Playmakers power DeSoto (TX) in 55-27 win against Houston Sheldon King (TX): Live updates, score of Texas UIL 6A Division II title contest

Playmakers power DeSoto (TX) in 55-27 win against Houston Sheldon King (TX): Live updates, score of Texas UIL 6A Division II title contest originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

ARLINGTON, TEXAS – Entering Saturday’s University Interscholastic League 6A Division II championship game, a great deal of attention was centered on DeSoto running back SaRod Baker.

Baker was in the midst of an incredible postseason stretch in which he rushed for more than 1,500 yards and scored nearly 20 touchdowns.

And while the junior standout posted some solid numbers Saturday, and had a jaw-dropping touchdown, he wasn’t the only Eagle flying high. DeSoto relied on an array of dazzling playmakers, and also made huge plays in all three phases as the Eagles claimed their third title in the past four seasons with a 55-27 win against Houston Sheldon King at AT&T Stadium.

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One such playmaker was senior receiver Ethan “Boobie” Feaster, who already had more than 1,500 yards going into Saturday. He added to that total with 10 catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns, good enough to earn the award of the Most Outstanding Player on offense.

Feaster has been an impact player since his freshman year, and had two state title rings to his credit prior to his senior year. But he remarked Saturday the latest championship was perhaps the sweetest one.

“I can say this year, we dealt with a lot of adversity,” Feaster said. “I can’t say we dealt with a lot of adversity my freshman year, because if you just go look at who we had on that team, that was like an all-star team. So I mean it that this year really built character for me.”

Feaster was also so focused on winning another title that he has delayed his official signing ceremony with USC. He will do that Sunday afternoon at DeSoto’s high school gym.

“One thing I must show Coach (Claude) Mathis is he knows one thing that I care,” Feaster said. “So I’ve waited after the state championship to sign. I made sure I did this.

“So, you know, I just want to show him and let him know that I’m focused; I’m focused on this team. I want the team to understand that I was focused on winning a state championship.”

Then there was senior quarterback Legend Howell. It’s not very often the quarterback of a state title team goes unnoticed, especially with players like Baker and Feaster. But Howell was a perfect fit for Mathis and the Eagles, with a season in which he threw for more than 2,700 yards and 31 TDs.

Saturday may have been Howell’s finest performance, as he completed 19-of-25 passes for 280 yards and four TDs.

“He did great, unbelievable, because people were down on him,” Mathis said. “I think he’s one of the best senior quarterbacks in the country that’s out there, right now. People need to understand and I wish recruiters can listen to him. He can play the game.

“He’s a very smart young man, he has a strong arm. He understands the game of football. He’s an athletic quarterback. His SAT (score) is through the roof, he’s smart. But the young man can play the game. And they’ll tell you, that guy had to play, that guy had to play. We knew it. And you know, once our coaches figured out what we can do with him, he started getting better.”

DeSoto (13-3) finished with 444 yards of total offense, picked up 20 first downs and scored 48 points by halftime. But the Eagles had an impact in other areas.

Their defense held Sheldon King – making its first-ever title-game appearance – to 5 yards in the first quarter and 280 for the game. Senior safety Damarion Ross capped the 48-point first half by returning an interception 94 yards for a TD on his way to earning the Most Outstanding Player on defense honor.

DeSoto’s special teams also got a TD, when Ayden Marshall blocked a punt near the end zone, with teammate Bryson Briscoe fielding it on the run and needing just 3 yards to cross the goal line.

It was so much a dominant performance that Baker was relatively quiet after the first quarter, when he scored DeSoto’s first two touchdowns, including a 53-yard run when he broke loose and sprinted down the sideline while outracing the Panthers’ secondary.

He had 99 yards in the first half and finished with 125 for the game and he didn’t score again after that. But that was OK, as Baker already cemented his legacy as a postseason legend.

Baker finished DeSoto’s six-game playoff run with 1,628 yards and 21 TDs. But to him, it all went back to the Eagles’ season opener, a shocking 70-28 road loss to Creekside (Ga.), a team DeSoto manhandled the year before.

“It’s meant everything; that’s all we’ve been talking about since the start of the season after we lost to (Creekside) and we came back to the Creekside gym, and that’s where they had us,” Baker said. “And we talked about how this season, we can either be a laughingstock or we can go down in history, fighting back and coming back and winning a state championship. That’s why I feel like, you know, everybody bought in.

