The number 33 looms large in what is shaping up to be high school football's biggest game of the year Saturday when No. 1
IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) travels to the Lone Star State for a showdown against No. 6
Duncanville (Texas). Both teams are riding impressive win streaks entering the contest, which will be played at Globe Life Park in Arlington – the
former home of MLB's Texas Rangers and not to be confused with Globe Life Field in Arlington the
current home of MLB's Texas Rangers.
IMG Academy (4-0) hasn't lost to a public school (which Duncanville is) since 2013 when it fell to Naples (Fla.) 21-14. Since that setback, the Ascenders have rattled off 33 consecutive victories over public school opposition. That streak includes dominating wins this season over Venice (Fla.), Edgewater (Orlando, Fla.) and Ravenwood (Brentwood, Tenn.).
In five contests against public schools in 2019, IMG Academy owned a 195-35 scoring advantage. Two of those teams went on to win state titles in Florida.
Duncanville enters looking to extend a streak of its own with 33 consecutive regular season victories, which dates back to October of 2016. During the 2017 and 2018 seasons, none of the Panthers' regular season opponents even came within 21 points.
Led by head coach Reginald Samples, Duncanville has reached the Class 6A Division I state championship game in each of the past two seasons only to lose to North Shore (Houston) in both appearances. Samples was suspended for last week's season opener for using a coach on staff that was not a full-time district employee.
How to watchDate: Saturday, Oct. 10
Time: Noon CDT
Location: Globe Life Park (Arlington, Texas)
Television/Streaming: FloFootball
Junior running back Kaytron Allen leads IMG Academy this season with 255 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
Photo by Mike Janes
