The best state semifinal in Texas could take place Saturday, when eight-time state champion Southlake Carroll faces three-time state champion DeSoto.
Carroll is ranked No. 5 in the nation by MaxPreps, while DeSoto has won eight in a row after a 3-3 start. This will be the second time in three years they have met in the state semifinals.
There will be elite playmakers all over the field, including Pittsburgh signee Angelo Renda and Ohio State signee Brock Boyd for Carroll and superstar running back SaRod Baker and USC signee Ethan “Boobie” Feaster for DeSoto.
Here are five storylines to watch from the 6A Division II state semifinal between Southlake Carroll and DeSoto.
High School Sports
Who: Southlake Carroll (14-0) vs. DeSoto (11-3)
When: 2 p.m. Saturday
Where: Vernon Newsom Stadium in Mansfield
Can Carroll slow down SaRod Baker?
Southlake Carroll is ranked No. 3 in the nation and is winning by an average of 42.5 points per game. But it will be on upset alert Saturday in large part because of DeSoto three-star junior running back SaRod Baker.
Baker isn’t just the leading rusher in the Dallas area, with 2,605 yards and 40 touchdowns. He has run for more than 100 yards in 13 consecutive games, he has five games with over 200 yards and he has gone over 300 yards twice in the last three games.
Baker is coming off his best game of the season, as he was originally credited with 38 carries for 384 yards and a school-record seven touchdowns in a 60-41 win over Willis. DeSoto coach Claude Mathis said Monday that his coaching staff went back and reviewed the film from that game and that Baker actually had 402 yards.
That came two weeks after he ran for 374 yards and five touchdowns in a 60-28 win over Longview — the team that knocked DeSoto out of the playoffs last year.
Baker will be facing a Carroll defense that allows an average of 110.5 rushing yards per game. Baker has averaged an insane 12 yards per carry in the playoffs, while Carroll’s defense is holding opponents to 3.5 yards per carry in the postseason.
Will Carroll end title drought?
Southlake Carroll has won eight state titles, tied for fifth most in UIL 11-man football history. But Carroll’s last title was in 2011.
Since then, Carroll has lost in two state championship games (2020 and 2024) and two state semifinals (2021 and 2023). The 2023 semifinal loss was 45-38 to DeSoto, a game in which the teams combined for 1,158 yards of total offense and DeSoto got a critical fourth-down stop just short of the goal line en route to winning its second straight state title.
Carroll and DeSoto have met in the playoffs six times since 2012, with each team winning three times. Carroll eliminated DeSoto from the playoffs three years in a row, winning second-round games in 2017, 2018 and 2019, before DeSoto got its revenge in 2023.
DeSoto’s semifinal history
DeSoto is undefeated in state semifinals in its history. Except when it had to face Kyler Murray, arguably the greatest quarterback in the history of Texas high school football.
DeSoto has played five state semifinals, losing to Murray and Allen in 2012 (51-36) and 2013 (42-35) before beating Klein Collins in 2016, Denton Guyer in 2022 and Southlake Carroll in 2023. After each of those semifinal wins, DeSoto won a state title.
The 2013 loss to Allen was one of the most painful defeats in DeSoto history. DeSoto had a 15-point lead with less than nine minutes left in the game, only to see Murray lead a dramatic comeback that was capped by Allen scoring the winning touchdown after recovering a punt that bounced off the leg of a DeSoto player who was blocking for the return with 1:15 remaining.
Star receivers go head-to-head
Four-star USC signee Ethan “Boobie” Feaster is the top Class of 2026 recruit remaining in the Texas high school football playoffs, but he won’t be the only superstar wide receiver playing in Saturday’s state semifinal. On the other side will be three-star Ohio State signee Brock Boyd from Southlake Carroll.
Both players have been spectacular as seniors, with Boyd catching 83 passes for 1,387 yards and 18 touchdowns and Feaster catching 84 passes for 1,504 yards and 18 touchdowns. They rank second and third among area 6A players in receiving yards, and Boyd has seven games with more than 100 yards receiving — including all four games in the playoffs — and Feaster has nine games with more than 100 yards.
Boyd has a touchdown catch in 13 of Carroll’s 14 games and has 25 catches for 482 yards and six touchdowns in the playoffs. He had a big game in the 2023 state semifinal loss to DeSoto, catching five passes for 122 yards.
The passing game
DeSoto’s pass defense was outstanding the first three weeks of the playoffs, allowing an average of 137.7 yards per game through the air and allowing the opposition to complete just 45% of its passes. Last week was a different story, at least on the stat sheet, as Willis freshman quarterback Lincoln Frazier threw for 335 yards and three touchdowns and five-star Texas signee Jermaine Bishop Jr. and Houston signee Jaivion Martin combined for 21 catches for 275 yards and three touchdowns in DeSoto’s 60-41 win.
But DeSoto did intercept Frazier twice and allowed him to complete just 48% of his passes, as he was 27-for-56. This week will be an even bigger test for the DeSoto secondary.
Southlake Carroll three-star quarterback Angelo Renda, a Pittsburgh signee, has thrown for 3,984 yards and 41 touchdowns and has six games with more than 300 yards passing. Carroll has two 1,000-yard receivers with Ohio State signee Brock Boyd and junior Blake Gunter, and they have combined for 142 catches for 2,500 yards and 32 touchdowns.
William “Caleb” Elliott is accused of recording middle school boys in a locker room.
Quarterback Brett Holloway came up big Friday night for the team he embraced after transferring from Allen.
Lone Star scored 21 unanswered points in the final five minutes of an unbelievable comeback victory.
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