“After that week, everybody was being coachable, everybody was on time, everybody was in weight room on time, working hard, you know, being coachable, doing what the coaches tell us to do. And that’s why I feel like we won a state title.”

That improvement didn’t happen overnight, as the week after the loss to Creekside, DeSoto was defeated by defending 6A Division I state champion North Crowley, 36-27. But the signs of progress showed in that game, and then the Eagles kicked it into gear after that, winning 13 of their next 14 games, with the only loss in that span coming to arch-rival Duncanville.

DeSoto also had a phenomenal postseason showing, averaging 58.5 points in its six playoff wins, highlighted by a second-half rally in last week’s semifinal to defeat previously undefeated Southlake Carroll, 57-44.. In fact, the 55 points the Eagles generated Saturday was the lowest point total they had in that span.

It ended with a third championship in four years. And an endorsement from Feaster to his coach.

“That’s a blessing; I feel like he’s the best coach in the country and in the Metroplex,” Feaster said of Mathis. “He’s got a great staff; our two (offensive coordinators), Coach (Kerry) Sweeny and Coach (Charles) Williams, I feel like they can be head coaches anywhere, but they stay here.

“He’s got a great staff, but they stay here and they trust what Coach Mathis has for us. I mean, it worked out.”

Sheldon King ended its season at 13-3. The Panthers made it to Arlington for the first time after knocking off last season’s 6A DII champion, Austin Vandegrift, in last week’s semifinal round.

Running back Dionne Sims rushed for 102 yards and a TD, and quarterback Timothy Potts threw for 159 yards and two scores.

Follow The Sporting News correspondent Buck Ringgold (@Bucks_Ballpark) for all of the live updates and scoring from Arlington.

Scroll down for live score and game updates from kickoff to the postgame. Refresh this page for the latest.

DeSOTO 55, SHELDON KING 27 FINAL

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POSTGAME

– A total of 191,815 attended all 12 UIL state title games this week. And with that, that is a wrap on the 2025 high school football season in Texas.

– The Outstanding Offensive Player of the game from DeSoto is receiver Ethan Feaster, who caught 10 passes for 167 yards and scored two touchdowns.

– The Outstanding Defensive Player of the game from DeSoto is Damarion Ross with four tackles, two solo and a 94-yard pick-six.

– For the third time in four seasons, DeSoto claims the 6A Division II state title. A dominant effort from start to finish, and the Eagles got it done in all three phases.

FOURTH QUARTER

– DeSoto is going to take knees and this one is over. Eagles win the last game of the season.

– SaRod Baker watch: He is now up to 125 yards on 24 carries. We’ve hit the two-minute warning.

– TOUCHDOWN SHELDON KING. Dionne Sims catches a 10-yard pass out of the backfield to put the Panthers back on the board. Try for two fails. (DeSoto, 55-27 | 8:28, 4th)

– Through three quarters, DeSoto has 427 total yards (156 rushing, 271 passing). King with 219 total yards (70 rushing, 149 passing).

THIRD QUARTER

– TOUCHDOWN DeSOTO. Legend Howell with his fourth TD pass on the night, a 17-yard strike to Antron Edmundson to cap a 10-play, 55-yard drive. (DeSoto, 55-21 | 4:31, 3rd)

– SaRod Baker watch: He now has 105 yards on the ground.

– King reaches the DeSoto 45 but turns the ball over on downs after an incomplete pass on fourth-and-long.

– King to receive the ball to start the second half.

HALFTIME

– Total yards for DeSoto in the first half: 354 (141 rushing, 213 passing). Total yards for King: 167 (34 rushing, 133 passing). SaRod Baker watch: 99 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns.

– Attendance for tonight’s finale: 31,578.

SECOND QUARTER

– PICK-SIX TOUCHDOWN DeSOTO. Just when King was attempting to move closer to DeSoto, the momentum has drastically flipped. Pass is picked off by the Eagles’ Damarion Ross at his own 6 near the sideline; then cuts upfield and turns on the jets as he goes in for a 94-yard pick-six. (DeSoto, 48-21 | :44, 2nd)

– King faces a third-and-15 at the DeSoto 29, and the Panthers call a time out.

