December 22, 2018

Galena Park North Shore 41, Duncanville 36

While most will talk about the final play of this game (and rightfully so), this was a classic from the start with as much hype as any title game of the decade.

It featured two massive programs from the state’s two largest metro areas, unbeaten and loaded with FBS talent in front of a crowd in excess of 40,000.

The game opened up with fireworks when Duncanville tried a trick play and it backfired as North Shore’s Ashton Reynolds recovered a fumble and returned it nine yards for a touchdown to stake the Mustangs to a quick 7-0 lead.

Duncanville responded with 10-straight points to take a 10-7 with 5:44 left in the first quarter after Trysten Smith’s 19-yard touchdown run.

North Shore answered when sophomore QB Dematrius Davis hooked up with sophomore WR Shadrach Banks for a 51-yard touchdown to take a 15-10 lead after a successful two-point conversion.

Duncanville answered with an impressive eight-play, 75-yard drive, capped by Smith’s 7-yard run to put the Panthers back up, 17-15.

It didn't take long for North Shore to respond when Davis and Banks connected for an 80-yard touchdown pass to put the Mustangs up 22-17 after one quarter.

After a Duncanville field goal, North Shore went up two scores when Davis hooked up with John Gentry for a 33-yard touchdown pass to give the Mustangs a 29-20 lead, which would remain the case until early in the fourth when Duncanville got their running game going.

After Victor Escalona’s third field goal of the game cut the North Shore lead to 29-23, Duncanville’s defense forced a punt and the Panthers capitalized when Smith ripped off a 52-yard touchdown run to put Duncanville back up, 30-29.

North Shore answered with a big drive to take a 35-30 lead with 5:26 left when Davis found defensive tackle Jordan Revels (lined up at TE) for an eight-yard touchdown that put the Mustangs back ahead.

Duncanville was up to the task, though, and answered North Shore’s salvo with a nine-play, 85-yard drive capped by Ja’Quinden Jackson’s five-yard touchdown run with 1:02 left in the game to put Duncanville up 36-35.

That set up one of the wildest endings to any football game you would ever see.

North Shore started at its own 22-yard line with 57 seconds left. The Mustangs got near midfield when Davis found Chance Pillar for 18-yards to the Duncanville 48-yard line. After a pass to Banks gave North Shore a first down with 11 seconds left, Duncanville called timeout to set its defense. North Shore got called for holding on its first down pass, which left the Mustangs with one play left from the Duncanville 45. 

That’s where history was made as Davis stepped up in the pocket and delivered an absolutely perfect Hail Mary pass into the end zone, where North Shore’s A.J. Carter went up over a pair of Duncanville DB’s to snag the ball and get a foot inbounds to give North Shore the miraculous win and its third state title in school history.

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