In a Top 5 state battle in Class B1, Caddo gave defending state champ Dewar all it wanted but a pair of empty red zone chances proved costly in a 34-32 defeat last week at Bruin Field.
The victory gave Dewar the District 4 title while the Bruins suffered their first loss of the season and will go into the playoffs at 9-1.
Coach Jeff Wigington’s squad will be at home for the opening round against Depew for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday night.
“The kids played great,” the Caddo coach said. “We are not happy with the loss, but we laid it all out there against a great team. It was back and forth game and we just ended on the short end of it. We knew we were going to have to hold serve on offense and we left points out there in the red zone a couple of times that we would like to have back, but it is what it is. Even down nine points, the kids kept making plays.
“It stings right now, but fortunately we get to play this week and a brand new season starts on Friday.”
It was a heavyweight slugfest right from the start as Caddo countered a Dragon opening touchdown with a Jake McKay 30-yard field goal to trim the Dewar lead to 8-3 midway through the first stanza.
Caddo came up with the first key play of the night on the next series, forcing and recovering a Dragon fumble inside the Bruin red zone at the 12. Two plays later Cale Wigington raced 86 yards to paydirt to put the hosts in front for the first time at 9-8.
Dewar answered with 72-yard march that was cashed in on a deflected pass that fell into the hands of the Dragons in the end zone.
The Bruins looked on the way to an answering score following a spectacular 41-yard kickoff return by Bayler Black but the drive stalled on downs at the Dewar 11.
Another 86-yard scoring drive by the visitors made it 22-9 with 3:15 left in the half, setting the stage for one final Caddo opportunity. Wigington connected on a pair of big passes to Black and McKay and also rumbled 33 yards to put the Bruins inside the five-yard line in the waning seconds.
The clock, however, ran out with the hosts in the shadow of the goal and a 13-point halftime deficit.
Getting the ball to start the second half, Caddo rode the one-two rushing punch for a 57-yard, seven play march that culminated with a Black nine-yard scoring burst. Wigington ran in the two-point conversion that narrowed the gap to 22-17 with less than four minutes gone in the third.
McKay came away with the second Dewar turnover soon thereafter as he picked off a Dragon pass and returned it 25 yards.
The teams exchanged possessions from there before Caddo found its footing once more on a methodical 46-yard, 11-play march that ended with Noah Dry’s oneyard plunge. Black barreled in for a two-point conversion that put the Bruins back in front 25-22 with only 10 minutes remaining.
Dewar then took to the air to answer with nine consecutive pass plays for a 23-yard touchdown toss to go back in front. The Dragons added another touchdown with 3:43 left after stopping Caddo on downs to claim a 34-25 advantage.
A well executed hook-and-lateral moved the Bruins near midfield and Wigington capped the quick scoring drive with a 54-yard touchdown run. McKay’s extra point made it 34-32 with 1:19 to play, but Caddo was unable to recover the ensuing onside kick and Dewar ran out the clock.
Wigington accounted for 407 yards of total offense, rushing for 257 yards on 23 totes while also completing 16 of 21 passes for 150 yards.
Black posted 49 yards rushing and 61 yards receiving while McKay snagged a team-high eight passes for 73 yards.
Black led the strong defensive charge with 22 tackles as McKay also tallied 21. Dry and Jase Counce pitched in 18 stops apiece.
