No. 1 ranked Duncanville football thoroughly dominates, completely outclasses Mansfield

Duncanville is the No. 1 ranked team in Texas for a reason.

The undefeated Panthers completely and utterly annihilated Mansfield (5-2, 2-2 District 11-6A) Friday night at Newsom Stadium in a 51-0 landslide victory. It was clear from the start the Tigers’ chances of making the game competitive were slim to none.

Mansfield head coach Greg George said Duncanville has “different kinds of kids” on their roster. The Panthers allowed only 98 total yards.

“Their roster is scattered with division one players on both sides,” George said.

George said his message to his team after the loss to the 2022 Class 6A D1 State Champions would be to “regroup.”

“Get ready for the next one,” George said.

Now, Mansfield will have to finish the season strong to receive a playoff bid out of District 11-6A with matchups with Waxahachie, Dallas Skyline and DeSoto looming.

“We’ve got to beat Waxahachie next week by a certain amount of points,” George said. “We have to win two of the next three, for sure.”

George said he wants his team to focus on tackling and blocking in practice this week. Mansfield will hit the road to play Waxahachie next Friday with a 7 p.m. CT start time. If the Tigers lose, it’ll be an uphill battle to make the playoffs.

Outclassed from the start

To start the beat down, Mansfield attempted an onside kick. The ball didn’t travel far enough for the ball to be recovered, and the Panthers started in Tiger territory.

Quarterback Keelon Russell, an SMU commit, started the offensive onslaught with a 8-yard pass to wide receiver Nate Mccoy. Running back Caden Durham, an LSU commit, got the Panthers to the 31-yard line with two solid runs.

Russel then found Zach Turner for a 31-yard touchdown.

After a successful PAT, the Panthers kicked to Mansfield; the kick was muffed and the Tigers started at the 2-yard line. After a run for no gain, Tiger running back James Johnson was tackled in the end zone for a safety.

Once again, Duncanville’s offense marched down the field with little resistance. Russel completed three passed for 49 total yards before a 14-yard rushing touchdown from Durham.

The next two Tiger drives resulted in three and outs and the Panthers capitalized both times.

First, Duncanville put together a six play scoring drive capped by a 12-yard passing touchdown from Russel to Turner. To follow it up, the Panthers had a seven play drive finished with a 5-yard pass from Russel to wide receiver Dakorien Moore, a junior LSU commit.

The Panthers led 30-0 with 28 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

The Tiger offense couldn’t respond, but Russel gave them a sliver of hope when the Panthers got the ball back. A short pass was tipped and cornerback Ronald Esene recorded an interception.

The Mansfield offense, however, gave the ball right back. For the sixth consecutive drive, the Tigers failed to record a first down.

The Panthers took over and Moore immediately tallied an 33-yard reception and ended series with an impressive 7-yard TD catch on a goal line fade.

The Tigers were able to move the chains for the first time with a 22-yard rush from Marquise Hubbard, but it was inconsequential. Duncanville regained possession and continued to add to its massive lead with a 15-yard pass from Russel to Turner, who notched his third score of the contest.

At the half, Duncanville held a 44-0 lead.

Mansfield recieved to start the second half and put together a long, 19-play drive that lasted the entirety of the third quarter. Their efforts didn’t get them on the scoreboard; facing 4th and 2 at the 8-yard line, quarterback Braxton Van Cleave threw an incomplete pass and turned the ball over on downs.

Duncanville added one more touchdown prior to the game’s conclusion. Backup running back Trey Mosley ended a 12 play, 90 yard drive with a 11-yard rush to the end zone.

Notable performances

Although Russel had one interception on a tipped pass, his performance was practically flawless. The Duncanville signal caller completed 18 of 20 passes, gaining 285 yards and five touchdowns through the air. He also had 80-yards and a touchdown on his legs.

Van Cleave completed 6 of 18 passes for 43 yards, managing to avoid an interception. Running back James Johnson was the focal point of an ineffective ground game, averaging 1.7 yards per carry.

George said Johnson and the ground game has been effective this season, but Duncanville’s size was a lot to handle.

“There are guys that are a foot taller than us,” George said. “And 100 pounds heavier. It’s a different deal. They’re really good and that’s why they won state last year.”

Durham tallied 35 receiving and 80 rushing yards, gaining an impressive 8.89 yards per carry. Moore had 66 yards on five receptions with two touchdowns.

Zach Turner had the performance of the game, scoring three touchdowns and totaling 67 yards on just four receptions.