SATURDAY: St. John's College (DC) vs. #1 Duncanville

As detailed by Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News, this game has quite the national appeal. It marks the first time since 2015 a nationally-ranked private school comes into Texas to play a game. It also pits two MaxPreps Top 25 teams, with Duncanville being the highest-ranked public school on the list.

Previewing St. John's College

We're not going to pretend to know a lot about St. John's College, which enters into the Saturday's contest 2-1 after falling last week to St. Joseph's Prep in Philadelphia, 34-30.

SJC did make a comeback after trailing 24-7 at halftime, and took a 27-24 lead at some point in the third. The Cadets gave the lead back and trailed 31-27 after the third quarter. So it appears the Cadets can put up points and make stops as needed to make their way back into a game.

In the first two games, SJC outscored its opponents 100-30, and has five-star, LSU-bound Rakim Jarrett at wideout catching passes from BYU-bound Sol-Jay Maiava.

Previewing Duncanville

No. 1 Duncanville (2-0) is on a mission to finish what it almost closed out last year - a state title. In its first two challenges to open the year, Duncanville's defense has made it known it is still a unit to fear. Lancaster and Dallas South Oak Cliff mustered three points in each contest.

So far, though, the strength of the Duncanville defense has shifted from a dominating run defense to a stifling pass defense. Through two games, the defense is giving up just 67.5 yards passing but giving up 112 yards a game on the ground.

Offensively, the Panthers haven't looked like world beaters, especially after a slow start against Lancaster. The team is average 351 yards a game on offense. Ja'Quinden Jackson only has 267 yards passing on 30 attempts and three touchdowns and just 34 yards rushing on 15 attempts.

Previewing the Game

If the Duncanville defense is on its game, the team can win any game. Considering the potency of the SJC offense, Duncanville will need Jackson to shake off some early-season rust and put up the numbers many expected of him this year. And what better time than against another nationally-ranked powerhouse.

It's an impossible task to predict interstate matchups, especially when information/box scores are not readily available for the visitors. But considering that St. John's College is a football factory that features a number of FBS talent on both sides of the ball and recruits top talent across the country into its program, the edge would certainly have to go to the Cadets.

In 2015, IMG from Florida came into the DFW and handled DeSoto pretty easily - and this was when DeSoto was being considered contenders for the state title to open the year.

Prediction: St. John's College 42, Duncanville 31
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