By Mark Slette
Staff Writer
With round one of the Class 5A state playoffs behind them, Coppell is set for a rematch against the DeSoto Eagles. Last year, the Cowboys suffered a tough defeat, losing 42-14. This year, they hope for a different outcome.
The Eagles, a fast paced offense and a solid all around defense, has thrived this year, going undefeated (7 and 0) in district play. Desoto has come off of a huge win in the bi-district round against Copperas Cove, winning 67-21.
The accelerated Eagle offense, tacks on points, faster than a speeding bullet. Their strengths stem from their offense, which has scored on average 55 points per game this year.
The mastermind behind the Eagles’ success is senior quarterback Desmon White, who has accounted for 4448 passing and rushing yards along with 46 touchdowns total (33 passing, 13 rushing).
White’s main outlet is Oklahoma State commit, Chris Lacey who has caught 1080 total yards and scored 16 touchdowns for soaring eagles.
Along with the strong passing game, the Eagles also have two extraordinary running backs. Senior Jaimon Peterson and Junior Jatory Brown have rushed for a total of 1027 yards on 155 attempts. This passing and rushing combination has a total of 67 touchdowns and 402 points this season.
On the flipside for Desoto, while everyone tends to focus more on their offense, their defense has several Division 1 (D1) commits.
Leading the defense are senior defensive backs, Oklahoma commit, Vontre Mcquinnie and Texas Christian University commit, Howard Wilson.
This season, the Eagles defense on average has allowed a total of 19.54 points per game. Can they come up in the clutch and stop Coppell’s offense?
Averaging about 40 points this season, the Cowboys primary way of scoring this season was with rushing touchdowns with a total of 36. Senior Captain Gavin McDaniel and junior Charles West have carried the ball for 1914 yards along with 19 total touchdowns this season.
Every good team needs a balance of rushing and passing. Junior quarterback Skyler Bonneau’s first season as a Cowboy, has been a learning experience as he had to adjust to the Cowboy offense. Quietly, Bonneau has thrown for 1124 yards, 15 touchdowns and has only allowed one interception. The key for the team is that, everyone on offense needs to contributed collectively and some way put points on the board in this playoff match.
Defense for Coppell needs to come up big. Senior defensive end and captain Solomon Thomas needs to charge the field with the rest of his defense and try to contain Desmon White and the swift Eagle offense. Coppell has allowed an average of 13.6 points this season and hopes to minimize the amount of points that are placed on the scoreboard by DeSoto.
This game features two of the top three teams in Texas. DeSoto is ranked number one while Coppell comes in third. This is a clash of two powerhouse teams playing top notch playoff football. Could the Cowboys upset the Eagles? Or will the Eagles continue to dominate? The winner of this game will play either Arlington Martin or Odessa in the next round.
