One of the biggest games in high school football this week was the matchup between No. 2 Duncanville and No. 23 St. Francis. Despite Duncanville being one of the best teams in the country, the game was close until the end.
Both teams played at key points on offense and defense, with promising rookies leading the way.
Here's a complete recap of Friday night's game, as well as an analysis of Duncanville five-star quarterback Kieron Russell's Week 2 performance.
Duncanville (TX) vs. St. Francis (TX)
Duncanville was considered a heavy favorite coming into this matchup, but came up short in a close game against St. Francis last Friday, winning 28-24.
Duncanville opened the scoring on the game's opening drive, when five-star quarterback Keylon Russell, a University of Alabama commit, threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Ason Theus to take an early 7-0 lead.
Duncanville came back on the board on its second drive after the stoppage and had a chance to get the game going early, but a fumble deep in the red zone led to a touchback, giving St. Francis a big break.
After two punts forced by good defense from both teams, St. Francis hit a 41-yard field goal early in the second quarter to cut the score to 7-3. St. Francis got another chance, forcing a second fumble and scoring a defensive touchdown on a 25-yard run to extend their lead to 9-7 and get some big momentum going.
Duncanville's struggles didn't end there, however, as a fumble on a punt return early in the second half gave St. Francis the ball, but the Saints quickly fought back with a 39-yard rushing touchdown to extend their lead to 16-7.
The Panthers were desperate to fight back, and they did so as their offense drove down the field and Kieron Russell capped off the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 16-14.
But the fireworks didn't stop there, as Duncanville missed a 35-yard field goal on the ensuing drive, again failing to capitalize and putting the game in St. Francis' hands.
But it didn't last long, as the Panthers thwarted three straight attempts and Russell again made a spectacular pass to Ison Theus, this time for a 60-yard touchdown to give Duncanville a 21-16 lead at the end of the third quarter.
With the defense leading the way early in the fourth quarter and both teams forcing punts, Duncanville held onto the lead until the final five minutes of the game, and that's where the game started to pick up steam.
Duncanville got the ball back with 5:54 left in the game and drove down the field to the St. Francis 25-yard line in an attempt to seal the victory, but star cornerback Blake Woodby intercepted a Russell pass and returned it to the Duncanville 6-yard line where it was caught.
St. Francis quickly capitalized when running back Maurice Medley rushed after a false start for an 11-yard touchdown and then converted the two-point conversion to pull within 24-21 with 4:26 left in the half.
Kieron Russell and team then had to stage an incredible comeback.
Duncanville started at its own 13-yard line, but Ja'Quaron Armstrong's rushing drive gave the Panthers momentum and they marched 87 yards down the field. Russell completed multiple passes to tight end Zach Turner for a game-winning 14-yard touchdown run for a 28-24 lead with 1:57 left in the half.
With plays needed to be made, linebacker Nehemiah Borner stepped up and got sacks on 2nd-and-11 and 3rd-and-19 to seal the win for Duncanville and improve to 2-0 on the season in a closely fought game. Borner finished with three sacks and was one of the defensive stars of the game.
Kieron Russell
Of course, much of the attention was focused on five-star quarterback Kieron Russell, who once again showed off his dual-threat abilities at Duncanville.
Russell completed 20 of 26 passes for 265 yards, three touchdown passes and an interception, and rushed for another score.
He has made five-star wide receiver DaCorine Moore his primary target the past two years, but last Friday it was Aiden Theus and Zach Turner who both caught touchdown passes and surpassed the 100-yard mark for Duncanville, directly contributing to the Panthers' much-needed win.
The Alabama commit threw for 612 yards and eight touchdowns in the first two games of the season to lead Duncanville to a 2-0 record, and also ran for 82 yards.
Duncanville will look to continue their undefeated season in their next game when they host Waxahachie with Russell leading the Panthers' offense.
