SaRod Baker had one of the greatest seasons in state history this season, running for 3,096 yards and 45 touchdowns as DeSoto won its third Class 6A Division II state title in four years.
Only two players in Dallas-area history have run for more yards in a season, with Mansfield’s Kennedy Brooks holding the record with 3,522 yards in 2015 and Euless Trinity’s Dimitri Nance ranking second with 3,173 yards in 2005.
But it took a twist of fate for Baker to become the full-time featured running back as a junior for a DeSoto team that finished No. 23 in the MaxPreps national rankings. Four-star recruit Myson Johnson-Cook, rated the second-best athlete in the nation in the Class of 2027, transferred to East St. Louis (Ill.) during the summer after running for nearly 1,000 yards for DeSoto in 2024.
DeSoto running back SaRod Baker (5) rambles through the Willis secondary for a big ground gain during second quarter action. The two teams played their Class 6A Division ll Region ll final playoff game at McLain Stadium in Waco on December 6, 2025.
Steve Hamm
Baker probably would have shared carries this season if Johnson-Cook hadn’t left. Even after the high-profile transfer, the 5-10, 185-pound Baker had to wait to become the bell-cow running back because he had to fill in at quarterback for a couple of nondistrict games early in the year after starter Legend Howell was injured.
High School Sports
“I was only a quarterback because my team needed me to play it,” Baker said. “I just had to step up to the plate. It wasn’t that big of a deal to me.”
Once Howell returned at the start of district play, Baker finally got his chance to star at running back, and he surpassed some of the biggest names in the history of Texas high school football on the state’s all-time single-season rushing list.
Baker, still listed as just a three-star recruit by 247Sports, now ranks ahead of former Detroit Lions three-time Pro Bowler Billy Sims from Hooks (3,080 yards in 1973), Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson from Sealy (2,642 yards in 1978) and Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson from Waco University (2,554 yards in 1996).
Baker, whose mother died when he was young, has persevered to earn The Dallas Morning News All-Area Offensive Player of the Year award, a spot in the Navy All-American Bowl and second-team MaxPreps All-American honors.
“I really do believe he has caught this world by storm and he is a five-star,” DeSoto coach Claude Mathis said in the postgame news conference after a 55-27 rout of Houston C.E. King in the 6A Division II state championship game. “But more importantly, he is a great young man, and I do believe he is the best running back in the state and the nation.”
Baker finished with 1,012 more yards than the previous school record of 2,084 that was set by Byron Hanspard in 1993. That says a lot given that Hanspard finished sixth in Heisman Trophy voting in 1996 while at Texas Tech — placing two spots higher than Peyton Manning — before going on to play in the NFL.
Baker had a legendary postseason, rushing for 1,557 yards and 20 touchdowns in six playoff games while averaging 259.5 yards per game. He ran for a season-high 402 yards and seven touchdowns against Willis in the regional final, had 374 yards and five touchdowns against Longview in the second round and rushed for 366 yards and three touchdowns against Southlake Carroll in a state semifinal.
DeSoto running back Sarod Baker (5) gets past C.E. King linebacker Xavier Williams (18) during the first half of the 6A Division II football state championship game at AT&T Stadium on Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Arlington.
Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer
Coming into this year, only 18 Dallas-area players in history had run for more than 402 yards in a game.
“It was a blessing,” Baker said. “I always knew I could do it. I just had to wait on my opportunity.”
Baker wrapped up a 57-44 win over a Carroll team that was ranked No. 3 in the nation at the time by racing 99 yards for a touchdown on the game’s final play, then capped his illustrious season with 24 carries for 125 yards and two touchdowns against C.E. King. He was sick the week of the state final but still went over 100 yards for the 14th time in 16 games.
“I don’t know what I had. It was pretty bad,” Baker said. “But I knew I still had to go out there and play in the state championship game. That’s all we’ve been wanting all season.”
Baker is now one of the most sought-after running backs in the country in the Class of 2027. He has added offers from Ohio State, Oregon, Texas Tech, Texas, Florida State and 11 others since Dec. 6.
“That’s what I dreamed of my whole life is to get to high school and make plays for my coaches, for my team, for my city,” Baker said, “and to get offers from the biggest colleges in the world.”
Baker played on the junior varsity as a freshman while DeSoto won a state title in 2023, and his only offers before last January were from Stephen F. Austin and UTEP after he was DeSoto’s fourth-leading rusher with 73 carries for 529 yards and nine touchdowns in his first varsity season as a sophomore in 2024. He had just 11 offers when the regular season ended this season, and the only ones from Power 4 schools at that time were from Auburn and Minnesota.
But now, everyone knows his name, and he hopes to make his college commitment by this summer. He said Jan. 12 that his front-runners are TCU, Ohio State, Oregon, Texas, SMU and Texas Tech.
Oh, and he has a goal in mind for his senior year.
“I just know I want it to be better than whatever I had this year,” he said.
Others considered: DeSoto WR Ethan “Boobie” Feaster, Frisco Lone Star QB Trey Wright, Highland Park QB Buck Randall, Southlake Carroll QB Angelo Renda
Recent winners
2020: Kaidon Salter, QB, Cedar Hill
2021: Jackson Arnold, QB, Denton Guyer
2022: Johntay Cook II, WR, DeSoto
2023: Caden Durham, RB, Duncanville
2024: Keelon Russell, QB, Duncanville
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