– Another third-and-10 for DeSoto and another SaRod Baker run, but he gets just 8 yards. Then on fourth-and-2, a handoff again to Baker, but this time, King makes the stop. Huge turnover on downs there with 2:24 left in the half.

– DeSoto faced with a third-and-10. Pass? Nope, just give it to SaRod Baker, and he fights for 11 yards and the Eagles move the chains with less than four minutes to go in the half.

– TOUCHDOWN SHELDON KING. Make it FIVE TOUCHDOWNS in a span of 4:24. Holy freaking mackerel, Dillon Mitchell fields the ensuing kickoff and IS GONE from 79 yards out. (DeSoto, 41-21 | 5:19, 2nd)

– TOUCHDOWN DeSOTO. This is now officially a track meet. Ethan Feaster catches a pass and is gone from 47 yards out. Eagles went 66 yards in just four plays. We now have four touchdowns in a span of 4:10. (DeSoto, 41-14 | 5:33, 2nd)

– TOUCHDOWN SHELDON KING. Then the Panthers break off a 3-play, 59-yard drive, capped by Dionne Sims’ 27-yard dash to the house. (DeSoto, 34-14 | 7:24, 2nd)

– TOUCHDOWN DeSOTO. Back come the Eagles, as Legend Howell finds Courtly’on Jackson on a screen pass and Jackson does the rest, eluding defenders and then cutting to the other end of the field and outracing the secondary for a 70-yard score. (DeSoto, 34-7 | 8:55, 2nd)

– TOUCHDOWN SHELDON KING. Panthers go 52 yards in nine plays, capped by a 6-yard scoring toss from Timothy Potts to Darnell Bradley. (DeSoto, 27-7 | 9:43, 2nd)

– King finally has a good drive going as the Panthers are inside the DeSoto 10.

– DeSoto had 199 yards of total offense in the opening quarter while King had just 5.

FIRST QUARTER

– TOUCHDOWN DeSOTO. While SaRod Baker certainly has gotten a lot of attention of late, don’t forget about Ethan Feaster, the Eagles’ standout receiver who is headed to USC. Feaster makes a running catch off a Legend Howell pass and sprints 65 yards to the house. (DeSoto, 27-0 | :12, 1st)

– DeSoto forces King to punt for the third straight series. The Panthers are able to get this kick off, however. Eagles back on offense late in the period.

– PUNT BLOCK FOR A TOUCHDOWN DeSOTO. The Eagles’ special teams gets in on the act, as King punts from its own 11, but it’s blocked by Ayden Marshall, with Bryson Briscoe picking it up and running into the end zone from 3 yards out. Bad snap on the PAT and it fails, but the Eagles are now up by 20. (DeSoto, 20-0 | 3:54, 1st)

– TOUCHDOWN DeSOTO. SaRod Baker continues his torrid postseason run with his second TD on the night, sprinting 53 yards to the house to complete a 2-play, 58-yard drive. Baker now with 77 yards on nine carries with his two scores. (DeSoto, 14-0 | 4:48, 1st)

– King goes three-and-out on its opening offensive series, with DeSoto’s Ja’den Randle picking up a sack. Panthers punt it back to the Eagles, who take over at their own 42 six minutes into the contest.

– TOUCHDOWN DeSOTO. Eagles march 77 yards in 12 plays on the game’s opening drive, capped by a 2-yard run by SaRod Baker. (DeSoto, 7-0 | 7:27, 1st)

– Incomplete pass on third down, but King is penalized for pass interference. DeSoto now with a first-and-goal at the King 2-yard line.

– SaRod Baker stopped a yard short of the first down. Fourth-and-1 for DeSoto, and Baker gets the handoff again and plows forward for the first down. Ball at the King 44.

– DeSoto converts a couple of first downs and the Eagles are nearing midfield.

– DeSoto fields the opening kickoff and the Eagles have the ball near their 25 after a short return.

PREGAME

– C.E. King wins the toss and defers to the second half. The Panthers are the home team and they’re wearing white helmets, blue jerseys and blue pants. DeSoto in green helmets, white jerseys and black pants.

– Live from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, it’s the last game of the 2025 Texas high school football season as DeSoto – going for its third state title in four seasons – takes on Houston Sheldon King, which is in its first-ever title game, for the UIL 6A Division II championship.