SAN SABA – In a pivotal District 5-2A Division I football game filled with offensive fireworks, the most of which were provided by Bangs’ Guy Powell, it was a defensive play from Powell that propelled the Dragons to a fifth straight victory that kept the green and white atop the league standings in a 42-35 triumph over the San Saba Armadillos Friday night.
In a fourth-and-11 situation at the Bangs 28 with 1:10 remaining, San Saba quarterback Lance Taylor – who tossed three touchdown passes earlier in the game – hurled an attempt toward the back of the end zone. Out of a crowd of humanity leapt Powell, who slapped the ball to the turf for an incompletion to thwart the rally by the Armadillos, whose playoff chances took a huge blow with the defeat.
“What can you say about No. 20?” Bangs fifth-year head coach Kyle Maxfield said of Powell. “I’m so proud of him and I’m proud for him. He puts his team on his shoulders on both sides of the ball and I think that was pretty obvious tonight. Then the perfect way to end the game was him knocking the pass down. He’s a team player and it took all of us, and we know that, but he’s special and we’re glad he’s on our side.”
The fifth win in a row for the Dragons (5-2, 3-0) sets up a first-place battle with No. 5 Tolar (7-0, 3-0) – which defeated De Leon (3-5, 0-4) by a 50-7 count Friday night – at 7 p.m. next Friday in Bangs.
Meanwhile, San Saba (5-3, 1-3) must win out to keep its playoff hopes alive, with Tolar still on the schedule, after losses to Bangs, Coleman and Hamilton in league play. But first, the Armadillos travel to rival Goldthwaite (0-7, 0-3) which had its bye Friday, for the annual “Battle of the River.”
Bangs produced 441 yards of total offense led by Guy Powell’s 293 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Quarterback Kenny Cole chipped in 46 yards on the ground and also completed 7 of 10 passes for 95 yards and two crucial touchdowns. Hunter Newton led the receiving corps with four catches for 54 yards and a trip to the end zone.
San Saba churned out 491 yards – 370 on the ground and 121 through the air – and committed the game’s lone turnover. Taylor was 14 of 23 passing and tacked on 105 rushing yards, Johnson finished with six catches for 69 yards and three scores to go with 73 yards rushing, and Ethan Gonzales produced 192 yards and two touchdowns rushing.
The Armadillos ended up with more yards due to a greater distance to travel based on the two kicking philosophies after scores. Bangs took the deep approach while San Saba opted for short kicks, as the Dragons’ average starting position was their own 42 yard line while the Armadillos began drives on average at their 26.
Due to Bangs’ decision to kick deep, two San Saba drives started inside the Armadillo 10 – neither of which resulted in points – six began inside the 30, and no San Saba possession originated with better with field position than the Armadillo 38. The Dragons made the most of San Saba’s pooch kicks, and key defensive stops, as three possessions began on the Armadillos’ side of the field. All but one drive after a San Saba kick began at the Bangs 40 yard line or better.
“That was huge all night, the field position battle,” Maxfield said. “We talked about that because that’s been their philosophy and it worked for them, so we worked on it a lot this week. Caedmon Tidwell did a good job of getting some good, deep kickoffs and our coverage team did good.”
Field position was a key to success all night for Bangs – which never trailed – as it began its first scoring drive at the San Saba 43 after the Armadillos were stuffed on a fourth-and-3 run attempt.
Moments later, facing a fourth-and-8 of their own at the San Saba 28, Cole connected with Guy Funk on a fade down the left sideline for a touchdown, staking Bangs to a 7-0 lead with 6:19 left in the opening quarter.
“We hit some big ones, but we feel like we still need to get better at that because we missed a couple,” Maxfield said of the air attack. “We’re still improving in that area and our protection was fairly good. Kenny does a good job with his legs and his feet when he has to, so if we can get our receivers to be a little more consistent then it’s going to take us to the next level.”
San Saba’s ensuing drive started at its own 7, which prevented the Armadillos from mounting a threat. However, just 19 seconds into the second period San Saba was able to even the score as a 68-yard, seven-play drive – which followed one of just two Bangs punts – ended with a 41-yard scoring toss from Taylor to Johnson.
“Their guy is No. 2 (Johnson), he’s pretty special himself, and I think tonight was his best game because he’s been injured and came back, but didn’t look anything like he did tonight,” Maxfield said. “They did a good job of finding ways to get him the ball and he hurt us some.”
After a slow start, Powell began to find a rhythm and ended the next Bangs drive – which started at the San Saba 48 after on failed onside kick attempt – with a 14-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-1 call, putting the Dragons back in front, 14-7.
