INGRAM – At long last, the Bangs Dragons found the win column Friday night and reinvigorated their postseason hopes in the process.

After suffering a narrow 17-14 homecoming loss to Grape Creek in their District 2-3A Division II opener last week, the Dragons took to the road and pummeled the Ingram Tom Moore Warriors, 43-21, Friday night.

The victory moved the Dragons (1-5, 1-1) into a tie for third place in the league standings with Brady (3-3, 1-1) with three games to play, one game behind league leaders Sonora (4-3, 2-0) and Grape Creek (3-4, 2-0) and one ahead of Ballinger (3-3, 0-2) and Ingram Tom Moore (2-5, 0-2).

“One of the proudest moments you can have as a head coach is seeing your kids reap the benefits of their hard work,” said Bangs fourth-year head coach Kyle Maxfield. “We’ve always felt like we were on the verge of a breakthrough game, but I think what won it for us last night is our kids kept believing. We were playing on our toes instead of our heels last night, we were playing more downhill.”

Led by 350 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries from Guy Powell, Bangs rushed for 471 yards as a team and finished with 594 yards of total offense and only one turnover.

Kade Minshew chipped in 60 yards rushing and three touchdowns while completing 5 of 9 passes for 64 yards and another score. Skylar Minshew was 3 of 4 through the air for 69 yards and chipped in 28 yards on the ground, while Ian Cortez contributed 30 yards rushing. Keygan Pitts caught three passes for 60 yards, Nate Stoffer added three receptions for 32 yards and Zack Ferguson hauled in a 40-yard touchdown reception. Ethan Ethridge also carried once for 3 yards and ran in a two-point conversion.

“Skylar went out of the game and Kade stepped in and then Guy just took over and put the team on his shoulders,” Maxfield said. “And we took care of the ball for the most part with only one fumble.”

Defensively, Bangs gave up just 162 yards and forced a pair of turnovers.

Powell and Stoffer led the defensive effort with eight tackles, including one for loss, apiece, followed by Pitts with seven tackles, Ethridge with five, Hunter Newton with 4.5 and Cortez with four. Skylar Minshew and Ethridge intercepted passes for the Dragons.

“Defensively, this is the best tackling game we’ve had all season,” Maxfield said. “They had a kick return for a touchdown and a long pass for a touchdown, but the rest of the time they had to earn every yard.”

Next week, the Dragons host district front-runner Sonora, which is coming off a 28-22 victory over Brady.