ARLINGTON, Texas — If he’s being honest, Willie Gaston thought winning his first state championship as Galena Park North Shore’s head coach would feel a little different.
Almost the entirety of Gaston’s life has been dedicated to this school. He was the star quarterback from 1991-2001, then worked his way up from an offensive assistant to an offensive coordinator from 2008-2022. Gaston never set out to be North Shore’s head coach. But when the legendary John Kay took a college gig after winning four state championships in nine seasons, Gaston realized he’d been groomed for the job all along.
Gaston was hired a day after Kay left. In that moment, he took the pressure his former boss created onto his shoulders. Could he carry on the legacy?
After winning the Class 6A DI State Championship, 10-7, over Duncanville, Gaston expected that pressure to be washed away with the Gatorade bath. Except it’s still there, gnawing at the back of his mind. And he loves it. In fact, he needs it. Because without that pressure, his North Shore team wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what they just did.
“I’m not going to allow the pressure to break me,” Gaston said. “I know what kind of job that I’m in. I know what kind of shoes I have to fill with the guy I had to replace.”
For Gaston, every day is like Duncanville has the ball on his 26-yard line, facing a 4th-and-3 with the game on the line. Today was a good day.
There’s the internal pressure that Gaston places on himself, and then there’s the pass pressure that all 39,436 fans at AT&T Stadium saw both quarterbacks endure. Of the game’s first 14 drives, there were 11 punts, one turnover on downs, one interception and one kneel down before half. Even when North Shore QB Kaleb Maryland threw the game’s only touchdown pass, a 44-yard dime to Offensive MVP Jaylen Bocard, he didn’t see it land because he was knocked on his butt as he threw.
But that pressure is nothing new for Maryland, either. This season, the senior quarterback replaced a four-year starter in Kaleb Bailey, who himself had replaced a two-time state champion in Dematrius Davis.
“I have to hold myself to a different standard,” Maryland said. “We’ve had quarterbacks come before me like KB and Dematrius Davis who won state. But they also held themselves to an amazing standard that I have to live up to as a North Shore quarterback.”
Maryland couldn’t have joined those hallowed names without the help of his defense. Defensive back Tony Guillory earned the game’s Defensive MVP with 10 tackles, a tackle for loss and an interception that ended Duncanville’s opening drive. Linebacker Omari Demerson stuffed a 4th-and-4 QB power attempt. Defensive tackle Zaqwaun Nunn finished with eight tackles and two sacks.
While most of the conversation will circle around Duncanville’s dropped pass on 4th-and-3, Coach Reginald Samples said his Panthers lost that game long before the final play.
“I thought we got beat in every phase of the game,” Samples said. “It was our worst game all year long.”
In other words, Duncanville didn’t handle the pressure as well as North Shore.
BOX SCORE
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duncanville | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | |
| North Shore | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 10 |
| Duncanville | North Shore | |
|---|---|---|
| Total Yds | 297 | 275 |
| Pass Yds | 194 | 154 |
| Rush Yds | 103 | 121 |
| Penalties | 3-15 | 8-68 |
| 1st Downs | 18 | 13 |
| 3rd Downs | 6-15 | 4-12 |
| 4th Downs | 1-3 | 0-0 |
| Total Plays | 63 | 53 |
| Avg Yds/Play | 4.7 | 5.2 |
| Avg Yds/Completion | 10.8 | 12.8 |
| Avg Yds/Rush | 3.8 | 3.7 |
| Sack-Adj Rush Yd(Avg) | 118 (4.7) | 127 (4.1) |
| Red Zone | 0-2 | 1-1 |
| Time of Poss | 23:06 | 24:54 |
| Turnovers (Def Pts Off) | 1 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Sacks (Def Yds) | 2 (6) | 2 (15) |
| TFL (Def Yds) | 3 (10) | 7 (25) |
Duncanville Passing
| # | PLAYER | C-A | YDS | TD | I | C% | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | RIVERS,J | 17-35 | 162 | 0 | 1 | 49 | 81.7 |
| 6 | YANCEY,T | 1-1 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 100 | 698.8 |
| PASS TOTALS | 18-36 | 194 | 1 | 1 | 50 |
Duncanville Rushing
| # | PLAYER | ATT | YDS | TD | LNG | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | THEUS,A | 5 | 46 | 0 | 30 | 9.2 |
| 22 | MCKINNEY II,J | 5 | 24 | 0 | 10 | 4.8 |
| 6 | YANCEY,T | 6 | 18 | 0 | 9 | 3 |
| 20 | WOOD,L | 3 | 14 | 0 | 8 | 4.7 |
| 21 | ARNOLD,B | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | RIVERS,J | 5 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 29 | SINGLETON,R | 1 | -1 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| 7 RUSHERS | 27 | 103 | 0 | 30 | 3.8 |
Duncanville Receiving
| # | PLAYER | NO | YDS | TD | LNG | TGT | YAC | DR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TURNER,Z | 6 | 80 | 1 | 32 | 10 | 36 | 0 |
| 6 | YANCEY,T | 5 | 72 | 0 | 42 | 8 | 25 | 1 |
| 2 | THEUS,A | 5 | 27 | 0 | 14 | 8 | 39 | 0 |
| 4 | ELLISON,E | 2 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 0 |
| 4 RECEIVERS | 18 | 194 | 1 | 42 | 33 | 103 | 1 |
Duncanville Defense
| # | Player (Starter) | TotTk | Solo | Sack | TFL | Int | BrUp | QBH | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | G.Cryer | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | J.Manning | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | B.Edwards | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | K.Ford | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | K.Tryon | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | V.Lincoln | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 99 | J.Johnson | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | D.Williams | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Y.Adegbite | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | J.Barnes | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | A.Theus | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | L.Barnes | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 20 | L.Wood | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 63 | 25 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
Galena Park North Shore Passing
| # | PLAYER | C-A | YDS | TD | I | C% | RTG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | MARYLAND,K | 12-20 | 154 | 1 | 0 | 60 | 141.2 |
Galena Park North Shore Rushing
| # | PLAYER | ATT | YDS | TD | LNG | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | JOHNSON,H | 17 | 93 | 0 | 15 | 5.5 |
| 25 | BRANDLEY,K | 4 | 26 | 0 | 14 | 6.5 |
| 41 | STEWART,M | 3 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 2.7 |
| 7 | MARYLAND,K | 7 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0.1 |
| TM | TEAM | 2 | -7 | 0 | 0 | -3.5 |
| 4 RUSHERS | 33 | 121 | 0 | 15 | 3.7 |
Galena Park North Shore Receiving
| # | PLAYER | NO | YDS | TD | LNG | TGT | YAC | DR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | BOCARD,J | 4 | 79 | 1 | 44 | 6 | 30 | 0 |
| 9 | JOHNSON,A | 3 | 35 | 0 | 19 | 6 | 17 | 0 |
| 2 | BARNES,D | 2 | 22 | 0 | 17 | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| 8 | DEFREEZE,L | 2 | 17 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 23 | 0 |
| 25 | BRANDLEY,K | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 5 RECEIVERS | 12 | 154 | 1 | 44 | 20 | 85 | 0 |
Galena Park North Shore Defense
| # | Player (Starter) | TotTk | Solo | Sack | TFL | Int | BrUp | QBH | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | T.Guillory | 10 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | O.Demerson | 8 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 99 | Z.Nunn | 8 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | T.Anderson | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | M.White | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | M.Beo | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | D.Christian | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | D.Royal | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 90 | L.Hunter | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 97 | X.Waters | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | K.Brown | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | T.Bradford | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 91 | J.Johnson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 94 | J.Curry | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 64 | 24 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
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