***

BANGS – The biggest game of the season for the Bangs Dragons takes place during Friday night’s regular season home finale with the Hamilton Bulldogs, as the fourth playoff seed from District 5-2A Division I is still in play for head coach Jason Cole’s squad.

A victory by Bangs (2-6, 1-3) over Hamilton (4-4, 1-3) Friday night, coupled with a Hamilton victory over Goldthwaite (3-5, 1-3) – which faces No. 2 Tolar (7-1, 4-0) Friday night – next week would punch a postseason ticket the Dragons in the likely scenario of a three-way tie with Bangs, Hamilton and San Saba (3-6, 2-3) – which is off this week and faces Tolar next week – as the Dragons would have defeated both teams they tied in the final league standings.

“This game is a playoff game for us,” Cole said. “I told them they have to decide they’re going to win and we have to overcome. We have injuries, kids out with the flu and migraines, we’re just beat up. But we have to make up our minds that we’re going to do whatever it takes to win the game and we’re going to need some true leadership. I want the boys to get excited and go for it.”

First, however, the Dragons must get healthy as four starters were missing from last week’s 61-6 loss at Tolar, including the starting quarterback, leading rusher and leading receiver.

“We’re hoping to get everybody back,” Cole said. “We’ll have three of the four back for sure, and maybe the other. It’s not good when the main people who handle the football are all out.”

Reflecting on last week’s 61-6 loss at Tolar, Cole said, “It was a very tough game. Even if we had those four starters it would have still been a tough game. Tolar is special, it could be their year. They have a lot of depth, they’re huge and fast and really good. They have a chance to go all the way. Our goals were to get better and to compete in the game and we thought the kids did that.”

The Dragons yielded 382 yards of total offense to Tolar while generating 122 yards of total offense playing without quarterback Kenny Cole. Skylar Minshew stepped in and completed 4 of 9 passes for 74 yards with a touchdown and an interception, while also rushing for a team-best 24 yards.

Bangs was also without leading rusher Ethan Ethridge as Hunter Hudnall contributed 19 yards on the ground while Brayden Gatlin and Hunter Withers rushed for 3 and 2 yards, respectively.

Kade Minshew caught a team-high three passes for 66 yards and a touchdown and Aden Jones finished with two grabs for 8 yards. Leading receiver Hunter Newton was also unavailable Friday night.

Defensively for Bangs, Weston Scantling tallied a team-high nine tackles followed by Hunter Crowell with eight, Kade Minshew and Noah Pin finished with two each and Cason Tidwell added 1.5 takedowns. Hudnall recovered a fumble for the lone Tolar turnover.

Meanwhile, Hamilton picked up its first district victory of the season, rallying from a 20-13 halftime hole to knock off De Leon, 27-20.

“They were ranked at the beginning of the year for a reason, and just beat a really good De Leon team,” Cole said. “On offense they power run with three backs in the backfield a lot. They can really run the ball, and they’re big and strong. They’re very tough, very talented and it’s going to be quite a challenge. We’re going to have to play really great.”

In a 40-0 victory over Early back on Sept. 15, Hamilton allowed just 170 yards of total offense – 92 rushing and 78 passing – and forced four turnovers. Meanwhile, the Bulldog offense amassed 333 yards, with 264 coming on the ground, and only one turnover.

Izaac Wood led Hamilton with 133 yards on the ground, while quarterback Jaxon Edwards chipped in 38 yards rushing and a score, and Erich Eilers finished with 34 yards and reached the end zone once.

Through the air, Edwards connected on 4 of 7 passes with a pair of scoring strikes to Eilers and Cooper LeGrande.

The Dragons enter the contest averaging 21 points and 307 yards – 168 rushing and 139 passing – per game, with 12 turnovers.

Cole has completed 79 of 167 passes for 1,035 yards with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions, while rushing for 490 yards and five scores. Other weapons in the backfield include Ethan Ethridge (499 rushing yards, 6 TDs; 9-134, TD receiving), Hunter Hudnall (182 rushing yards), and Skylar Minshew (129 rushing yards, TD; 15-155 receiving). Leading receivers are Hunter Newton (32-464, 6 TDs) and Kade Minshew (17-283, 2 TDs).

