High School

Waxahachie stuns Duncanville in Texas High School Football Thriller; Fight Happens During Postgame Handshake Line

Indians rally from 18-point deficit to knockoff No. 2-ranked Panthers Friday night

Cody Thorn

Maximus The Great Denson carries the ball for Duncanville in a game on Sept. 5 against South Oak Cliff. The No. 2-ranked Panthers lost in Week 4 to Waxahachie.
Maximus The Great Denson carries the ball for Duncanville in a game on Sept. 5 against South Oak Cliff. The No. 2-ranked Panthers lost in Week 4 to Waxahachie. / Shane Kirkpatrick

Week 4 was a tough one for state powerhouses in the Lone Star State.

Defending Class 6A Division I state champion and No. 1-ranked North Crowley lost on Thursday.

On Friday, No. 2-ranked Duncanville saw its undefeated season end with a 28-27 loss to Waxahachie.

The Panthers were No. 7 in the High School on SI national Top 25, one spot behind North Crowley. Those rankings and the Texas rankings will different next week.

Dating back to 2004, the teams had played only four times and Duncanville had won all four of them.

Duncanville led 27-9 early in the third quarter after getting the ball to start the second half

Quarterback Maximus The Great Denson — yes, that’s his real name — threw an 85-yard touchdown pass to TCU pledge Ayson Theus with just 13 seconds off the clock.

The Panthers (3-1) didn’t score again and the Indians rallied.

Waxahachie (3-0) answered quickly when Jordan Smith returned the ensuing kickoff back 77 yards for a score. Down 27-15, the Indians went for two but an incomplete pass kept it a 12-point deficit.

The next seven combined possessions, into the fourth quarter, ended with punts.

However, the punt by Duncanville came from its own end zone early in the fourth. Denson was sacked for a 12-yard loss at the 9-yard line.

The punt return by Kohen Brown gave Waxahachie the ball at the Duncanville 32-yard line.

Facing a 2nd-and-20 from the 42, quarterback Jerry Meyer III connected with Taylen Furlough-Strange for a 26-yard gain. The drive almost fizzled after that.

Waxahachie faced a 4th-and-8 from the 14 but then had a false start. Now, facing a 4th-and-13, Meyer III hit Jordan Thompson-Woods for a 24-yard touchdown.

Ethan Guillen hit the extra point to make it 27-22.

A personal foul on Duncanville’s next drive turned a 3rd-and-13 into a 3rd-and-28 and the Panthers ultimately had to punt.

Waxahachie got the ball with 6 1/2 minutes left and proceeded to march down the field for the game-winning score.

Furlough-Strange had runs of 11 and 32 yards  — the latter getting the ball to the 6.

Facing 3rd-and-goal from the 1, Nolan Barnard scored for the Indians. The conversion failed to leave it 28-27 with 3:48 left.

Jcoryon Rivers came into the game at quarterback for Duncanville and that drive ended with a 2-yard loss on 4th-and-1 with 1:54 left.

Duncanville got the ball back with 5 seconds with 60 yards to go but the final pass fell incomplete.

After the game, things got a little heated.

Waxahachie scored on the opening drive of the game but didn’t score another offensive touchdown until the fourth. The difference was two special teams plays. The kickoff return was one and the other came in on the second drive of the game.

Denson hit Trenton Yancey for a 77-yard touchdown at the 10:03 mark.

That pulled the Panthers within 7-6 but the extra point was block. Braylon Davis picked it up and ran it back 92 yards for 2 points. That extended the Indians lead to 9-6 at the time. 

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Cody Thorn
CODY THORN

Cody Thorn is a veteran journalist who covers high school sports across the state of Texas and Missouri. He is based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and has covered sports and news since 1999.

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