Sometimes, the grind to start the season pays off later in the year. Just look at DeSoto last season. The Eagles started 0-2, then won 13 of their next 14 games to capture a state championship.
Here’s a look at some of the things we noticed this week.
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Thriller in Dallas, Part I
The inaugural Roland Parrish Classic took place Saturday at the Cotton Bowl.
DeSoto rallied to beat Duncanville, 21-20, behind a three-touchdown performance from SaRod Baker. The Texas Tech pledge ran for 122 yards, but perhaps the biggest storyline was where he lined up.
Baker is now QB1 instead of RB1.
He has played quarterback at times in the past, but it will be interesting to see where this goes moving forward.
Baker finished 7-for-13 passing for 86 yards and three interceptions, while Wyatt Davis led the DeSoto rushing attack with 131 yards on 18 carries.
You want your most talented player to have the ball in his hands as much as possible. This is certainly one way to make that happen.
Duncanville trailed 21-7 before scoring twice in the second half, but a blocked PAT ended up being the difference in the game.
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Thriller in Dallas, Part II
North Shore dominated when it had the ball — and, perhaps most importantly, didn’t turn it over.
The times they did, however, allowed South Oak Cliff to hang around.
Eventually, the Golden Bears surged back to take a 21-17 lead early in the fourth quarter.
But on the ensuing drive, the Class 6A Division I state champions rallied to take the lead on a touchdown pass from JaVoris Taylor to Demont Jones.
The Mustangs then came up with a fourth-down stop in the final seconds to hold on for the win.
Two great games. Four elite teams. And, unfortunately, almost no one got to see them.
It would’ve been great to have these two marquee games available for the fans who wanted to watch four elite teams play.
Maybe next year?
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Who Would’ve Guessed?
The early portion of the schedule always brings a few surprises — teams and players doing things some of us probably didn’t see coming.
Here are two of them:
Denton and Arlington Sam Houston are both 3-0.
The Denton Broncos are 3-0 for the first time since 2016 after blasting North Garland, 49-6.
Kaiden Credit ran for three touchdowns and caught another in the win.
The Broncos were 4-6 last season and will have a chance to match that win total this week when they face Garland Naaman Forest.
David Beaty, the former Kansas head coach, is turning around a program that went 2-8 before his arrival last year.
Incidentally, Beaty got his coaching start at Naaman Forest back in 1994.
He’s been at Rice, Kansas, Texas A&M, Texas, Florida Atlantic and the Houston Gamblers of the UFL before landing at Denton.
The other 3-0 record we probably didn’t see coming belongs to Arlington Sam Houston.
The Texans — who might have the best old-school logo in the area — blasted Cleburne, 62-0, to improve to 3-0.
This week, they face the Arlington Colts.
Sam Houston was 1-9 last season and 2-8 in 2024. In 2023 and 2022, the Texans went a combined 0-20.
According to veteran journalist Ken Costlow, this is the Texans’ first 3-0 start since 1977.
The Texans haven’t had a .500 season or better since 2014, when they finished 6-5.
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Who Would’ve Guessed? Part II
Three weeks into the season, there are some surprising W-L records across Texas.
We mentioned two above. Here are a few others worth noting at this point:
- Lewisville: 3-0
- Highland Park: 1-2
- DeSoto: 1-2
- Duncanville: 1-2
- South Oak Cliff: 0-2
- Allen: 3-0
- Southlake Carroll: 1-2
- Keller Central: 3-0
- Aledo: 1-2
- Birdville: 3-0
- Nevada Community: 3-0
- The Colony: 3-0
- Prosper Richland: 3-0
- Joshua: 3-0
- Fort Worth Carter-Riverside: 3-0
Some of those records will obviously change once district play gets rolling.
But that’s what makes this time of year so much fun.
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Dropping 100
Dallas Life Oak Cliff rolled to a 105-14 win over Bonham on Friday.
Yes.
105 points.
By quarter, the Lions scored 35, 29, 22 and 19.
And get this: In the first two games of the season, against Rains and Cedar Hill Trinity Leadership, Life Oak Cliff scored a combined 105 points.
Quarterback Camren Phillips was nearly unstoppable, completing 18-of-26 passes for 459 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Three different receivers topped 100 receiving yards, while six different players hauled in a touchdown pass.
That’s one way to put up a 100-spot.
Kevin Shelton
OU Athletics
