Saturday UIL State Notebook

Share or Save for Later

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Save to Favorites

The Grand Finale

In a game that we all felt would be an instant classic Galena Park North Shore and Duncanville lived up to the hype and then some, as the Mustangs took home the 6A Division I state title with an incredible 41-36 win over Duncanville. Trailing 36-35 with three seconds left in the game at the Duncanville 45-yard line, North Shore sophomore quarterback Dematrius Davis and senior WR AJ Carter etched their names in TXHSFB lore with a Hail Mary touchdown in the corner of the end zone to give the Mustangs their third state title in school history. It was a fitting ending to a game that featured the best team in Houston taking on the best team in Dallas, with over 30 potential FBS recruits on the field, in front of over 42,000 fans and featured a buzz that a title game had not generated in quite some time. Don’t be surprised if both of these two teams are back in the mix in 2019 as both of these teams have youth all over the field.

A Scots Three-Peat

Highland Park is clearly one of the state’s most consistent and storied programs, but the Scots lack the state championship pedigree that some of the state’s other premier programs have. That trend looks to be changing however, as Highland Park took home their third straight state title with a hard fought 27-17 win over newcomer Alvin Shadow Creek. Before this run of three straight state titles, HPHS only had two state titles in school history but under head coach Randy Allen Highland Park’s now in rarified air with three straight titles. The key in Saturday’s win was the Scots defense which picked off four Shadow Creek passes and sacked SCHS signal callers a total of nine times. The Scots completed their first 16-0 season in school history with the win as well and with the return of QB Chandler Morris and DE Prince Dorbah among others, the Scots will be in prime contention for a fourth straight crown.

81 Years of Frustration Ends

In what can only be described as an instant classic, the Longview Lobos won their first state championship since 1937 with a thrilling 35-34 win over Beaumont West Brook in front of a massive crowd of 48,241 at AT&T Stadium. Longview’s defense, which was shredded for 28 points and 348 first half yards stepped up in a major way in the second half holding West Brook to just six points, while the Lobos offense found a way down the stretch. QB Haynes King, the son of Longview head coach John King led the way for Longview throwing for 423 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 65 yards on the ground and a touchdown. WR Kamden Perry was key as well hauling in eight passes for 218 yards and a touchdown. Longview had been to the state title game three other times since the 1937 title and had come up short all three times and the energy and passion from their crowd was evident all night long, it was without a doubt one of the best scenes ever witnessed at a state championship football game.

Attendance Watch

With a monster Saturday of attendance the 2018 UIL State Championships in the eleven man classifications exceeded the 2017 attendance numbers by a total of nearly 18,000 fans. The total number of fans for the four days in the 6A-2A classification was 221,167 fans compared to 203,423 from last year. The Longview-Beaumont West Brook crowd was the biggest crowd of the weekend drawing 48,241, but the Duncanville-North Shore game drew quite the audience as well as 42,363 witnessed that one.

This article is available to our Digital Subscribers.
Click "Subscribe Now" to see a list of subscription offers.
Already a Subscriber? Sign In to access this content.

Sign In
Don't Miss Any Exclusive Coverage!

We've been the Bible of Texas football fans for 64 years. By joining the DCTF family you'll gain access to all of our exclusive content and have our magazines mailed to you!