GRAPE CREEK – The Bangs Dragons jumped out to a 27-point halftime lead, only to witness the Grape Creek Eagles pull off an improbable comeback and snatch a 38-27 victory here Friday night.

Bangs (1-2) finished with 286 yards of total offense – 170 rushing and 116 passing – but turned the ball over three times, which aided Grape Creek (1-2) in its second-half charge.

Eliseo Rivas led the Dragons’ ground game with 85 yards and a touchdown followed by Skylar Minshew with 65 yards, Aden Jones with 14, Jackson Edmiston with 4 and Nevaeh Menefield with 2 yards and a score.

Minshew connected on 11 of 24 passes for 116 yards with a touchdown and a pick, as Cason Tidwell caught four passes for 67 yards and scored once, Rex Guerrero added three grabs for 30 yards with a trip the end zone, Noah Castillo made three catches covering 13 yards, and Michael Parrott added a 6-yard reception.

Defensively for Bangs, Rivas tallied 10 tackles with one for loss, followed by seven tackles from Hunter Crowell, 4.5 from Menefield, and four from Kristopher Kelly. Connor Bible picked off a pass for Bangs’ only takeaway.

Grape Creek’s rally started with a 4-yard rushing touchdown by Sire Garcia, followed by a 15-yard scoring strike from Daniel Anchondo to Braley Woods. Still, the Dragons led 27-14 going into the fourth period.

Over the final 12 minutes, Woods threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Marco Perez, Garcia scored on a 30-yard carry to put Grape Creek in front, 30-27, and Anchondo and Woods connected on another 15-yard touchdown pass for the final dagger.

Next week, the Dragons hit the road for the second week in a row as they visit Abilene TLCA (0-3), which lost to Haskell, 52-0, Friday night.