SURVIVING, THRIVING
Kay reflects on North Shore’s true grit with third championship in four years
ARLINGTON — Culture.
There is perhaps no better way to describe what North Shore football is all about.
The Mustangs have a legitimate Texas high school football dynasty rolling now after beating a nationally ranked Duncanville team 17-10 in the Class 6A Division I state championship game Saturday at AT&T Stadium. It was the third title for the program in four years and fifth overall.
But getting to Arlington and coming away with the hardware didn’t happen because of talent or football acumen alone. It started with the environment created by the North Shore coaching staff and the expectations set by the people who have the most profound influence on the players.
“It’s not easy to play football at North Shore,” Mustangs coach Jon Kay said after the victory. “It really isn’t. And that’s why we try to give as much credit to the parents as we can, because the sacrifices that they made to make sure that their kids are at that school and doing the work that’s necessary to compete at this level, it ain’t for everybody. … These kids, they respect, they understand what it takes to grind through this program, week after week, practice after practice.”
The game against Duncanville was a defensive battle until late in the fourth quarter when freshman quarterback Kaleb Bailey delivered a 39-yard touchdown pass to David Amador. That score gave the Mustangs the lead for good, and with the defense playing lights-out, they never looked back.
“It was a slugfest, and we knew that coming in,” Kay said. “The one thing I think we take a lot of pride in with our community is the grit and the ability to finish and make things when things probably shouldn’t be there. Hell, we saw it with some of our players this week with an apartment fire yesterday — just finding a way to survive, finding a way to come out on top.”
Much was made about the matchup between North Shore and Duncanville. The two programs played each other in the 2018 and 2019 title games as well, with the Mustangs prevailing both times.
But for Kay and his coaches, the trilogy was not important. It was about winning a single game.
“In my experience, especially in our community, we focus on what the kids need to focus on and not the outcome,” Kay said. “I think too often you focus on revenge or you focus on it being the third time. You start to play scared, or you start to play in a way that’s out of character for you. This was going to be about the ’21 team vs. ’21 Duncanville. We said the same thing in ’19, we said the same thing in ’18, and if we’re lucky enough to play them again, we’ll say it again.”
The 2018 contest between North Shore and Duncanville was a shootout between two talented offenses. The Mustangs came away with the 41-36 victory in the final seconds as quarterback Dematrius Davis connected with Ajani Carter for a Hail Mary touchdown pass. The 2019 game supplied plenty of big plays as well as North Shore pulled away for the 31-17 triumph.
But this time was different. With two talented defenses going at it, the Mustangs had to grind it out. They did just that, and in the end, they were hoisting a wellearned championship trophy.
“We take a lot of pride in our football,” Kay said. “Athletics is the greatest at-risk program in the schools today, and we’ve got a lot of kids that are working their tails off, and their parents believe in us. Because they believe in us, they buy into us. This is much bigger than football. This is an opportunity for people to understand what the Eastside of Houston is about.”