The Bandera Bulldogs improved to 3-0 on the season with a 31-25 victory over the Lytle Pirates on Friday night, surviving a back-and-forth battle that came down to the final minutes.
Bandera started slow before quarterback Dalton Parks connected with Jeffry Thomas on a 65-yard touchdown pass to spark the offense.
Head coach Joel Fontenot- Amedee said that while there were “some miscues on the first drive,” he felt the team was “pretty explosive offensively all night, particularly in the first half.” Parks turned in a standout performance, completing 11 of 16 passes for 223 yards and rushing for 40 more. He also found Jaymin Klein for a 53-yard touchdown strike, followed by a twopoint conversion run from Jake Cesta to tie the game at 15. Klein later hit a 41-yard field goal just before halftime, giving the Bulldogs a threepoint lead heading into the locker room.
The defense stepped up after halftime, holding Lytle to just three points in the second half. West Cloudt led with eight solo tackles, Dane Barnett added six, and Thomas recorded an interception that helped seal the win late in the fourth quarter.
“We got stops in the second half that allowed us to win the football game,” Amedee said. “Statistically, we feel like if we hold a team to less than 25 points, we’ve got a pretty good chance of winning.”
Amedee added that the Bulldogs’ experience in close contests has paid off. “We’ve played in more close games than blowouts,” he said. “Those are the games that prepare us for district play and what we hope will eventually be playoff football. Our guys fight for each other and believe in winning the fourth quarter.”
Bandera returns home Friday, Sept. 19, to face the Cole Cougars at Bulldog Stadium. The matchup will also serve as Military Appreciation Night.
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