BANGS, Texas — The Bangs Dragons will begin the 2026 football season Friday night with a chance to claim their first season-opening victory since 2020, hosting the Dublin Lions at Dragon Memorial Stadium.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday. Bangs enters the matchup after a 6-5 season in 2025, when the Dragons ended a two-year playoff drought. Dublin finished 1-9 last year.
The game will be Bangs’ third season under head coach Colton Buzzard. The Dragons return limited starting experience, with five offensive starters and four defensive starters back from last season, but the team used scrimmages against Winters and Miles to prepare for the new campaign.
Young Dragons look to turn experience into confidence
Buzzard said Bangs has a young group that has already experienced success at lower levels, but the transition to varsity football remains an important step.
“We’re young in varsity experience, but we’ve won a lot of football games with the young guys,” Buzzard said. “They know how to win and getting their first varsity win would be a big deal for these young guys to get them some confidence moving forward. Winning at the JV level is different than winning at the varsity level, so getting them to win that first varsity game, getting over that hump, and getting that box checked would be big for us.”
The Dragons’ coaching staff was pleased with the offense during the scrimmage work. Connor Bible is expected to be a major contributor, while Jaxon Duncan will move into the fullback role previously held by Cason Tidwell.
“We did really well offensively, we’re ahead of the curve,” Buzzard said of the scrimmage work. “Connor Bible is obviously a big contributor to that along with Jaxon Duncan in the backfield. We did some really good things, the offensive line blocked really well. We have some things we need to work on, but as far as production goes we were real pleased offensively with how we performed.”
Bible caught 16 passes for 337 yards and six touchdowns last season. Duncan recorded 231 passing yards and two passing touchdowns, along with 172 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.
Freshman Ryder Duncan and sophomore Trapper Estess are competing for the starting quarterback job. The player who does not win that position is expected to receive playing time at running back. Bible is also expected to take snaps in the backfield in addition to his work at receiver.
Returning production anchors Bangs defense
Ryan Alqorum leads the defensive front after recording 54 tackles, 20 tackles for loss and 11 sacks in 2025. Heath Laughlin had 29 tackles, 11 tackles for loss and six sacks, while Caleb Wagner is slated to play nose guard.
Jaxon Duncan, Bangs’ second-leading tackler last year, returns at middle linebacker after producing 58 tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks and a fumble recovery. Bradley Hinton is also expected to line up inside, with Jayton Byler, Kason Klutts and Jonathan Edmisten forming the outside-linebacker rotation.
Bible is the only experienced member of the secondary returning at safety. Estess is expected to play the rocket position, while Weston and Carson Hardin are projected at cornerback.
Buzzard said the defense improved its technique during the scrimmage against Miles, a team with significant returning experience.
“Defensively we did some really good things as well. I challenged our secondary to be a little more sharp and better in technique and we did a better job of that. Miles has a lot of guys returning with experience and it showed. They’ll be a better ball club this year, but I was real pleased with how we performed in our scrimmage last week.”
Dublin brings size and a spread triple-option attack
Dublin returns seven offensive starters and eight defensive starters from last year’s team. The Lions were outscored by an average of 55-14 in 2025 and were picked to finish seventh in the revamped District 5-3A Division II, according to Dave Campbell’s Texas Football.
Among Dublin’s players to watch are running back and linebacker Joe Salinas, who posted 380 rushing yards and six touchdowns, 161 receiving yards, 37 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery last season. Receiver and defensive back Hudson Joslin, running back and linebacker Kyler Gaitan, and linemen Jayden Balventine and Westin Rollins also return with experience.
Buzzard said Dublin’s size and rushing attack will test Bangs’ discipline. The Lions run a spread triple option, and Salinas is a powerful runner who can move quickly downhill.
“They’re going to be well-coached, they’re going to be ready to play and we just have to be counter what they’re going to do and execute our game plan.”
Dave Campbell’s Texas Football lists Bangs as an eight-point favorite. The game is not included in this week’s Harris Ratings Weekly predictions, although the Dragons are ranked 36 points higher than the Lions.
For Bangs, the immediate focus is execution. Buzzard said the Dragons must align correctly, identify defensive looks, handle blitzes and maintain assignment discipline. The Dragons will host Dublin at Dragon Memorial Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Friday.