Waxahachie Survives Fierce Duncanville Comeback

Waxahachie defeats Duncanville 35-28 despite a tremendous second half effort by the Panthers. © 2026 Miss Ari Photography

Waxahachie - In an overall competitive matchup Friday night, the Waxahachie Indians (7-1) left the field with a 35-28 victory over the Duncanville Panthers (4-4).

The first quarter featured two high powered offensive performances, with scoring drives on consecutive drives. knotting the score at 14. 

Much to the delight of the home crowd, the Indians scored first on a pass play by quarterback Jerry Meyer III to senior tight end Vyncent Cooper. Running back Taylen Strange also scored on a short run in the first quarter.

Senior Trenton Yancey scored on a long running play for Duncanville and sophomore Jairus Ingram managed to get himself open for a deep pass and long touchdown run after quarterback Maximus Denson stayed alive on a tough scramble. 

It wasn’t until the final four minutes of the first half that things went awry for the Panthers. Waxahachie scored three touchdowns in those final four minutes. Most disheartening for Duncanville fans was likely Denson’s pass from just inside his own endzone that would be intercepted by Waxahachie’s Cayden Starr and returned for a touchdown. The home team would go on to take a 35-14 lead into the half.

The Indians, however, wouldn’t score again Friday night.

Coach Reginald Samples met his team at the 50 yard line before heading in to the locker room. After the half, the Panthers returned to the field with a surge of confidence and would eventually take the second half momentum. The defense locked down the Waxahachie receivers and the run game slowed down. An injury to Meyer in the third quarter didn’t help the offensive efforts for the Indians, as he was unable to return to the game.

Despite what appeared to be a few missed holding calls on the Waxahachie secondary, Duncanville still found the endzone twice and pulled themselves to within a touchdown. After a missed field goal by the Indians, Duncanville still had a chance to tie the game and send it to overtime. After an uneventful drive, a hail mary attempt by Denson was tipped away by a Waxahachie defender.