DESOTO, Texas — The defending UIL Class 6A Division 2 State Champion DeSoto Eagles have cruised through the first half of the 2023 high school football season so far, boasting an undefeated 4-0 overall record, including two wins against District 11-6A opponents. Their most recent win came this past Friday night against Waxahachie, and the game proved to be the first major speed bump on the Eagles’ road to a repeat.
Through the first three quarters of play, the host Indians kept pace with the Eagles, as both teams traded the lead multiple times. DeSoto eventually pulled away, outscoring Waxahachie 35-14 in the second half en route to a 56-35 victory, but the game wasn’t decided until the final three minutes of regulation. DeSoto head football coach Claude Mathis understands the challenge his team overcame.
“It really was a hard-fought game,” Mathis said. “I prepared my kids all week long because we knew it would be a tough-fought game there. It’s hard to win in that stadium. We were very glad to come out with the victory.”
Believe it or not, the 21-point margin of victory marks the closest game DeSoto has been in all year. The Eagles opened the season with three consecutive blowouts: a 39-7 demolition of Allen, a 54-14 dismantling of South Oak Cliff and a 42-17 victory over Skyline. Through the first 12 quarters of the season, DeSoto had only trailed for a total of four minutes and 48 seconds of regulation. Compared to that trend, the Eagles’ battle against Waxahachie was an outlier and an important test.
“It’s going to prepare us for later on in district play,” Mathis explained. “Our kids were very confident throughout the game. We never thought that we were going to lose the game, but we needed to be pushed like that.”
DeSoto’s defense and special teams units have both put points on the board this season, but the offense is red hot. Quarterback Darius Bailey has been lights out, accounting for nearly 1,000 total yards of offense and 12 touchdowns in just four games.
“He’s having a heck of a year this year, and he’s such a great leader,” Mathis said. “By having a veteran quarterback, you can do some different things because he’s been in the fire before, and he understands our system. He can get us in some great situations.”
Meanwhile, wide receiver Ethan Feaster has been turning heads across America. The freshman phenom already has a plethora of Division I offers, and there’s plenty to love about his play. In his first four games of high school ball, he caught eight passes for 193 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
“He’s a very hard worker,” Mathis detailed. “He’s very smart – smart in the classroom, smart on the football field – and his work ethic is unbelievable. He’s always trying to get better. That’s what I noticed about this young man, especially as an eighth grader. He took every opportunity to get with our coaches, to learn our system, to understand what it takes to be successful.”
DeSoto enjoys their second bye week of the season in Week 6 and will next take the field at Mansfield’s Vernon Newsom Stadium on Friday, October 6 against Mansfield Legacy. The Eagles did not play an opponent in Week 2 either, and the on-again, off-again nature of their early-season schedule has its fair share of pros and cons.
“The thing that I don’t like about it is that it’s a rollercoaster ride. You play two, then you’re off, then you play two… There’s no consistency right now, but we need [the bye week] because we’re kind of beat up right now. It’s coming at the right moment for us.”