DESOTO, Texas — DeSoto senior Johntay Cook has his sights set on making history.
"I keep looking up there because that was the last time," explained Cook, a five-star recruit committed to Texas and, pound-for-pound, one of the best high school receivers in America.
Cook's future appears bright. But on a Tuesday afternoon at Eagle Stadium, he's focused, literally, on a banner hanging next to the press box.
"2016," Cook continued, the first (and so far, only) time DeSoto football has won a state championship.
Six years later, the Eagles are back in the state final.
On Saturday at 3 p.m., DeSoto will play Austin Vandegrift in the Class 6A Div. II championship game from AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Tex.
"We got one more team in our way until we get those rings," Cook asserted, while glancing upward again, as if to manifest a second championship banner.
One last game for the senior class, including Cook and his good friend Caimon Mathis.
"It means a lot knowing this is my last time playing with them ever again," admitted Mathis, a cornerback committed to the University of North Texas. "We're gonna leave it all out on the field together."
The DeSoto program is a tight-knit group. A brotherhood of teammates, many of whom have known each other since pre-K.
Mathis has known a couple of them since birth.
Caimon's twin brother, Crimson, is a receiver for the Eagles. And their younger brother, Canden, is a sophomore on the squad, too.
Oh ... and this is the part where I tell you the father of all three boys is Claude Mathis – DeSoto's head coach.
"My oldest son, Champ, won state [at Desoto] in 2016," Claude Mathis recalled. "I have two [championships] as a player [at Bartlett High School]. And now my three younger boys have an opportunity to go win one. Hopefully, that will come true."
According to Caimon Mathis, their mother, Lori, also won a state championship in high school as a volleyball player in Pecos, Tex.
Claude Mathis, however, has never won a state title as a head coach.
"The twins told me, 'We'll get you there, dad,'" Claude Mathis smiled.
Should DeSoto prevail on Saturday, the family tradition of winning state championships will continue in the Mathis household.
When asked what his mom and the rest of the family will be doing during the game?
Caimon looked up and said, "Oh, they're gonna be going crazy."
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