San Saba answered at 4:47 of the second as Taylor and Johnson again connected on a 5-yard scoring toss as the Armadillos drew even at 14.
Just two snaps later, Powell broke free for a 63-yard scoring scamper, which quickly put the Dragons back in front, 20-14, with four minutes left before halftime.
“We knew there were going to be 22 eyes on Guy and they shut him down early, but we were patient with our play calling and developing stuff and then he finally broke loose,” Maxfield said. “Once he gets going, he’s such a special player that you can’t put him in a box.”
Another deep kick by Bangs pinned San Saba at its 8, and a punt soon followed. Taking over at the Armadillos 36, three runs from Powell returned the Dragons to the end zone, the last being a 6-yard carry that made the score 28-14 with 1:51 left in the half.
The Armadillos answered just before halftime as, with 18 seconds left, Taylor and Johnson connected on a 3-yard pass to close the gap to 28-20 at intermission.
San Saba started the second half with the ball and marched to the Bangs 33, where the drive ended on an interception in the end zone by Funk that preserved Bangs’ lead.
Powell then began the second half for Bangs with a 65-yard carry to the San Saba 15, and three plays later he was back in the end zone from 1 yard out to boost the lead to 35-20 at the 8-minute mark of the third.
An 18-yard run by Gonzales allowed San Saba to creep within 35-28 with 4:38 left in the third period.
The Dragons then put their final points on the board with 1:46 left in the third period as, facing third-and-12, Cole found Newton streaking down the seem and connected for a 37-yard touchdown pass that extended the lead to 42-28.
Gonzales’ 47-yard scoring sprint brought San Saba within 42-35 with 6:28 left, then the Armadillo defense finally made a stand at its own 28 with 3:22 remaining to turn away another potential Bangs scoring drive.
A 39-yard carry from Gonzales on fourth-and-2 moved San Saba to the Bangs 27 with just under two minutes to go. But the Dragons defense then stiffened and kept the Armadillos’ potential game-tying – or winning, with a two-point conversion – touchdown from occurring.
“Our defense is bend but don’t break, and we did break a few times tonight on some long runs, but in the end when we needed it most we didn’t,” Maxfield said.
***
Bangs 42, San Saba 35
SCORE BY QUARTERS
| Bangs | 7 | 21 | 14 | 0 | – 42 |
| San Saba | 0 | 20 | 8 | 7 | – 35 |
***
SCORING SUMMARY
B: Guy Funk 28 pass from Kenny Cole (Caedmon Tidwell kick), 6:10, 1st
S: Tyler Johnson 41 pass from Lance Taylor (Johnson kick), 11:41, 2nd
B: Guy Powell 14 run (Tidwell kick), 10:12, 2nd
S: Johnson 5 pass from Taylor (Johnson kick), 4:47, 2nd
B: Powell 63 run (kick failed), 4:00, 2nd
B: Powell 6 run (Powell run), 1:51, 2nd
S: Johnson 3 pass from Johnson (kick failed), 0:18, 2nd
B: Powell 1 run (Tidwell kick), 8:00, 3rd
S: Ethan Gonzales 18 run (Johnson run), 4:38, 3rd
B: Hunter Newton 37 pass from Cole (Tidwell kick), 1:46, 3rd
S: Gonzales 47 run (Johnson kick), 6:28, 4th
***
| TEAM STATS | B | S |
| First Downs | 20 | 23 |
| Total Offense | 441 | 491 |
| Rushes-Yards | 35-346 | 43-370 |
| Passing Yards | 95 | 121 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 7-10-0 | 14-23-1 |
| Penalties-Yards | 7-64 | 11-74 |
| Fumbles Lost | 0 | 0 |
| Punts-Average | 2-33.0 | 2-26.0 |
***
PLAYER STATS
RUSHING: Bangs – Guy Powell 22-293, 4 TDs; Kenny Cole 12-46; Keygan Pitts 1-7. San Saba – Ethan Gonzales 21-192, 2 TDs; Lance Taylor 15-105; Tyler Johnson 7-73.
PASSING: Bangs – Cole 7-10-0-95, 2 TDs. San Saba – Taylor 14-23-1-121, 3 TDs.
RECEIVING: Bangs – Hunter Newton 4-54, TD; Guy Funk 2-27, TD; Skylar Minshew 1-14. San Saba – Johnson 6-69, 3 Tds; Levi Glover 4-33; Lane Miller 3-9; Gonzales 1-10.
