WEATHERFORD – The move to Class 2A Division I has proven extremely beneficial for the Bangs Dragons football program which, after notching just one victory a year ago, on Friday night earned a Region II bi-district championship, 61-21 over the District 6 second-seed Nocona Indians.
“Just to see the look on these guys’ faces and the happiness in their eyes, all that for our staff and our kids and our parents and our community, that’s why we do what we do,” said Bangs fifth-year head coach Kyle Maxfield, who led the Dragons – not projected to make the playoffs – to third place in a District 5 race that included Top 10 programs Tolar and Coleman. “We’ve come a long way and this year we wanted that 11th game and to play for a gold ball. We can’t be satisfied now. We want to keep playing because these guys are a lot of fun to coach.”
The tone for Friday’s bi-district contest was set on the initial play as Bangs’ (7-4) Caedmon Tidwell’s opening kick bounced off the hands of Nocona’s (8-3) Caden Gaston, who couldn’t locate the ball. Bangs’ Nate Stoffer hopped on the fumble at the Indian 12, and two plays later the Dragons were in the end zone en route to scoring the game’s first seven touchdowns.
“It was a bad break for them but it was great for us to get off to a quick start,” Maxfield said. “We wanted the ball but they won the toss and were smart to take the ball. But we got it right back on the kick and then scored with it.”
The 4-yard touchdown that staked the Dragons to a 7-0 lead just 36 seconds into the contest was scored by Guy Powell, who found the end zone five times on offense and finished with 236 rushing yards on just 11 carries. As a team, Bangs generated 473 yards with 375 coming on the ground as the Dragons averaged 16.3 yards per carry.
Defensively, the Dragons surrendered 389 yards – 237 through the air and 152 on the ground – but created three turnovers, two of which led directly to touchdowns.
The Bangs defense’s bend-but-don’t-break approach was in full effect in the first half as, after fumbling away the opening kickoff, five of the Indians’ remaining six possessions reached Dragon territory. Marches stalled at the Bangs 37, 14, 21, and 41 – and another Nocona fumble was returned for a touchdown just after the Indians had crossed midfield.
“They really had a good offensive plan and they did a great job spreading the ball around and using the whole field,” Maxfield said. “We never could relax, but our defense’s M.O. all year has been bend but don’t break and they did it again there in the first half.”
Standouts on the defense were Stoffer with 14 tackles, including three for loss; Powell with 12 and one for loss; Keygan Pitts with a dozen; Ethan Ethridge with eight and one for loss; Weston Jundt with four; Sergio Lopez with three and one for loss; Hunter Newton with three; David Herrera, Isaiah Serrato, and Brody Newton with two each; Noah Pin with one tackle and one fumble recovery; and Skylar Minshew and Guy Funk added one tackle apiece.
The Dragons owned just a 301-183 edge in total yards midway through the contest, despite owning a 41-0 advantage at halftime.
Powell, who now stands at 1,894 rushing yards with 27 touchdowns on the ground this season, increased the Dragons’ lead to 14-0 on Bangs’ first snap of its second possession, racing to the end zone from 68 yards out at the 6:14 juncture of the opening quarter.
The Dragons’ third scoring possession lasted two plays as quarterback Kenny Cole – who connected on 6 of 9 passes for 98 yards – connected with Funk on a 67-yard catch-and-run that boosted Bangs’ advantage to 21-0 with 3:01 still remaining in the first period.
“We didn’t get to a whole lot of the playbook tonight, but you can still tell we’re getting to the next level on a lot of the dimensions we’ve been working on with our offense this year,” said Maxfield, whose offense ran just 32 plays to Nocona’s 81. “That’s what it takes when you get into the playoffs.”
The second-quarter scoring began with another scamper to the end zone by Powell, this one from 21 yards out, to pad the cushion to 28-0 at the 9:52 mark.
Then, with Nocona facing a fourth-and-9 at the Bangs 49, a double-reverse attempt went awry as Powell stripped the ball out of the clutches of Indian receiver Bodie Davis and returned the fumble 44 yards for a Dragon touchdown, and a 35-0 lead with 5:26 to go before intermission.
