For the Cowboys, it’s Dwight Clark and “The Catch” in the 1981 NFC Championship Game.
For the Mavs, it’s Dirk Nowitzki’s front-rimmed free throw in the 2006 NBA Finals.
For the Rangers, it’s Nelson Cruz playing too shallow in the 2011 World Series.
A fingertip catch from a Super Bowl. A favorable bounce from a 3-0 lead in the Finals. A routine warning track snag from a championship.
I know, I know. Sports is merely life’s toy box. Diversionary games played by really big children. In the big scheme, the games we play, the scores we keep and the memories we cherish – and despise – are relatively meaningless. This Christmas, for example, there are families missing paychecks because of the government shutdown, a caravan of immigrants living in squalor just outside the U.S. border and thousands of Californians seeking temporary shelter in the wake of losing homes in the recent wildfires.
In perspective, sports shouldn’t matter so damn much. But it does. Championships prompt parades, fuel economies and lift spirits. And losses – especially post-season, heartbreaking defeats – prompt tears, fuel depression and ruin holidays.
For Duncanville High School, it’s the Galena Park Grinch in the 2018 state championship game.
I was reminded last week how fortunate we are – as football fans – to live in Texas. The UIL’s menu of 12 high school championship games consistently delivered. The passion was superior to college bowl games, where star players often opt out to prepare for the NFL Draft. The execution was better than Sunday’s Cowboys-Buccaneers, which combined for 19 penalties and two turnovers.
At AT&T Stadium last week, high school state championships were more exciting and dramatic than an NFC East championship.
There was a touchdown on the week’s first play, when McLean scored en route to putting up 100 in its Six Man title. And a touchdown on the season’s final play, when Galena Park North Shore was gifted a championship and Duncanville was handed a harsh life lesson.
The one about it not being fair.
I would write these sentiments even if I wasn’t a Class of 1982 Duncanville graduate. Personally, what transpired caused nothing more than momentary, surface disappointment. To most that watched on Fox Sports Southwest and some among the 48,000 in attendance, it was a riveting four hours of sports entertainment. To ESPN, it provided a highlight that led last Saturday night’s Sportscenter.
But to Duncanville, it was, is and always will be one of the worst nights of their lives.
The Panthers, who won their only football title in 1998, were a dominant team all season. They entered the Class 6A Division I championship 14-0, having defeated DFW perennial powers Southlake Carroll and Allen on consecutive weeks. It was their No. 1-rated defense against Galena Park North Shore’s record-setting offense, led by the nation’s No. 1 running back prospect, Zach Evans.
By all accounts, it wasn’t just a battle for the Texas title, but also a high school national championship.
Duncanville committed a fumble that resulted in a scoop-and-score on the game’s first play. The Panthers missed a 27-yard field goal, and halted another promising drive by fumbling inside the Mustangs’ 20. For most teams, those self-inflicted errors would be cause for a blowout loss to Galena Park North Shore.
But with three seconds remaining, the Panthers had the game won. Well, all but won. They smothered Evans, limiting him to less than 100 yards rushing. They rallied from a 29-20 halftime deficit. They took a 36-35 lead with 1:02 remaining on quarterback Ja’Quinden Jackson’s touchdown plunge. They produced a fierce pass rush on the ensuing possession, producing a holding penalty against Galena Park North Shore that pushed the Mustangs’ final, frantic drive back to the 45-yard line with three seconds – and one last play – remaining.
With its succulent championship on the fork and all but in its mouth, Duncanville prepared to defend the scariest play in football – the Hail Mary. The Mustangs called their version of the high-risk, high-reward play – one they named “Boise.”
The Panthers rushed only three, dropping eight between the 5-yard line and the back of the end zone. Galena Park North Shore quarterback Dematrius Davis moved left, got tantalizingly close to the line of scrimmage at the 45 and unleashed a perfect spiral headed for the back, right corner of the end zone.
As the ball floated downward, Duncanville junior cornerback Thailan Scott produced a perfectly timed leap and reached the ball at a high point – above all other hands. Somehow, however, he whiffed on his attempt to swat the ball away with his right hand. Galena Park North Shore senior receiver A.J. Carter was the recipient of the unbothered ball, catching it in a crowd and falling backward just in bounds. Touchdown. Miracle. Game.
Galena Park North Shore 41, Duncanville 36.
It was one of the most improbable finishes in Texas high school football championship history, ranking alongside Manvel’s completed Hail Mary being stopped at the 1-yard line against Highland Park in 2017’s Class 5A state title game, and the 1994 classic in which Plano East recovered three onside kicks and rallied from a 27-point deficit in the fourth quarter against Tyler John Tyler, only to lose on a kickoff return for touchdown on the game’s final play.
Said Galena Park North Shore head coach Jon Kay, “It’s a play we work on every week, but you never really expect it to work. It’s called the Hail Mary for a reason. Somebody’s livin’ right.”
Feel sympathy for Duncanville’s players, fans, etc. and recall the life lesson, but then compound it when considering head coach Reginald Samples. In 2004, he coached Dallas’ Lincoln High School to the Class 4A state championship game. He lost that one too. In double overtime.
After replay officials confirmed Carter’s touchdown and Galena Park North Shore’s win, Duncanville players fell to their knees. Some screamed. Others cried. Sample stood motionless, mouth agape, eyes glazed in disbelief.
“I don’t have anything to hold my head down for,” Samples said. “I’m proud of the kids. We did everything we could to be right there.”
Thanks to the heartless Ghosts of Christmas Present and Future – Duncanville is about to endure some hollow holiday seasons.
Eventually – it will take years, if not decades – the sports scars will smooth. There will be graduation and college and marriage and kids and personal failures and career triumphs. The ebb and flow of life – of time – is a wonderful, magical elixir. The haunting will diminish. The highlight will stop replaying in their mind.
But then – seemingly out of nowhere – psychological wounds will re-open.
Ask any Cowboys fan about “The Catch” and how their team was thissss close to having nine Super Bowl appearances. To Mavs fans, just the mention of the year – 2006 – will incite an audible groan. Since they haven’t soothed any pain with a championship, Rangers fans are still sick – seven years later – at losing a World Series they were one strike from winning. Twice.
Unfortunately, sports pain is eternal. In football, the accidental, impossible and lucky “Hail Mary” is the cruelest of spells. Whisper “Drew Pearson” in the ear of a Vikings fan. See if Miami Hurricanes’ fans want to chat about Doug Flutie around the Thanksgiving table. Ask Raiders fans if they’d like Franco Harris to help christen their new stadium. OU fans haven’t stopped wincing from a heart-stabbing “Statue of Liberty” that shocked the Sooners in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.
Oh yeah, the team that ran that indelible play? Yup, Boise.
Bottom line: Duncanville players, coaches and fans that were in Arlington last Saturday night will never be able to look at AT&T Stadium without a hint of nausea. Cowboys games. Concerts. A flyover view on TV. Who knows, maybe even a return to the playoffs there in 2019?
The Panthers return enough talent to win next year’s championship. If they do, they can forgive 2018. But they’ll never be able to forget it.
There’s Santa putting coal in your stocking because you were naughty. And then there’s the Galena Park Grinch totally stealing your Christmas because, well, just because.
Here’s hoping Duncanville never experiences a more dramatic punch to its sports gut.