The Dragons (0-1), fresh off a 52-10 defeat at the hands of Early, will take on the Indians (1-0), who won their season opener 37-8 over Brady, at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Dublin. The game was originally slated for Comanche, but the high football stadium sustained damage due to a weekend thunderstorm, resulting in the change of venue.
Regarding Bangs’ performance in the season opener, first-year head coach Jason Cole said, “We were able to have a lead for a little while into the second quarter. We played good football, we were playing hard and we had a chance or two to score another touchdown and weren’t able to do that which could have extended the lead. Then about midway through the second quarter the wheels fell off. We had some turnovers, gave up some plays and they ran away from us from there.”
Bangs carried a 10-8 advantage into the second quarter, but struggled throughout the rest of the contest.
The Dragons finished with 288 yards of total offense – 207 passing and 81 rushing – with three turnovers, while giving up 487 yards – 254 on the ground and 233 through the air – with a pair of takeaways.
Quarterback Kenny Cole completed 9 of 20 passes for 207 yards with one touchdown and one interception, while rushing for a team-high 48 yards. Aden Jones caught a 36-yard touchdown, Kade Minshew hauled in a 67-yard reception, and Hunter Newton led the way with four grabs totaling 74 yards. Skylar Minshew chipped in 23 yards rushing and Navaeh Menefield added 10 yards on the ground.
“We had an up and down week of practice,” Cole said. “We were really hot sometimes and looked great, sometimes not, and you saw a little bit of that in the game. Our kids worked real hard in practice and you really saw the evidence of that for the first quarter and a half. We executed real well and got ahead but I sure wish we would have scored another touchdown when we got down on their goal line. The second quarter we had a chance to hit some deep passes but our blocking wasn’t very good, our quarterback was running for his life. In the second half, we still weren’t perfect but our O-line really busted their tails and our blocking got a little better so that’s something we can build on. We’re showing a lot of improvement.”
Defensive standouts for Bangs were Ethan Ethridge with 10 tackles, Newton with five and two pass break ups, Jones with five tackles and Hunter Crowell with three tackles. Kade Minshew also intercepted a pass for the Dragons.
In Comanche’s opening triumph over Brady, the Indians produced 411 yards of total offense – 248 on the ground and 163 through the air.
Sawyer Wilkerson, fresh off a 2,000-plus yard campaign, rushed for 189 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while quarterback Layden Welch completed 11 of 21 passes for 163 yards with three scoring tosses and one pick, while rushing for 51 yards and another score.
Leading receivers included Baylor commit Kyler Beaty with five catches for 73 yards and a touchdown, Manuel Ortiz with a 25-yard scoring reception and Ayden Fishback with an 8-yard touchdown grab. C.T. Buford also pulled down a 35-yard reception.
Defensively for Comanche, Diego Gutierrez and Alex Terrell led the way with eight tackles followed by Pierson Sorrells with seven. Kazdon Thedford recorded two sacks while Beaty, Ortiz and Ezequiel Medrano each intercepted a pass and Isaac Morales pounced on a fumble.
“Comanche’s football team is ranked pretty high for a reason,” Cole said. “They’re very well coached, very disciplined, really fun to watch. They have a couple of athletes, especially at receiver and corner, that are getting DI offers. It’s going to be a really tough test but we’re excited to get to play them.”
The Dragons won’t be at full strength in Week 2 after suffering a pair of significant injuries.
“Our starting corner, Hunter Withers, is a real good sophomore but hurt his knee and will probably be out two or three weeks,” Cole said. “Our starting safety and one our of best receivers, Aden Jones, broke his hand and he may be out for a long time. We got beat up and we’re not terribly deep anywhere, so we’re hoping to avoid injuries but at the same time this will give a chance for some other kids to get more playing time now and we’re excited for them.”
According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Bangs is a 41-point underdog.
“As for what it will take for the Dragons to pull off the upset, Cole said, “We have to get more consistent on our pass blocking for sure. Our run blocking continues to improve, and we were able to run the ball a little bit on Early so I was happy with that, but we have to keep getting better. We’re still missing some defensive assignments. Our secondary and linebackers, we had trouble covering some of the passes so we sure worked hard on that this week and the kids are already starting to show improvement. We are definitely a work in progress but the kids are working hard and we should show good improvement hopefully again this week. Every week it’s a process.”
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Bangs Dragons 2023 Football Season Stats
Through 1 Game (0-1)
TEAM OFFENSE
10.0 points per game (10)
288.0 yards per game (288)
81.0 rushing yards per game (81)
207.0 passing yards per game (207)
PASSING
* Kenny Cole
9 of 20 for 207 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
RUSHING
* Kenny Cole
48 yards on 16 carries
* Skylar Minshew
23 yards on 9 carries
* Navaeh Menefield
10 yards on 2 carries
RECEIVING
* Hunter Newton
4 catches, 74 yards
* Kade Minshew
1 catch, 67 yards
* Aden Jones
1 catch, 36 yards, 1 TD
* Ethan Ethridge
1 catch, 16 yards
* Ethan Hagler
1 catch, 15 yards
* Weston Scantling
1 catch, 4 yards
###
TEAM DEFENSE
52.0 points per game (52)
487.0 yards per game (487)
254.0 rushing yards per game (254)
233.0 passing yards per game (233)
TACKLES
* Ethan Ethridge
10 tackles
* Hunter Newton
5 tackles, 2 PBUs
* Aden Jones
5 tackles
* Hunter Crowell
3 tackles
* Skylar Minshew
2 tackles
* Cody Brooks
2 tackles
* Quade Angel
2 tackles
* Kade Minshew
1 tackle, 1 INT
* Cason Tidwell
1 tackle, 1 PBU
* Brody Newton
1 tackle
* Ethan Hager
1 tackle
* Chris Valdez
1 tackle
* Weston Scantling
1 tackle
###
TURNOVER MARGIN (-1)
* Bangs: 3 (2 fumbles, 1 interception)
* Opponents: 2 (1 fumble, 1 interception)