Defeat Duncanville 17-10 in tough Defensive Battle
By Allan Jamail
Arlington, TX — Saturday, December 18, 2021, the North Shore Mustangs won their 3rd state championship title in 4 years, defeating Duncanville 17-10, a repeat of last year’s victory over the same team.
Sports reporters across the state and nation are repeatedly saying Coach Jon Kay has well established a football dynasty in the North Channel area. I must agree: after covering his teams now for quite a few years, it’s apparent he knows what he’s doing when teaching young athletes into becoming champions. However, he’s not just about teaching his athletic programs into producing champion players. He’s very interested in helping young men and women into becoming successful in life, and in providing the East Harris County Community with something to have a sense of pride in.
Kay said early in his teaching career, when he saw how athletics can be used to help young kids develop into something positive, he then decided he wanted to be a part of it. Coach Kay and his highly talented coaching staff always keeps their junior varsity players ready to move up to the varsity squad. And that’s what happened this year: they moved up junior varsity players, plus used their returning juniors and sophomores, into a state championship team.
North Shore Mustangs beat the Duncanville Panthers in a thriller to capture the UIL 6A Div. 1 Texas high school football state championship in front of 43,000 plus spectators. This game was one of the hardest fought contact sport games I’ve seen in years. They played each other in 2018, 2019, and now 2021, and the Eastside Boys have won all three championships.
The game was a brutal defensive struggle; Coach Kay called it a “slugfest,” rightly so. Only 3 touchdowns were made, along with a pair of field goals. The game’s first quarter was nearly scoreless until the Mustangs struck first, when 16 year old freshman quarterback Kaleb Bailey hit his older brother Jhalyn Bailey on a short pass to lead 7-0 with 2:55 left in the quarter.
Duncanville scored next and tied the game 7-7 at 8:15 into the early 2nd quarter. It remained tied into the 3rd quarter, and then Mustang Carlos Dominguez kicked a 32 yd field goal with 5:52 to go up 10-7 over the Panthers. The Panthers answered back with a 32 yd field goal at 4:23 left in the 3rd, keeping the score tied 10-10 until late in the 4th quarter.
Looking like the game could go into overtime, with 2:53 late in the fourth quarter Kaleb Bailey delivered a 39-yard touchdown pass to Mustang David Amador. I cannot let that be the only thing mentioned about the TD winning pass. It must be said that Bailey’s successful pass was only made possible by what looked like an all-pro-offensive-line. He had a perfect protective pocket to pass from, and no Panther was ever within 5 yds of him. Offensive linemen: #64 Zach Chavanne, #58 Omarion Dudley, #76 Tyler Edwards, #78 Tadderick Mathis, #65 Talmadge Pounds, and safety running back blocker #32 Xavier Owens.
That score gave the Mustangs a 17-10 lead. Kay, as he has all season, relied on his hardened defense to carry them across the finish line on top. Duncanville, with 1:49 in the game, tried passing to score for a tie or go ahead TD. Panthers quarterback Soloman James was rushed hard by Mustangs Kent Battle, causing him to throw the game’s only interception to Mustangs Jayven Anderson, ending Duncanville’s last chance to score.
Sports reporters voted for defensive lineman Ronald Wilson as the Most Valuable Defensive Player of the game. Wilson made the Panthers run in circles trying to escape his mad-dog rushing attack, and made Panthers quarterback Soloman James hurry his passes, only completing 10 of 18, not to mention throwing the game-ending interception. Wilson’s stats were 7 tackles, 2 sacks, and 4 loss of yd stops. And they voted for Mustangs Most Valuable Offensive Player of the game to go to freshman Kaleb Bailey. He threw for 107 yds, with 2 TD passes, a 77 percent pass completion average, and he ran 71 yards.
My wife Linda and I have seen how our covering sports, school events, community and city events is a good way to encourage citizens into making better communities. That’s why each year we have been donating hundreds of hours to school districts, cities, fire and police departments, and to the North Channel Star and Star Courier in Crosby. At age 78, I may bring my photojournalist work to an end soon. But for the present time, we’ll begin covering high school basketball and let God help us reach our decision.
Linda Jamail, game statistician, allanj211@aol.com
For more game information and many more photos, please see our print or PDF edition.