Daingerfield Tigers. (Michel Alfaro/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

PITTSBURG — The Daingerfield defense forced four turnovers and quarterback Chase Johnson accounted for 200 yards of offense and three touchdowns as the Tigers stunned No. 4 state-ranked New Diana, 42-35, in a Class 3A Division II area round playoff game at Pirate Stadium on Friday.

New Diana (11-1) received the opening kickoff but fumbled the ball away to Daingerfield near midfield and it didn’t take long for Daingerfield to take advantage of the miscue. The Tigers scored in just three plays when Reign Wallace got around the left side for a 21-yard touchdown run to give Daingerfield an early 7-0 lead.

New Diana answered with a nice drive on their next possession as Davyon Mapps carried the ball four times for 46 yards, including a 25-yard touchdown run right down the middle of the field as the Eagles pulled within, 7-6, midway through the first quarter.

New Diana forced a Daingerfield punt and got the ball back with a chance to take the lead but again the Eagles turned the ball over on a fumble. The Tigers capitalized off the turnover on a short 1-yard touchdown run by Chase Johnson to give Daingerfield a 14-6 lead early in the second quarter.

The turnover bug struck New Diana once again on their next drive when Ja’Kyrin Craver intercepted a DeJuan Johnson pass and returned it 45-yards to the Eagles 27-yard line. Daingerfield converted the Eagles third turnover in the first half into another score when Ashton Williams scored on a 12-yard run to give the Tigers a 21-6 lead.

New Diana cut into the lead late in the second quarter when Jaiydyn Johnson scored on a 1-yard run to get the Eagles within, 21-14. But a long kick return by Daingerfield set the Tigers up with great field position at the New Diana 20 yard-line.

Daingerfield (7-5) took advantage of the short field as Chase Johnson found the end zone on a 6-yard run to give the Tigers a 28-14 halftime advantage over New Diana.

Daingerfield picked up where it left off in the first half as they took the opening drive of the third quarter and quickly marched the ball down the field as Wallace hauled in a pair of passes from Chase Johnson for 46 yards, including a 34-yard scoring strike in the corner of the end zone to give the Tigers a 35-14 lead.

Daingerfield appeared to have full control of the game but New Diana had other plans as the Eagles rallied for back-to-back scores to trim the deficit, 35-28 with 5:36 left in the third quarter.

The Eagles answered with a 10-yard touchdown run by Mapps then DeJuan Johnson scrambled out of the pocket to deliver a 23-yard scoring strike to Ja’Davian Sanders in the corner of the end zone to get New Diana within a single score.

New Diana came up with a huge defensive stop and got the ball back with a chance to tie the game late in the third quarter but Daingerfield forced a fumble that bounced through the end zone for the Eagles fourth turnover of the game.

Just like the previous three turnovers, Daingerfield was able to convert it into another touchdown despite having to drive 80 yards for this particular score.

Chase Johnson completed a pair passes for 23 yards to Kenny Mosley then Johnson delivered a spectacular 44-yard touchdown run as he spun in-and-around several defenders for the score to give Daingerfield a 42-28 lead early in the fourth quarter.

New Diana made it interesting midway through the fourth quarter when DeJuan Johnson scored on an 11-yard keeper to trim the margin, 42-35, with 5:41 left in the game.

New Diana then forced Daingerfield to punt the ball at their 40-yard line after exhausting all of their time outs. For an instant, the Eagles appeared to be getting the ball back with a chance to tie the game with under two minutes to play. But the Eagles decked the punter and were flagged with a personal foul penalty which allowed Daingerfield to run out the clock and pull off the huge upset.

New Diana ends its season with an impressive (11-1) record and a district title to boot and will return sophomore sensation quarterback Ja’Juan Johnson in 2025.

Daingerfield started the season (1-5) but has rallied for six straight wins and will now take on Newton in the regional quarterfinal next week at date, site and time to be determined.