BALLINGER – Tied at halftime in a battle for the District 2-3A Division II championship Friday night, the Bangs Dragons couldn’t get their defense off the field or keep their offense on it during the second half as the Ballinger Bearcats pulled away for a 25-13 victory.
The loss, Bangs’ first of the year, will prevent the Dragons (7-1, 3-1) from capturing their first district championship since 2008 – barring a Ballinger (9-1, 4-0) upset loss at Sonora next week.
“It was a war out there tonight,” said Bangs third-year head coach Kyle Maxfield. “Even though our kids played hard, we made a few more mistakes than them and it cost us in the end. In the big scheme of things it doesn’t change a whole lot other than we don’t get to take the trophy home with us. I thought our kids fought hard enough to get that done tonight. We just didn’t play as clean as we needed to.”
In a 13-all tie after two quarters, Bangs had outgained Ballinger 298-202 in total yardage, but a lost fumble, a stalled drive in the red zone and a missed extra point kept the Dragons from owning the lead at intermission.
The second half resulted in just 51 yards and three first downs for the Dragons while Ballinger racked up 175 yards and two more touchdowns.
With 19:45 of the 24 minutes in the second half expired, Ballinger had run 34 plays to Bangs’ 6 and gained 176 yards to the Dragons’ 13. Bangs did not muster a second-half first down until its final drive, which began at the 4:15 mark.
“They got the momentum on that first drive of the second half and we couldn’t get it back,” Maxfield said. “It felt like we were swimming up stream the whole second half. We had a chance to make a few plays, we just didn’t make some catches to keep some drives alive.”
Ballinger – which finished with 377 yards of total offense – took the first possession of the second half and marched 63 yards in 10 plays and 4:20 before Garrett Dixon scored on a 2-yard dive to push the Bearcats in front for good, 19-13.
Bangs – which netted 349 yards on the night – responded with a three-and-out on its first possession of the third period as a dropped pass at midfield on third-and-6 resulted in a Dragon punt after holding the ball for just 1:46.
“That first possession they had in the second half, they pretty much drove in the length of the field, then we go three-and-out and didn’t answer,” Maxfield said. “They swarmed to the ball and they had a little more speed on the edge than we gave them credit for. We knew in the trenches it was going to be a long night.”
The next Bearcat drive was even more meticulous – a 14-play, 83-yard trek that milked 6:57 off the clock before Dixon, who finished with 122 yards and two touchdowns, scored again on a 10-yard carry with 11:27 left in the contest to extend the lead to 25-13. Ballinger converted three third downs on the march, including an 8-yard run by quarterback Carter Arnott on third-and-8 from the Bearcat 19.
The Dragons’ second possession of the second half was another three-and-out, as a holding penalty – one of 8 flags for 60 yards against Bangs – negated a 30-yard run by quarterback Ethan Cortez down to the Bearcat 30.
Ballinger didn’t score on its third possession, but did chew 5:52 off the clock and advanced to the Bangs 29 before turning the ball over on downs with just over four minutes to go.
Bangs reached the Ballinger 35 on its final possession before penalties backed up the Dragons. Then, facing a fourth-and-25, another dropped pass at the Bearcat 5 sealed the Dragons’ fate with 1:27 to go.
“We’re a dropped pass here and there from making it more exciting at the end,” Maxfield said. “This was a playoff atmosphere, they got a taste of that tonight and we’re going to have to get used to that if we’re going to make a run down the stretch.”
Bangs fell behind 7-0 in the first quarter as Ballinger scored on a 13-yard pass from Arnott to Tyler Vaughn on third-and-6 at the 3:04 mark of the first period. The Bearcats’ touchdown was set up after the Dragons fumbled at the Ballinger 35 on the opening possession of the game.
The Dragons pulled even at 7 with 10:22 left in the half as Ethan Sanchez – who picked up 162 yards on the ground – scored on a 96-yard run after receiving an option pitch by Cortez.
After forcing a Ballinger punt, Bangs advanced to the Bearcat 27 – aided by a 34-yard Sanchez run and a 34-yard pass from Cortez to Wyatt Lykins – with a chance to take the lead, but the drive stalled.
“We knew turnovers would make a big difference and then we near the red zone and got a bad penalty,” Maxfield said. “I felt like we had a good fourth down play set up, we just didn’t execute it.”
After stuffing the Dragons, Ballinger marched 73 yards to grab a 13-7 lead when Weston Rollwitz scored on a 21-yard reverse with 2:33 left in the half.
Bangs drew even before the break, however, as a 60-yard, seven-play drive culminated with a 6-yard scoring toss from Cortez to Guy Powell, who led all Dragons with five grabs for 40 yards. The Dragons missed the extra point, leaving the score knotted at 13 with 20 seconds left in the half. Cortez – who completed all 10 of his first-half passes but finished 14 of 21 for 154 yards – connected with Brayton Wedeman on a 28-yard toss to move the ball into the red zone.
Bangs will attempt to rebound next week and make sure it finishes no worse than the No. 2 seed from 2-3A Division II as its host Brady (4-5, 2-2) – coming off a 53-34 win over Ingram Moore – at 7 p.m. Friday.
“We have to make sure we don’t let this one loss lead to two,” Maxfield said.
Ballinger 25, Bangs 13
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Bangs 0 13 0 0 – 13
Ballinger 7 6 6 6 – 25
SCORING SUMMARY
Ball: Tyler Vaughn 13 pass from Carter Arnott (Adam Winn kick), 3:05, 1st
Bangs: Ethan Sanchez 96 run (Braxton Melling kick), 10:22, 2nd
Ball: Weston Rollwitz 21 run (kick failed), 2:33, 2nd
Bangs: Guy Powell 6 pass from Ethan Cortez (kick failed), 0:20, 2nd
Ball: Garrett Dixon 2 run (kick failed), 7:40, 3rd
Ball: Dixon 10 run (pass failed), 11:27, 4th
TEAM STATS
Bangs Ballinger
First Downs 13 26
Total Offense 349 377
Rushes-Yards 20-195 49-272
Passing Yards 154 105
Comp-Att-Int 14-21-0 8-15-0
Punts 3-34.3 2-41.0
Fumbles Lost 1 0
Penalties-Yards 8-60 6-55
PLAYER STATS
RUSHING: Bangs – Ethan Sanchez 12-162, TD; Ethan Cortez 7-44; Trevor Bowers 1-(-11). Ballinger – Garrett Dixon 24-122, 2 TDs; Carter Arnott 15-74; Weston Rollwitz 2-45, TD; Beau Perkins 7-23; Tyler Vaughn 1-8.
PASSING: Bangs –Cortez 14-21-0-154, TD. Ballinger – Arnott 8-14-0-105, TD; Vaughn 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING: Bangs – Guy Powell 5-40, TD; Sanchez 3-21; Brayton Wedeman 2-29; Damian Santillanes 2-17; Wyatt Lykins 1-34; Bowers 1-13. Ballinger – Rollwitz 4-56; Vaughn 3-41, TD; Dixon 1-8.
