HICO – “That was the wildest finish I’ve ever been a part of.”
Those were the words of second-year Bangs head coach Colton Buzzard after the Dragons secured a fifth consecutive victory, improved to 2-0 against District 5-2A Division I competition, and clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2022 with a 28-27 come-from-behind victory over the Hico Tigers Friday night.
Bangs (5-2, 2-0) capped an eight-play, 58-yard, 3:37 drive with a 6-yard carry on a third-and-goal by Cason Tidwell, who generated 205 yards and all four Dragon touchdowns on the ground.
Trailing 27-26, Buzzard elected to attempt the two-point conversion and go for the win and, after both teams called time out to make adjustments, Connor Bible appeared to have scored on an end around, which would have pushed Bangs in front. But flags were on the field and holding was the call, backing up the Dragons.
Bangs then opted for a 30-yard extra point try by Tidwell – also the kicker – and his kick sailed wide right. But just as Hico (4-3, 0-2) was beginning to celebrate,
more laundry was found on the field as the Tigers were flagged for being offsides.
The Dragons got a third crack at the extra point, and again Tidwell was lined up behind center – this time from 25 yards out – attempting to hopefully send the game to overtime with his foot. Instead, an errant snap landed firmly in Tidwell’s arms and, after a brief scramble, he found a wide open tight end Joaquin Rubio in the end zone. Tidwell and Rubio connected on the pass, Bangs jumped in front 28-27, and the jubilation commenced.
“Oh no, not at all, it was a bad snap,” Tidwell said when asked if the final extra point attempt was supposed to come directly to him. “I just caught it in my hands and tried to run, but everybody was there. I looked to the back side and saw Joaquin Rubio throwing his hands up in the back of the end zone so I threw it over there. I’ve never played quarterback before, so I just chunked it in the air and he got to it and made a great catch to seal the game for us. It felt like it was out of a movie. When does a play like this ever happen?”
Buzzard added, “It just shows you what kind of player Tidwell is. He’s a leader of men and he wants to win more than anybody. That ball came to his hands, and we thought about putting on a trick play this week to let him throw it, but we scratched that off the list because it didn’t look very good in practice.”
The game wasn’t quite over, however, as Bangs kicked off and after the ball rolled into the end zone, Hico’s Cole Heutzenroeder opted to retrieve it and return it, where he was tackled at the Tiger 13. Following a night filled with trick plays, Hico tried one more, but Tyler Rainwater was tackled inbound following a backward pass from Tyler Jackson at the Tiger 5. The clock continued to run, resulting in one final snap for Hico as Jackson’s final pass attempt fell harmlessly to the turf as time expired.
“This secures our spot in the playoffs,” Buzzard said. “I told our kids let’s punch our ticket and do it early and the kids did just that. This will just propel us with the heart of our district coming up in Hamilton and De Leon and then Coleman at the end. We’re going to have to keep getting better, we had some setbacks on some plays today and the kids and coaches know it, but we’ll get those things fixed.”
Behind the blocking of Damian Hudsepth, Kian Kelly, Roy Duron, Jace Duncan, and Caleb Wagner, Bangs finished with 283 yards of total offense, with 260 coming on the ground, compared to 328 yards for Hico – 181 rushing and 147 passing – and neither team committed a turnover.
A game filled with momentum swings, the first went in Bangs’ favor on the second snap of the contest as Tidwell raced 71 yards to the end zone for a 6-0 Dragons’ edge just 55 seconds after the opening kick.
“The coaches game planned all week, they knew exactly what would work and we hit them in the mouth right there,” Tidwell said of his first touchdown.
Hico drew even at 6 with 5:22 left in the first period as Heutzenroeder scored on an 8-yard scamper, which was set up by his 50-yard gallop two plays prior.
The Tigers then grabbed a 13-6 lead with 45 seconds left before intermission on a double pass from Jackson to Gage Norris, who was 3 yards behind the line scrimmage, who then hit a streaking Rainwater in the end zone from 33 yards out.
Down 13-6 at the break, the Dragons pinned Hico inside the Tiger 10 on the opening kickoff of the second half. Following a three-and-out, Hico punted the ball to Bangs, and Rex Guerrero’s 23-yard return set up the Dragons at the Tiger 22. Five plays later, Tidwell was back in the end zone, shaving the deficit to 13-12.
“A big part of this game was coming out of halftime and playing well,” Buzzard said. “It was big to come out and stop them and make big plays.”
Hico’s next drive ended at midfield as a fourth-and-13 fake punt pass attempt failed. On the very next snap, at the Tiger 49, Tidwell rumbled into the end zone and Hunter Withers then connected with Rubio on the two-point conversion and Bangs led 20-13 with 7:09 left in the third period.
“We had the momentum and flipped the field after that fake punt didn’t work, so we went back to the same play that worked on the very first touchdown,” Tidwell said. “We ran that play again and it was wide open.”
Buzzard added, “We went into a tackle over formation and they didn’t slide to it and Tidwell did a good job of reading it and bouncing it to the outside. Going tackle over really created some issues for them and we capitalized on it.”
Bangs led 20-13 heading into the fourth period, but just 26 seconds in Jackson connected with Heutzenroeder on a 33-yard scoring toss to knot the score at 20 with 11:34 to go.
The Dragons had a chance to regain the lead with 8:20 left as Bangs took over at the Hico 41 after a 15-yard punt, yet mustered only 2 yards in three plays and then failed on a fake punt effort its own.
Hico then marched 61 yards in 1:48, scoring on a 12-yard carry by Heutzenroeder that resembled the Statue of Liberty play, with 4:14 to go to seize a 27-20 edge.
“I don’t know how many plays they had in their bag but they pulled every one of them out,” Buzzard said. “We knew they had some trick plays, but these weren’t the ones that we worked on, they had some new ones. Other than that, we did a really good job of containing what their offense actually does, their identity. I told the kids if we stopped what their identity is we have a chance to win this ball game.”
The Dragons displayed their own identity down the stretch, rallying from their second one-touchdown deficit of the contest to leave Hico victorious.
“Relentless effort and mental toughness,” Buzzard said of the frantic finish. “A lot of people would just give up, your backs are against the wall, but the kids kept fighting. That was the biggest emphasis this offseason, building mental toughness. How tough can you be when your back is against the wall or things are going against you, and they prevailed tonight and showed how mentally tough they are.”
Tidwell added, “We punched our ticket to the playoffs for the first time in three years. I’ve been on varsity three years and never made the playoffs, so it feels good to seal the deal. All credit goes to the coaches, every single one of them. They’re so great and know exactly what we need. When we’re down they lift us up, they’re always there on weekends, they give up so much time working with us.”
Next week, the Dragons host Hamilton (5-2, 2-0), which collected a 61-0 victory over Ballinger (3-4, 0-2) Friday night. In the other District 5-2 Division I contest, Coleman (1-6, 0-2) fell to De Leon (5-2, 2-0) by a 58-0 count, leaving a three-way tie for first place and a three-team logjam for fourth place.