BANGS – Coming off an 11-touchdown, 635-yard performance in a 76-23 victory over Brady, the Bangs Dragons certainly built plenty of positive momentum for a lengthy postseason charge. Step one of that journey takes place at 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Fort Stockton where the District 2 runner-up Dragons tangle with the District 1 third seed Tornillo Coyotes in a Region I-3A Division II bi-district clash.
Bangs (8-1) is seeking its first postseason victory since 2013 against a Tornillo (3-3) program that had won just once in the previous two seasons prior to the 2020 campaign.
Regarding the Dragons’ confidence level following last week’s win, Bangs third-year head coach Kyle Maxfield said it’s “about as high as it could be, but we have to keep our hat size the same. With our seniors, they’re pretty level-headed. It’s a good thing having confidence going into the playoffs, that was our big goal against Brady, to get back in the W column and get back to rolling going in the playoffs. That was the biggest thing we were looking to do.”
This season Tornillo has tallied wins over San Elizario (36-30) and Anthony (28-26), along with Odessa Compass Academy by forfeit. Losses for the Coyotes have come at the hands of Seagraves (41-20), Alpine (67-6), and Crane (57-8).
“Offensively they chunk it a lot,” Maxfield said. “They throw it probably 90 percent of the time. The quarterback can throw it a long way, but they have trouble protecting sometimes.
“Defensively, they put a lot of guys up in the box trying to take stuff away between the tackles. There’s really no telling what they’re going to come out in on defense so we’ll have to be ready to adjust to it and execute.”
Bangs heads into the playoffs averaging 44 points and 465 yards – 305 rushing and 160 passing – per outing.
Ethan Sanchez is coming off 440-yard, seven-touchdown performance on the ground and leads the Dragons with 1,798 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns for the season. Quarterback Ethan Cortez has contributed 682 yards and 10 scores on the ground while also completing 73 of 105 passes for 1,436 yards with 17 touchdowns and two interceptions. Leading receivers include Brayton Wedeman (24-534, 7 TDs), Guy Powell (14-245, 3TDs), Damien Santillanes (14-107, TD), Trevor Bowers (9-230, 3 TDs), Sanchez (7-223, 3 TDs) and Logan Massey (4-60). Up front, Logan Bishop, Warren Theriaque, Samuel Packer, Trey Ivey and Charlie Smith pave the way.
Defensively, the Dragons give up just 12 points and 225 yards – 135 rushing and 90 passing – per contest, and forced four more turnovers against Brady last week.
Spearheading the defense are Sanchez (100 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack, 2 INTs, 2 FRs), Santillanes (79 tackles, 5 for loss, 2 sacks, 1 FR, 1 INT), Smith (59.5 tackles, 5 for loss), Wedeman (55 tackles, 3 INTs), Wyatt Lykins (40 tackles, 2 for loss, 4 FRs, 1 INT), Ivey (31.5 tackles, 3 for loss), Bishop (27.5 tackles, 1 for loss), Evan Belez (25 tackles, 1 for loss, 2 INTs), Jesse Sterling (20 tackles), Bowers (18.5 tackles, 2 for loss), Cortez (18 tackles, 2 INTs), and Powell (15 tackles, 1 INT).
As for the keys to victory Thursday night, Maxfield said, “Executing the game plan; if we’re able to do that then we’ll be fine. We’re still tackling well and being aggressive. Against Brady, we created four turnovers so if we’re able to do that in the playoffs that’s big. What we’re looking to do is create some turnovers against Tornillo and play clean. A lot of teams, when you play a team like Tornillo, you make mental mistakes and don’t play clean and we want to avoid that.”
Thursday’s winner will face either District 3 champion Canadian (9-1) or District 4 fourth seed Coahoma (6-3) in the second round of the playoffs.
According to Harris Ratings Weekly, there is no line for the game. Last week, Bangs was ranked 60 points higher than Tornillo.
Bangs Dragons 2020 Football Stats
Through 9 Games (8-1, 4-1)
TEAM OFFENSE
44.1 points per game (397)
465.1 yards per game (4,186)
305.5 rushing yards per game (2,750)
159.6 passing yards per game (1,436)
PASSING
‒ Ethan Cortez
73 of 105 for 1,436 yards, 17 TDs, 2 INTs
RUSHING
‒ Ethan Sanchez
1,798 yards on 128 carries, 28 TDs
‒ Ethan Cortez
682 yards on 73 carries, 10 TDs
‒ Damien Santillanes
210 yards on 20 carries, 1 TD
‒ Guy Powell
139 yards on 28 carries, 1 TD
‒ Harley Keely
31 yards on 7 carries
‒ Jesse Sterling
10 yards on 3 carries
‒ Trevor Lorah
6 yards on 3 carries, 1 TD
‒ Trevor Bowers
6 yards on 4 carries
‒ Tait Bowers
5 yards on 1 carry
‒ Brayton Wedeman
–9 yards on 5 carries
‒ Team
–28 yards on 3 carries
RECEIVING
‒ Brayton Wedeman
24 catches for 534 yards, 7 TDs
‒ Guy Powell
14 catches for 245 yards, 3 TDs
‒ Damien Santillanes
14 catches for 107 yards, TD
‒ Trevor Bowers
9 catches for 230 yards, 3 TDs
‒ Ethan Sanchez
7 catches for 223 yards, 3 TDs
‒ Logan Massey
4 catches for 60 yards
‒ Wyatt Lykins
1 catch for 34 yards
TEAM DEFENSE
12.3 points per game (111)
225.4 yards per game (2,029)
135.5 rushing yards per game (1,220)
89.9 passing yards per game (809)
TACKLES
‒ Ethan Sanchez
100 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack, 2 INTs, 2 FRs
‒ Damian Santillanes
79 tackles, 5 for loss, 2 sacks, 1 FR, 1 INT
‒ Charlie Smith
59.5 tackles, 5 for loss
‒ Brayton Wedeman
55 tackles, 3 INTs
‒ Wyatt Lykins
40 tackles, 2 for loss, 4 FRs, 1 INT
‒ Trey Ivey
31.5 tackles, 3 for loss
‒ Logan Bishop
27.5 tackles, 1 for loss
‒ Evan Belez
25 tackles, 1 for loss, 2 INTs
‒ Jesse Sterling
20 tackles
‒ Trevor Bowers
18.5 tackles, 2 for loss
‒ Ethan Cortez
18 tackles, 2 INTs
‒ Guy Powell
15 tackles, 1 INT
‒ Donovan Ruiz
14.5 tackles, 1 for loss
‒ Logan Massey
13 tackles, 1 FR
‒ Braden Montgomery
9 tackles, 1 for loss
‒ Trevor Lorah
7.5 tackles, 1 for loss
‒ Hunter Bernal
7 tackles, 1 INT
‒ Jackson Light
4.5 tackles
‒ Jackson Light
4 tackles
‒ Harley Keely
4 tackles
‒ Tait Bowers
4 tackles
‒ Luke Duncan
3 tackles
‒ Austin Tilley
3 tackles, 1 FR
‒ Harley Keely
2 tackles
‒ Jesse Sterling
2 tackles
‒ Dakota Baker
1.5 tackles
‒ Braxton Melling
1 tackle, 1 FR