Tied at halftime in a battle for the District 2-3A Division II championship Friday night, the Bangs Dragons couldn’t get their defense off the field or keep their offense on it during the second half as the Ballinger Bearcats pulled away for a 25-13 victory.

The loss, Bangs’ first of the year, will prevent the Dragons (7-1, 3-1) from capturing their first district championship since 2008 – barring a Ballinger (9-1, 4-0) upset loss at Sonora next week.

“It was a war out there tonight,” said Bangs third-year head coach Kyle Maxfield. “Even though our kids played hard, we made a few more mistakes than them and it cost us in the end. In the big scheme of things it doesn’t change a whole lot other than we don’t get to take the trophy home with us. I thought our kids fought hard enough to get that done tonight. We just didn’t play as clean as we needed to.”

In a 13-all tie after two quarters, Bangs had outgained Ballinger 298-202 in total yardage, but a lost fumble, a stalled drive in the red zone and a missed extra point kept the Dragons from owning the lead at intermission.

The second half resulted in just 51 yards and three first downs for the Dragons while Ballinger racked up 175 yards and two more touchdowns.

Bangs will attempt to rebound next week and make sure it finishes no worse than the No. 2 seed from 2-3A Division II as its host Brady (4-5, 2-2) – coming off a 53-34 win over Ingram Moore – at 7 p.m. Friday.