The Bangs defense surrenders 45 points and 427 yards – 275 on the ground and 152 through the air – on average, with nine takeaways.

Standouts include Hunter Crowell (55 tackles, 1 for loss), Ethridge (48 tackles, 3 for loss, 2 sacks), Cason Tidwell (39 tackles), Newton (30.5 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries), Weston Scantling (25 tackles), Skylar Minshew (19.5 tackles, 1 fumble recovery), Kade Minshew (17 tackles, 1 INT), Brody Newton (13 tackles, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery), and Brayden Gatlin (10.5 tackles, 1 sack).

“We’re going to have to really go for it,” Cole said. “We’re going to have to have a lot of alpha dogs getting after it and playing tough like in our San Saba game. That was back and forth the entire game, they scored and we scored. To start the fourth quarter we were behind, but you never saw our boys waiver. They were calm and collected and determined and they kept with it. We got some big stops at the end of that game from our defense and this game is going to be the same type of game. We’re going to have to just stick with it, keep scoring, never get too high or too low, and keep our composure the whole game.”

According to Harris Ratings Weekly, Bangs is a 17-point underdog. Dave Campbell’s Texas Football lists the Dragons as 25-point underdogs.

***

Bangs Dragons 2023 Football Season Stats

Through 8 Games (2-6, 1-3)

TEAM OFFENSE

21.4 points per game (171)

306.6 yards per game (2,453)

168.0 rushing yards per game (1,344)

138.6 passing yards per game (1,109)

PASSING

* Kenny Cole

79 of 167 for 1,035 yards, 10 TDs, 3 INTs

* Skylar Minshew

4 of 9 for 74 yards, 1 TD, I INT

* Hunter Withers

0 of 1 for 0 yards

RUSHING

* Ethan Ethridge

499 yards on 94 carries, 6 TDs

* Kenny Cole

490 yards on 93 carries, 5 TDs

* Hunter Hudnall

182 yards on 22 carries

* Skylar Minshew

129 yards on 38 carries, TD

* Navaeh Menefield

24 yards on 5 carries, TD

* Brayden Gatlin

5 yards on 4 carries

* Hunter Withers

2 yards on 2 carries

RECEIVING

* Hunter Newton

32 catches, 464 yards, 6 TDs

* Kade Minshew

17 catches, 283 yards, 2 TDs

* Skylar Minshew

15 catches, 155 yards

* Ethan Ethridge

9 catches, 134 yards, TD

* Brayden Gatlin

9 catches, 50 yards, TD

* Aden Jones

3 catches, 44 yards, TD

* Ethan Hager

2 catches, 19 yards

* Weston Scantling

1 catch, 4 yards

###

TEAM DEFENSE

45.4 points per game (363)

425.1 yards per game (3,401)

273.5 rushing yards per game (2,188)

151.6 passing yards per game (1,213)

TACKLES

* Hunter Crowell

55 tackles, 1 for loss

* Ethan Ethridge

48 tackles, 3 for loss, 2 sacks

* Cason Tidwell

39 tackles

* Hunter Newton

30.5 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries

* Weston Scantling

25 tackles

* Skylar Minshew

19.5 tackles, 1 fumble recovery

* Kade Minshew

17 tackles, 1 INT

* Brody Newton

13 tackles, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery

* Brayden Gatlin

10.5 tackles, 1 sack

* Damian Hudspeth

8.5 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 sack

* Hunter Hudnall

8 tackles

* Hunter Withers

7.5 tackles

* Aden Jones

7 tackles

* Noah Pin

6.5 tackles

* Sergio Lopez

6 tackles, 1 for loss

* Quade Angel

6 tackles

* Ethan Hager

6 tackles

* Kenny Cole

4 tackles

* Dwayne Lyon

2.5 tackles

* Cody Brooks

2 tackles

* Navaeh Menefield

1 tackle

* Chris Valdez

1 tackle

* Kian Kelly

1 tackle

* Jackson Edminsen

0.5 tackles

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TURNOVER MARGIN (-3)

* Bangs: 12 (8 fumbles, 4 interceptions)

* Opponents: 9 (7 fumbles, 2 interceptions)