BANGS – The Bangs Dragons owned a halftime lead, but the Grape Creek Eagles tallied the only points of the second half and chalked up a 17-14 victory in the District 2-3A Division II opener both squads, which was also Bangs’ homecoming contest.

Bangs (0-5, 0-1) led 7-6 after one quarter and 14-9 at the break, but Grape Creek (2-4, 0-1) scored the only points of the second half on a touchdown and two-point conversion in the third period.

The Dragons finished with just 176 yards of total offense – 166 on the ground and 10 through the air.

Guy Powell rushed for a team-best 107 yards on 12 carries and scored both Dragons touchdown on runs of 65 and 10 yards. Skylar Minshew chipped in 48 yards on the ground and completed four passes – all to Powell – for 10 yards. Ethan Ethridge tacked on an 11-yard carry to Bangs’ offensive output.

Tackle leaders for the Dragons included Powell (14.5), Nate Stoffer (8), Keygan Pitts (5.5), Ethridge (4), Hunter Newton (4), Hunter Bernal (2), Noah Pinn (2), Sergio Lopez (2), Ian Cortez (1.5), Guy Funk (1), Braxton Melling (1), Isiah Serato (1), and Luke Duncan (0.5).

Next week, the Dragons venture to Ingram Moore (2-4, 0-1) – which fell by a 36-12 count to Sonora (3-3, 1-0) Friday night.