it off leaving it still an 8-point game entering the fourth and final frame.
Carroll managed to get the ball back, but a pass attempt was picked off by Jordan Stevens and returned for an 85-yard TD. After a successful 2-point try, DeSoto tied it 37-all early in the quarter. Carroll didn’t take long to grab the lead back on a 59-yard TD run by Davis Penn. But again, the Eagles tied it on a Baker TD for a 44-44 tie with 10:06 to play.
Feaster made a nice catch and run to the 1 and Baker scored his second TD on the ground to give DeSoto a 51-44 lead – its first since 7-0 – with 6:42 to go. The Dragons were able to move the ball and cross the 50, but later turned it over on downs with 4:47 left.
However, Carroll’s D held DeSoto and blocked a punt attempt to get the ball at the DeSoto 38 for its final drive of the game, which featured 16 plays by the Dragons. DeSoto finished with over 700 yards total offense to Carroll’s 545. Howell threw for 344 on 20 of 27 passing compared to Renda’s 282 and five touchdowns. Penn rushed 12 times for 202 yards for the Dragons and Jackson and Feaster both went over 100 yards receiving for the Eagles.
Gunter made seven grabs for 111 yards.
