No. 4
Duncanville (Texas) used a late fourth quarter drive to defeat No. 22
St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.) 28-24 on Saturday.
It was redemption for five-star Alabama commit
Keelon Russell, who had just thrown a catastrophic interception on Duncanville's previous possession in the battle of the Panthers.
Up 21-16 with less than five minutes to play and in the red zone, Russell led Duncanville back from a two-score second half deficit and was looking to put the finishing touch on a win.
Defensive back
Blake Woodby of St. Frances Academy had other ideas. The four-star Auburn commit jumped in front of Russell's pass for an interception and returned it 75 yards to the Duncanville 8-yard line before he was tackled by speedy five-star Oregon commit
Dakorien Moore with 4:31 left to play in the game.
No. 4 Duncanville topped No. 22 St. Frances Academy as five-star senior quarterback Keelon Russell threw for three touchdowns and ran for another. (Photo: Shane Kirkpatrick)
St. Frances Academy sophomore quarterback
Tristan Sabb took the snap and handed the ball to
Maurice Medley, who ran into the end zone to give St. Frances Academy a 22-21 lead. Medley then ran in a 2-point conversion to take a 24-21 lead.
Russell remained calm and completed multiple passes to get the ball deep into St. Frances Academy territory. With two minutes left he found junior
Zach Turner for a touchdown to take a 28-24 lead.
St. Frances had one more chance and Duncanville safety
Nehemiah Borner had a defensive possession of a lifetime. On second, third and fourth down he got in the backfield to sack the quarterback three times and the Texas program got the ball back and walked out with a win.
The back-to-back Class 6A Division 1 state champs improve to 2-0 this season with
Waxahachie (Texas) on the schedule next week.
St. Frances Academy falls to 2-2 and will face its fifth out-of-state opponent next week at No. 1
Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.).
Russell got the scoring started early for Duncanville by finding junior
Ayson Theus for a 5-yard touchdown strike on the opening possession.
Duncanville got a stop on defense and nearly took a 13-0 lead after Russell neared the goalline but fumbled ball out-of-bounds in the end zone for a touchback.
St. Frances was able to capitalize when junior
Gregory Proud drilled a 41-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 7-3.
On the ensuing Duncanville possession, Russell was strip-sacked by junior five-star edge rusher
Zion Elee. Senior Syracuse pledge
Haleem Muhammad picked up the fumble and ran it 26 yards for a touchdown to give St. Frances Academy a 9-7 lead with 7:58 left in the second quarter.
St. Frances Academy started the second half with the ball and punted on its opening possession. The ball hit a Duncanville special teamer and was recovered by the Maryland school.
On the next play, Auburn commit
Bryce Deas got the handoff and ran 39 yards for a touchdown to give St. Frances Academy a 16-7 lead.
Russell, the Elite 11 MVP, drove Duncanville down the field and scored a five-yard rushing touchdown to cut the deficit to 16-14 with 5:26 to play in the third.
The Duncanville defense got the ball back into Russell's hands at his own 40 with less than a minute left in the third quarter. On the first play of the drive Russell dropped back, stepped up and fired the ball to Theus. The wide receiver caught the ball in stride for a 60-yard touchdown to give Duncanville a 21-16 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Russell finished the game with three passing touchdowns and one rushing score.