Bangs, which never punted, then attempted to convert a fourth down on its own on its next drive. Needing 3 yards to move the sticks at the Dragon 46, Cole held on to what could have been an option pitch to Powell and sprinted untouched 54 yards to the end zone, stretching the advantage to 41-0 with 2:36 left before intermission. Cole finished with 100 yards rushing on four carries, to go along with his passing numbers.
The Dragons began the second half with the ball after an onsides kick attempt by Nocona went out of bounds, and needed just three snaps to increase the edge to 48 points. Following a pass interference call – one of nine flags for 88 yards against Nocona – Powell rumbled 24 yards down to the 3, which set up a Pitts touchdown carry 20 seconds into the third quarter.
Nocona was able to do a little damage in the second half, scoring on three Brady McCasland touchdown passes – 9 yards to Luke Fuller, 5 yards to Charlie Fuller and 21 yards to Bodie Davis. McCasland finished 19 of 36 through the air for 237 yards and rushed a game-high 23 times for just 36 yards. Johnathan Stone led the Indians with 104 rushing yards.
Powell tacked on two more touchdowns down the stretch for the Dragons, the first being a 1-yarder that made the score 54-7 at the 3:13 mark of third quarter. Then, after Nocona crept within 54-21 and had Bangs pinned at its own 17, Powell re-entered the contest for a third-and-6, where he broke free of the Indian defense and galloped 83 yards to the end zone for the final touchdown of the content with 5:51 remaining.
Next week, the Dragons will face Riesel (6-5) – a 28-7 winner over Cayuga (9-2) on Thursday night – in area round action at 7:30 p.m. Friday in Burleson.
“Riesel is huge, really big,” Maxfield said. “They got after Cayuga and finished fourth in their district, but I think their district was a lot like ours. I don’t know a whole lot about them right now, but their size is something that jumps out at you.”
***
Bangs 61, Nocona 21
SCORE BY QUARTERS
| Bangs | 21 | 20 | 13 | 7 | – 61 |
| Nocona | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | – 21 |
***
SCORING SUMMARY
B: Guy Powell 4 run (Caedmon Tidwell kick), 11:24, 1st
B: Powell 68 run (Tidwell kick), 6:14, 1st
B: Guy Funk 67 pass from Kenny Cole (Tidwell kick), 3:01, 1st
B: Powell 21 run (Tidwell kick), 9:52, 2nd
B: Powell 44 fumble return (Tidwell kick), 5:26, 2nd
B: Cole 54 run (kick failed), 2:36, 2nd
B: Keygan Pitts 3 run (Tidwell kick), 11:40, 3rd
N: Luke Fuller 9 pass from Brady McCasland (Arturo Garcia kick), 6:10, 3rd
B: Powell 1 run (kick blocked), 3:13, 3rd
N: Charlie Fuller 5 pass from McCasland (Garcia kick), 11:02, 4th
N: Bodie Davis 21 pass from McCasland (Garcia kick), 7:17, 4th
B: Powell 83 run (Tidwell kick), 5:51, 4th
***
| TEAM STATS | B | N |
| First Downs | 14 | 26 |
| Total Offense | 473 | 389 |
| Rushes-Yards | 23-375 | 45-152 |
| Passing Yards | 98 | 237 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 6-9-0 | 19-36-0 |
| Fumbles Lost | 2 | 3 |
| Punts-Average | 0-0.0 | 2-36.5 |
| Penalties-Yards | 8-80 | 9-88 |
***
PLAYER STATS
RUSHING: Bangs – Guy Powell 11-236, 5 TDs; Kenny Cole 4-100, TD; Skylar Minshew 6-31; Brayden Fields 1-5; Keygan Pitts 1-3, TD. Nocona – Johnathan Stone 12-104; Brady McCasland 23-36; Arturo Garcia 3-16; Michael Wetmore 4-2; Bodie Davis 3-(-6).
PASSING: Bangs – Cole 6-9-0-98, TD. Nocona – McCasland 19-36-0-237, 3 TDs.
RECEIVING: Bangs – Minshew 3-33; Guy Funk 2-68, TD; Weston Jundt 1-(-3). Nocona – Charlie Fuller 8-73, TD; Luke Fuller 4-56, TD; Stone 3-57; Wetmore 2-3; Garcia 1-27; Davis 1-21, TD.
