Wednesday, September 24, 1997

Bangs Dragons take win any way they can

By Bill Hart / Abilene Reporter-News

Bangs football coach Wendell Robinson doesn't like living on the edge as much as his Dragons. But he will take victories any way they are manufactured.

The Dragons beat Clyde 28-27, Friday night, and three of the touchdowns came on fourth-down plays. The last score came with no time left on the clock. The veteran coach can't recall one of his teams ever scoring that many times on fourth down.

"A win like that builds a lot of confidence for the kids and does wonders for them, but it doesn't do much for me, I'm already old," said Robinson, who played his high school football at Stamford.

The score was tied 7-7 in the first quarter when Bangs faced fourth-and-goal from the Clyde 5-yard line. Running back Marcus McDowell scored the touchdown, just barely getting into the end zone.

Clyde then responded by scoring the next 17 points for a 24-14 halftime lead, but the Dragons were just getting ready for their fantastic finish.

With 11:29 to play, the Dragons faced fourth-and-, so Robinson called for the bootleg pass. Quarterback Derek Livesay rolled out and threw to 6-6 tight end Dematrice Tucker for the touchdown, cutting the margin to 24-21.

Kenneth Taylor's 36-yard field goal pushed Clyde's margin to 27-21 with 3:31 to play, setting up the final Bangs' chance at victory.

Since it had worked before, on fourth-and-three, Robinson sent in the bootleg pass play. But this time, Livesay tucked the ball under his arm and ran in for the touchdown.

The score was tied, but that's not the end of the story.

Livesay happens to be the holder for Chris Cradock's extra point attempts, but the quarterback was tackled on the touchdown and lay on the turf hurt. Tucker happens to be the No. 2 holder, but he was stretched out in the end zone also injured.

The rule is if a player is injured, he must come out for at least one play or the team is charged with a timeout. But Bangs had no timeouts remaining, so those players were not available for the extra point attempt.

Some of the players told Robinson, in his first year as Bangs coach, that 6-2, 230-pound junior tackle Tim Wood held for the kicker on the junior varsity last year. End of problem.

So Wood went in and, under pressure, did a good job of getting the ball down for Cradock's game-winning kick.

"People over here cannot say they don't get their money's worth at our games," Robinson said.

The Dragons opened this season with a 13-6 win over Coleman, but on the last play, Coleman was on the Bangs' 10-yard line. A pass interception preserved the victory.

This wasn't the first time that Robinson had been in a game decided on the last play. In 1987, his Bremond team played Wheeler for the Class A state championship at Shotwell Stadium.

On the last play, Bremond was ahead, 21-20, when Wheeler attempted a field goal, but it missed. However, officials ruled Bremond was offsides, so Wheeler got a second chance. A different kicker came in and made it for a 23-21 win.

Bangs is now 2-1, its only loss coming against Class 3A Comanche, 10-7. But in that one, the Dragons scored last and the Indians ran off the final three minutes of play.

"We're not a young team, we're just inexperienced," Robinson said. "But they are starting to come around."

He would prefer in the future that they come around before the last play to win.