BANGS – With the runner-up spot from District 5-2A Division I on the line, the Harris Ratings Weekly No. 9 Coleman Bluecats dominated the Bangs Dragons from start to finish in a 47-0 decision Thursday night at Memorial Stadium.
With the loss, the Dragons (6-4, 4-2) will be the third seed from District 5 in the playoffs and face District 6 second seed Nocona (8-2, 3-2) – which knocked off Alvord, 31-28, Thursday night – in the bi-district round of the playoffs.
“Coleman and Tolar are two of the best teams in the state and we’re going to stay positive because we’ve got bigger things ahead of us,” said Bangs head coach Kyle Maxfield. “The third spot is a good spot to be in coming out of our district. We told the kids we don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves and get down, we have a lot of positive stuff ahead and the first thing is to go win a gold football next week.”
Meanwhile, Coleman (8-2, 5-1) clinched the No. 2 playoff seed and will battle Alvord (6-4, 3-2), which slipped to the third seed with its loss, in opening round action.
“We’re for the most part healthy for this time of year and that’s important,” said Coleman head coach John Elder. “We’ve got some momentum going in, we’re playing well so I feel like we’re hitting on all cylinders at the right time.”
Details on both playoff match-ups were not available after Thursday night’s games, two of more than 200 that were moved up a day due to the threat of severe thunderstorms across the state Friday evening.
Bangs and Coleman were renewing a long-standing rivalry, but the Bluecats controlled the action throughout the majority of the contest.
The Dragons mustered just 77 yards of total offense – 57 rushing and 20 passing – and five first downs. Running back Guy Powell – who entered the contest with 1,616 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns – was limited to 42 yards on 16 carries, with 31 of those yards coming on one carry. Through the air, Kenny Cole was 6 of 13 for 20 yards as Guy Funk caught three passes for just 8 yards, while Nate Stoffer’s 13-yard reception was the second-longest play from scrimmage for Bangs.
Coleman produced 455 total yards – 337 rushing and 118 passing – sparked by the performance of quarterback Jadin Jackson. The junior signal caller rushed for a team-high 141 yards and two touchdowns on just six carries while connecting on 6 of 8 passes for 118 yards and two more scores. Ryland Gentry tacked on 91 rushing yards with two trips to the end zone, Blaine Bouldin rushed for 52 yards and a score, Keaton Beets led the receivers with two grabs for 57 yards and a touchdown, and Hagen Cavanaugh chipped in a 12-yard scoring reception.
The Dragons took advantage of an early Coleman miscue when the Bluecats muffed a punt that Stoffer recovered at the Bluecat 45 following a game-opening three-and-out by Bangs.
Bangs kept the ball 6:16 and moved to the Coleman 20 in 13 plays before the drive stalled as Cole was sacked on a fourth-and-16 play that followed an illegal procedure call.
“I felt like we battled the first quarter,” Maxfield said. “We got the turnover and kept the ball away from them which was the main thing. But going into the wind, we just couldn’t finish the drive.”
The Bluecats quickly marched 65 yards in six plays, capped by a 31-yard touchdown scramble from Jackson which provided Coleman all the points it needed with 2:25 left in the first period.
“We came out a little sloppy, we put a punt on the ground and had a couple of penalties and they had the ball pretty much the whole first quarter,” Elder said. “But then we had a great offensive drive that really got our momentum going and we were able to finish it out from there. Overall I was really pleased with the way we played.”
The Bluecats tacked on three more touchdowns in the second period to open a 27-0 halftime advantage. First, Jackson found Cavanaugh for a 12-yard touchdown just 94 seconds into the second period. Jackson then galloped 63 yards for a score, and Gentry found the end zone for the first time on a 13-yard jaunt with two minutes left before halftime.
Second-half scores for Coleman belonged to Gentry on a 5-yard carry at 7:15 of the third quarter, Beets on a 49-yard catch-and-run from Jackson at the 1:43 juncture of the third, and Bouldin’s 5-yard romp with 2:12 left in the contest.
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Coleman 47, Bangs 0
SCORE BY QUARTERS
| Coleman | 7 | 20 | 14 | 6 | – 47 |
| Bangs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – 0 |
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SCORING SUMMARY
C: Jadin Jackson 31 run (Braxton Smith kick), 2:25, 1st
C: Hagan Cavanaugh 12 pass from Jackson (kick failed), 10:26, 2nd
C: Jackson 63 run (kick failed), 8:05, 2nd
C: Ryland Gentry 13 run (Jackson run), 2:00, 2nd
C: Gentry 5 run (Smith kick), 7:15, 3rd
C: Keaton Beets 49 pass from Jackson (Smith kick), 1:43, 3rd
C: Blaine Bouldin 5 run (kick failed), 2:12, 4th
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| TEAM STATS | C | B |
| First Downs | 22 | 5 |
| Total Offense | 455 | 77 |
| Rushes-Yards | 37-337 | 30-57 |
| Passing Yards | 118 | 20 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 6-8-0 | 6-13-0 |
| Fumbles Lost | 1 | 0 |
| Punts-Average | 0-0.0 | 5-33.4 |
| Penalties-Yards | 4-20 | 2-10 |
***
PLAYER STATS
RUSHING: Coleman – Jadin Jackson 6-141, 2 TDs; Ryland Gentry 15-91, 2 TDs; Blaine Bouldin 7-52, TD; Braxton Smith 3-30; Dayden Hunter 6-23. Bangs – Guy Powell 16-42; Brayden Fields 2-11; Skylar Minshew 2-5; Keygan Pitts 4-1; Kenny Cole 6-(-2).
PASSING: Coleman – Jackson 6-8-0-118, 2 TDs. Bangs – Cole 6-13-0-20.
RECEIVING: Coleman – Keaton Beets 2-57, TD; Gentry 1-23; Smith 1-13; Hunter Lackey 1-13; Hagen Cavanaugh 1-12, TD. Bangs – Guy Funk 3-8; Nate Stoffer 1-13; Powell 1-2; Weston Jundt 1-(-3).
