MaxPreps Top 25 high school football scores: SaRod Baker leads DeSoto to 57-44 upset win over No. 3 Southlake Carroll

DeSoto's (Texas) three-star junior running back SaRod Baker continued his stellar postseason run rushing 37 times for 346 yards and three touchdowns in a 57-44 upset win over No. 3 Southlake Carroll (Southlake, Texas) in the UIL 6A Division 2 semifinals. He also had a 56-yard receiving score. 

With the Eagles holding on to a 51-44 lead in the final seconds, they came up with a huge goal line stand as Angelo Renda tried to run it in but was tackled inside the one-yard line with four seconds remaining. Baker capped off his tremendous afternoon with a 99-yard touchdown run to seal the 57-44 victory. 

The biggest play came early in the fourth quarter when Jordan Stevens returned an interception 86 yards for a score to cut the deficit to 37-35. Baker punched in the two-point conversion to tie the game. After the teams exchanged touchdowns, DeSoto took its first lead since the first quarter, after Baker punched it in from one yard out. 

Ethan Feaster made a ton of big plays on offense but his two biggest plays came on defense during DeSoto's goal line stand. He broke up back-to-back passes when the Dragons had it first and goal at the two in the final minute. 

The Eagles will face the winner of Vandegrift (Austin) and King (Houston) next Saturday at AT&T Stadium. 

In the UIL 6A Division 1 semifinals, Duncanville punched its ticket to the state championship game for the sixth time since 2018 with a 31-9 win over No. 24 Allen. The Panthers will face a familiar foe in North Shore (Houston) after the Mustangs beat Lake Travis (Austin) 28-6 in the other semifinal. 

This will be the sixth state championship meeting between the two Texas powers since 2018 and the Mustangs hold a 3-2 edge, but Duncanville has won the last two. 

Carson Palmer led No. 5 Santa Margarita (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.) to its first CIF state championship since 2011 with a dominant 47-13 win over No. 15 De La Salle (Concord, Calif.) in the CIF Open Division state title game. USC-bound wide receiver Trent Mosley closed out his high school career with 11 receptions for 183 yards and two touchdowns to go with a rushing score.

Tulane-bound quarterback Trace Johnson completed 17 of 20 passes for 247 yards and four touchdowns. Junior tight end Luke Gazzaniga hauled in two scores while the defense had a dominant showing holding the Spartans to 180 total yards. The Eagles closed out the season winning six games in a row and held all six opponents to 14 points or less. 

Raines (Jacksonville, Fla.) got its revenge in the Class 3A state championship game with a 23-22 upset win over No. 20 Northwestern (Miami). The Bulls handed the Vikings a 41-0 defeat in last year's 3A state championship. 

Johdeem Jones made a huge play intercepting Neimann Lawrence in the third quarter and returning it to the two-yard line before it got punched out and Makhel Smith-York jumped on it in the endzone to give Raines a 7-6 lead.

The Bulls responded by scoring 10 unanswered points, capped off with a Calvin Russell Jr. one-yard touchdown run to give Northwestern a 16-7 lead with 10:24 left. 

Raines answered back and after a 36-yard field goal from Dan Duong, Geterius Brown intercepted a Lawrence pass to set up the Vikings with great field position. Timothy Cole scored from 10 yards out to give Raines a 17-16 lead with 2:32 remaining. 

Northwestern answered right back, and Lawrence connected with Nicholas Lennear for a 62-yard touchdown to take a 22-17 lead with 1:51 left. 

On the Vikings ensuing drive, they converted a fourth-and-10 at the Northwestern 28 and on the next play, Cole threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Tadarius Washington to take a 23-22 lead with 10 seconds left.  

No. 2 St. Frances Academy (Baltimore) made its claim for the No. 1 spot with an impressive 37-20 win over No. 23 Corner Canyon (Draper, Utah) on Wednesday in the Overtime Nationals in Baltimore. The Panthers showed why they have one of the best defenses in the country as that unit did not give up any points until the game was out of hand in the fourth quarter.

St. Frances Academy jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter after Jae'Oyn Williams connected with Destin Mitchell for an 11-yard score. Jaylen Burke extended the lead to 14-0 in the second quarter with a nine-yard score. Williams threw his second touchdown of the first half connecting with Michael Nnabuife for an 18-yard score.

The Panthers started the second half with a six-plus minute drive capped off with Williams' third touchdown pass from 14 yards out to Jesse Legree to make it 28-0.

Corner Canyon got its first points after a fumbled punt attempt was recovered in the endzone by Eli Borg late in the third quarter.

After a Jaoquin Rodriguez interception set up the Chargers at their own three, five-star safety Jireh Edwards flew in for a tackle for loss that resulted in a safety to make it 30-7. Legree housed the ensuing kickoff to extend the lead to 37-7. 

Bronson Evans threw two fourth quarter touchdown passes to cut the deficit to 37-20. 

Cardinal Newman (West Palm Beach, Fla.) pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the 2025 season with a 17-14 win over the four-time defending state champs and No. 21 Chaminade-Madonna (Hollywood, Fla.) on Thursday in the FHSAA Class 1A state championship.

Three-star West Virginia signee Jyron Hughley got the scoring started with a 69-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter to give Cardinal Newman a 7-0 lead. The Lions answered right back after a long run from Lee Prince Jr. to set up a one-yard rushing score from four-star Texas signee Derrek Cooper.

Hughley connected with Ethan Holland for a 35-yard touchdown late in the third quarter to take a 14-7 lead. The Crusaders turned a Malik Leonard fumble into three points to extend the lead to 17-7 with 6:35 left. 

The Lions cut the deficit to 17-14 after a second Cooper rushing score with 48 seconds remaining. Cardinal Newman recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock to win its first state title in school history.

Hughley was named MVP of the game after finishing with 20 carries for 111 yards and a touchdown to go with 69 yards passing and another score.

In North Carolina, No. 12 Grimsley (Greensboro) won its 30th straight game with a 24-14 win over Clayton to repeat as Class 7A state champs. Five-star quarterback Faizon Brandon threw for 126 yards and a touchdown to go with 65 yards on the ground and another score. 

No. 11 St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale) won its seventh straight state title on Thursday with a 29-0 win over Lakeland in the Class 7A title game. The Raiders shut out the Dreadnaughts in last year's state title game, 34-0. Senior quarterback Mason Mallory accounted for over 350 yards of total offense, while Johnny DiSalvatore went five-for-five on field goals. 

In Louisiana, No. 8 Edna Karr (New Orleans) won its 28th straight game with a 49-14 win over St. Augustine (New Orleans) in the Division I Select state championship. The Cougars capped off their second consecutive 14-0 season and won 12 of those games by double digits. 

• • 20
    Corner Canyon
  • 37
    St. Frances Academy

  12/10 Final

• • 57
    DeSoto
  • 44
    Southlake Carroll

  12/13 Final

• • 47
    Santa Margarita
  • 13
    De La Salle

  12/13 Final

• • 14
    St. Augustine
  • 49
    Edna Karr

  12/13 Final

• • 0
    Lakeland
  • 29
    St. Thomas Aquinas

  12/11 Final

• • 14
    Clayton
  • 24
    Grimsley

  12/12 Final

• • 22
    Northwestern
  • 23
    Raines

  12/12 Final

• • 17
    Cardinal Newman
  • 14
    Chaminade-Madonna

  12/11 Final

• • 31
    Duncanville
  • 9
    Allen

  12/13 Final