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MESQUITE — As Duncanville players and fans cheered and threw confetti on the 20-yard line, Allen head coach Lee Wiginton apologized to his team on the other side of the field.
Wiginton apologized for the things that would never be. He said sorry for the 31-9 loss, and he said it again because Allen won’t play next week and get a ring. But in his apology, Wiginton also commemorated what felt like a return to old Allen ways.
“They have all these tears and all this hurt because we won’t be on a football field together ever again, and that’s real, and that’s painful,” Wiginton said. “But when you start with an end goal in mind, and our end goal was to win a state championship, and it felt like that was a very realistic goal….obviously didn’t find a way to get the ball in the end zone enough to put us on top. But that doesn’t change what these guys have done.”
High School Sports
In its first semifinal appearance since 2018 — when the two programs last met — Allen (14-1) fell to Duncanville in the Class 6A Division I state semifinal at Mesquite Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Allen won four titles from 2012-2017, and it looked like the Eagles might be on the path for another.
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After trailing 14-0 by the first quarter, Allen strung together a field goal and a touchdown to inch within eight points. But Duncanville (12-1) scored 17 unanswered points to end the game. Duncanville will play Galena Park North Shore at 3 p.m. on Saturday at AT&T Stadium.
Duncanville running back Trenton Yancey had 99 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback J’coryon Rivers went 11-for-20, passing for 103 yards and one score. Although Allen had defensive stops that forced long plays, Duncanville, primarily Rivers and Yancey, often had an answer for them.
“Our defense played so hard and put them in those hard situations, and many times got off the field,” Wiginton said. “And there are just a few of them where they kept drives alive.”
With Duncanville leading 7-0, Allen held the Panthers from gaining a single yard on 3rd-and-10. But on the next play, Rivers threw an 11-yard pass to Yancey to set up the eventual score. Duncanville led 14-0 with 1:13 remaining in the first quarter. Duncanville made long plays time and time again, finding ways on third and fourth down.
“They’re just a really good football team,” Wiginton said. “They had good balance tonight. Probably the biggest thing they did is make really big plays in those fourth-down situations, when we’ve got to stop them.”
And compared to Duncanville’s balance, Allen struggled to find its own. Allen quarterback Jeremiah Daoud went 34-for-54, passing for 244 yards.
On its opening drive, Daoud couldn’t convert on 4th-and-10 at the Duncanville 40. Then, during its next two possessions, Allen gained negative three yards. With a chance to make it 24-16 with 3:44 left in the fourth quarter, Allen fumbled on 4th-and-7, setting up the touchdown run that sealed the Duncanville win.
“We just weren’t executing, especially at our offensive standard,” Daoud said. “That’s on me. I’m the leader of the offense, getting us down 14-0 and only being able to score nine points, that’s on me. And I take full responsibility.”
Allen couldn’t generate enough on both sides of the ball, ending what’s been a season that’s resembled the team’s dominance in the mid-2010s.
But Wiginton wasn’t thinking about that. All he could feel was grateful for his senior class and what the entire team did this season.
“It’s hard knowing that we won’t have another practice together,” Wiginton said. “That’s really hard. So, as I look back, it’s just thankfulness for that time we did we have together.”
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