BANGS – The Bangs Dragons kicked off their 2020 football campaign with a 28-0 home victory over the rival Early Longhorns last week, and look to remain unbeaten in their first road outing of the season against the Florence Buffaloes. Kickoff between Bangs (1-0) and Florence (0-1) is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Florence, a member of District 13-3A Division II, dropped its season opener at Johnson City by a 34-20 count last week. The Buffaloes fell behind 21-0 in the first quarter but outscored Johnson City the rest of the way. Bangs third-year head coach Kyle Maxfield is hopeful the Dragons can start fast Friday.

“That would be big, especially taking our road first trip of the year,” said Maxfield, whose team also conducted its lone scrimmage at home. “It’s a pretty good trip, a couple of hours, so we have to get off the bus ready to play.”

Florence finished with 207 yards of total offense against Johnson City – 135 rushing and 72 passing. Brenden Woljevach rushed for 100 yards on 11 carries while Abraham Hernandez added 29 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries. Through the air, Victor Bonilla completed 5 of 9 passes for 72 yards and one touchdown as Jared Jimenez caught four passes for 32 yards and scored once, while Jose Palacios yanked down a 40-yard reception.

Defensively, the Buffaloes yielded 302 yards – 207 rushing and 95 passing.

“They have a lot of size, they have some backs that can go, but their quarterback is the guy you have to focus on, he’s a runner more than a passer,” Maxfield said. “On both sides of the ball they’re big, and on the back side of the defense they have some quickness.

“What was strange about that game is Florence never punted one time in the game, and Johnson City kicked a lot of onside kicks, so Florence had good field position the whole game, they just weren’t real consistent on offense.”

In assessing the Dragons’ season-opening win over Early, Maxfield said, “The No. 1 thing that stood out is getting the shutout and the way they flew to the ball. They bent a little bit throughout the game but they never broke. It was really impressive the way we ran to the ball and tackled well, and the turnovers we created, we had one fumble and two interceptions. Winning the turnover battle was big.

“Offensively, at times we were hitting on all cylinders and then at times Early was disruptive in the backfield for us. A lot of it was their scheme versus ours, but I felt like we settled down. Of course we’ll have some growing pains early in the year, but overall we were very pleased with the effort.”

The Dragons finished with 342 yards – 211 rushing and 131 passing. Ethan Sanchez rushed for 100 yards on 17 carries with two touchdowns while Guy Powell added 59 yards, quarterback Ethan Cortez ran for 41 yards and Damien Santillanes chipped in 11 yards.

Through the air, Cortez was 7 of 10 for 131 yards with two touchdown passes to Brayton Wedeman, who finished with three grabs for 88 yards. Powell caught two passes for 34 yards and Santillanes added two catches for 9 yards.

“I was really proud of the way it happened for Brayton and his play-making ability that he showed, he’s so fast,” Maxfield said of the Cortez to Wedeman passing connection. “And the way Ethan can move in the pocket, he can make things happen with his feet. Of course, Sanchez and Guy are our 1-2 punch in the backfield and Sanchez is one of those guys where as you get deeper into the game he gets better and better.”

Regarding what he would like to see improve on the offensive end against Florence, Maxfield said, “We have to take that next step as far as executing. We did a great job as far as taking care of the ball and we have to continue that. There’s some things offensively we’re going to try and clean up this week. We still need to get better at coming off the ball.”

Along with the shutout last week, the Bangs defense allowed just 135 total yards and forced three turnovers. Leading the way defensively were Santillanes (9.5 tackles, 1 for loss), Wedeman (6.5 tackles, 1 INT), Trey Ivey (6 tackles), Sanchez (5.5 tackles), Charlie Smith (5 tackles) and Logan Bishop (4.5 tackles).

“One of the biggest positives out of the game against Early, because they’ve got some guys that can run, too, was not giving up big plays,” Maxfield said. “We have to continue to create turnovers on defense and we need to get our pads lower and come off the ball a little bit faster.”

Other keys to the game, according to Maxfield, “The biggest keys are stopping their quarterback on offense from making big plays and us being consistent and finishing some drives we weren’t able to finish last week. Who knows what the weather is going to be like and they have a grass field, so we’re going to have to adjust to that, too.”

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Bangs is a 41-point favorite.

Bangs Dragons 2020 Football Stats

Through 1 Game (1-0)

TEAM OFFENSE
28.0 points per game (28)
342.0 yards per game (342)
131.0 rushing yards per game (131)
211.0 passing yards per game (211)

PASSING
‒ Ethan Cortez
7 of 10 for 131 yards, 2 TDs

RUSHING
‒ Ethan Sanchez
100 yards on 17 carries, 2 TDs

‒ Guy Powell
59 yards on 13 carries

‒ Ethan Cortez
41 yards on 10 carries

‒ Damien Santillanes
11 yards on 2 carries

RECEIVING
‒ Brayton Wedeman
3 catches for 88 yards, 2 TDs

‒ Guy Powell
2 catches for 34 yards

‒ Damien Santillanes
2 catches for 9 yards

TEAM DEFENSE

0.0 points per game (0)

135.0 yards per game (135)
92.0 rushing yards per game (92)
43.0 passing yards per game (42)

TACKLES

‒ Damian Santillanes
9.5 tackles, 1 for loss

‒ Brayton Wedeman
6.5 tackles, 1 INT

‒ Trey Ivey

6 tackles

‒ Ethan Sanchez
5.5 tackles

‒ Charlie Smith

5 tackles

‒ Logan Bishop
4.5 tackles

‒ Trevor Bowers
3 tackles

‒ Jesse Sterling
2 tackles

‒ Trevor Lorah
2 tackles

‒ Guy Powell
1.5 tackles

‒ Evan Belez
1 tackle, 1 INT

‒ Donovan Ruiz

1 tackle

‒ Austin Tilley
1 tackle

‒ Wyatt Lykins
1 tackle

‒ Jackson Light
.5 tackle

‒ Braden Montgomery

.5 tackle

‒ Braxton Melling

1 FR

TURNOVER MARGIN: (+3)
Bangs 0
Opponents 3 — 2 INTs, 1 fumble