The Hatchet will remain in the Dodge City High School trophy case near the football office.
Dodge City (7-2) took care of business Friday night, holding off a second-half push by bitter rival Garden City for a hard-fought 14-6 road victory.
It is the second straight win for Dodge over its longtime Western Athletic Conference counterpart after losing 13 straight to the Buffaloes.
Dodge City, the Class 6A District 8 champions, used some big defensive plays to stem Garden's second-half comeback bid. The Demons will host a first-round state playoff game next Friday night at Memorial Stadium against either Derby or Topeka High.
Garden City ends its season at 4-5, losing all three of its district games.
"Our defense did a whale of a job," Dodge City coach Justin Burke said. "I was real pleased with the defense and how they played."
Clinging to a 14-6 lead, the Red Demons snuffed out Garden's final chance on defensive back Zach Harvey's interception of quarterback Cody Bernbeck's pass with 2:51 remaining near midfield.
The Demons then were able to run out the clock, with standout tailback Jace Banner gaining two yards on his final run to push his total to 195 yards on 30 carries on the night.
Banner then had to be helped off the field by his teammates as the final minutes melted off the clock.
No worries, according to Burke.
"He was just cramping up," Burke said.
Taking care of
business
In front of an overflowing crowd, Dodge City seized the upper hand right from the start.
After the opening kickoff sailed out of bounds, the Demons started their opening drive from their own 35.
On the first play from scrimmage, Dodge quarterback Ty Thomas hit tight end Laton Dowling on a 40-yard pass play, giving DCHS a first down at the Garden 25.
On their second play, Banner took a handoff and rumbled into the end zone a 25-yard scoring run for a 7-0 lead after Josh Ginther's extra-point kick.
The scoring drive amounted to two plays, 65 yards and only 28 seconds elapsed.
It looked like it might be a long night for the Buffaloes' defense, the way the game started. But that was far from the truth.
"Garden is a tough team," Burke said. "We made a lot of mistakes, though.
"We had the ball late in the game at the 1 and didn't punch it in."
Maintaining their 7-0 lead late in the opening quarter, the Demons put together an 11-play, 90-yard scoring drive that spilled over into the second period.
Banner had consecutive runs of 9, 13, 7, 9, 5 and 18 yards to plant the ball at the Buffs' 15.
After a 10-yard penalty pushed the Demons back to 25, lanky wide receiver Landon Head came up with a leaping 25-yard touchdown pass in the end zone from Thomas. The play extended the margin to 14-0 after Ginther's kick with 7:43 left before halftime.
After a scoreless third quarter, Garden finally put together its lone scoring drive early in the fourth quarter, with Bernbeck hitting Jacob Vasquez on a tipped ball that Vasquez hauled in for a 20-yard gain.
On the next play, Bernbeck found wide receiver Tanner Parr down the left sideline for a 34-yard touchdown pass to cut the gap to 14-6 with 9:54 left. The two-point conversion failed.
Dodge had a chance to salt away the win, driving deep into Buffaloes territory. Fullback Bruce Campbell carried a load of Garden City defenders on a 12-yard gain on third-and-1 for first-and-goal at the 4.
But Banner fumbled the ball as he tried to dive over a pack of Buffaloes, and Garden City recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchback.
Armed with new confidence, three minutes, 55 seconds remaining and 80 yards to go, Bernbeck hit on a pair of 15-yard pass completions — one to Breven Graham and one to Raul Silva — moving the yard markers to the 48.
But on first down and still in the shotgun formation, Bernbeck was hit as he scrambled to pass. Harvey intercepted the underthrown ball to seal the Buffs' fate.
GARDEN CITY —
