Randall football team celebrates victory on field, lifting a silver horse trophy together. — The Randall Raiders celebrate with the “GOAT” trophy following a thrilling 24-21 win over Canyon during a District 2-4A Division I game Friday night at Happy State Bank Stadium. [Roy Wheeler/ Press Pass Sports]

The last two weeks at Happy State Bank Stadium, fans have definitely gotten their money’s worth involving their Canyon ISD teams, happy endings or not.

So it was appropriate Friday night that when CISD’s two oldest schools clashed in a District 2-4A Division I showdown after coming off losses in that same stadium last week, similar drama would unfold. And naturally, only one team would have that happy ending.

That didn’t come until the final two minutes of Randall vs. Canyon, when Randall stopped Canyon for no gain on a fourth-and-two and ran out the clock, preserving a 24-21 victory which gave the Raiders the goat trophy.

With the win, Randall (6-1, 2-1 in district) is now tied with Dumas for second in the district, a game behind leader West Plains. That’s who the Raiders play next week at HSB in another highly anticipated showdown.

Randall-West Plains might have its drama and subplots of old vs. new to comb over next week, but in terms of entertainment value, it will have a tough time matching what happened at CISD’s home stadium last time around. The Raiders will certainly enjoy the results this weekend more than last, when the fell to Dumas 28-19 the previous Thursday where they were dominated in the second half.

“That’s exactly what we didn’t do last week,” said Randall coach Dan Sherwood in summing up his team’s finish against Canyon (5-3, 1-2). “We talked about how we have to finish and focus on every snap. We still have too many self-inflicted wounds that I have to clean up and our kids know that they’ve got to do it. When you have that never say die attitude, that makes it OK to play on that edge a little bit because you know you’re eventually going to make a play.”

Canyon quarterback in purple jersey carries the ball, dodging white-clad defenders on a night football field. — Canyon’s Austin Turner ran for a game-high 207 yards on 36 carries with two touchdowns against Randall on Friday. [Roy Wheeler/ Press Pass Sports]

The numbers weren’t adding up in Randall’s favor for much of the night. Canyon controlled the clock with an extremely run-heavy offense, even though the Raiders took a 17-7 lead late in the third quarter.

However, the Eagles eventually made their ground-and-pound attack pay off big time. Austin Turner, who ran for a game-high 207 yards on 36 carries, ran for two second half touchdowns, including a 33-yard rumbler with 6:30 left in the game to give the Eagles their first lead at 21-17.

Randall responded in similar, if not exactly conventional fashion. largely behind senior running back Drayden Ray, The Raiders faced a third-and-seven at the Canyon 31-yard line when sophomore quarterback Hendrix Funk rolled out and threw an incomplete pass and was hit hard when he threw.

That made it fourth-and-seven, but that wasn’t even the worst thing about the play. Funk was hit hard enough to have to leave the game, putting the Raiders in a pickle.

Randolph football player #5 runs with the ball during a game, wearing a white uniform and dark helmet. — Randall running back Drayden Ray rushed for 122 yards on 20 carries with a pair of touchdowns against Canyon. [Roy Wheeler/ Press Pass Sports]

In a similar situation against Canadian a few weeks back, Funk left in the first half with a similar back injury and Ray took over at quarterback and helped lead the way to a 35-28 overtime victory. This time, Ray repeated his role and in an obvious passing situation, hit Kobe Baccus near the sideline and he stretched out to barely get a first down and keep the drive alive.

“I think it just builds belief that they know (Ray) is going to go out there and make a play,” Sherwood said. “He’s going to trust his guys. The play of the game was that fourth down throw to extend the drive. When you have to come in cold and make a throw and Kobe makes a great play, that just shows the cameraderie and trust we have in each other.”

Having to play quarterback for one play didn’t faze Ray, especially since it wasn’t uncharted territory after the Canadian game.

“It’s now or never,” Ray said. “I knew I was going to show up for my guys. I knew (Baccus) was going to do his best with 110 percent effort. I got him the ball and he did the rest.”

Actually, it was Ray who did the rest during the drive. He ran four of the final five plays, capping it with his second touchdown run of the second half from 3 yards out to give the Raiders a 24-21 lead with 3:45 left.

Despite his big completion, Ray naturally left his biggest mark running the ball with 122 yards on 20 carries.

Football player in white jersey #13 carries the ball while a purple-clad defender rushes toward him. — Randall receiver Phoenix Sherwood hauls in an 88-yard touchdown reception against Canyon on Friday. [Roy Wheeler/ Press Pass Sports]

It was hardly over with, though, as the Eagles had plenty of time to mount at least a game-tying drive. They got a first down after the ensuing kickoff, but faced a fourth-and-two at their own 47 as the two-minute warning sounded.

Giving the ball to Turner seemed like a natural play, but perhaps too natural. Randall sniffed it out and snuffed Turner for no gain and took over.

“We ended up just calling a trap play,” Canyon coach Matt Lovorn said, “Those guys did a good job on defense just spilling it out. On the right side of that we didn’t get it protected like we needed to and their linebackers did a good job.”

The outcome was hardly a formality, though. Canyon had three timeouts left and would still have a chance if it could force a punt.

Randall chose to put the remainder of the game in the hands of Ray and the offensive line. That trust was justified, as Ray carried three times for 12 yards, the last of which was a 5-yard gain on third-and-two to seal the win.

“I wanted to get that first down and I was going to do anything I could to get it,” Ray said. “I didn’t care if it took one try or three. It’s probably going to be the last time I play those guys in purple since third grade so it feels good. We didn’t let that (Dumas) loss dictate our future.”

Canyon ran over three times as many plays in the first half, but it added up to a 10-7 Randall lead at halftime.

The Eagles kept the ball most of the first half, but the Raiders made the most of it. On the third play from scrimmage following a Canyon punt, Funk hit Phoenix Sherwood for a 93-yard scoring pass which gave Randall a 7-0 lead.

White-uniform football player #30 leaps over a tackle as a football flies nearby on a green field; purple-clad players sit on the sideline in the background. — Randall kicker Jacob Avalos knocked through a key 38-yard field goal against Canyon on Friday. [Roy Wheeler/ Press Pass Sports]

Later in the quarter, the Raiders took advantage of good field position and turned it into a 38-yard field goal by Jacob Avalos for a 10-0 lead. After that, though, they ran only four plays the rest of the half.

That’s because after the field goal, Canyon embarked on a drive that took almost 10 minutes, ending when quarterback Brox Hacker scored on a 17-yard run to cut it to 10-7 late in the second quarter.

The Eagles actually had a chance to take the lead or at least tie the game before the half, as they drove down to the Randall 25-yard line. However, Hacker’s pass over the middle was deflected and intercepted by linebacker Danny Nunez to keep the score intact.

“The only way I can describe it is electrifying,” said Nunez, who helped anchor a resilient defensive effort. “As soon as I saw the ball in the air I had to go get it. When I came up with it, our side became ecstatic. I’m glad our guys did their job so I could do mine.”

Except for passing yardage, Canyon had the edge in every statistical category, outgaining Canyon by a 350-269 margin. It was especially lopsided in the first half, when Canyon ran 40 offensive plays to a mere 13 by Randall.

The balance shifted in the second half as Ray and the running game got going and the defense got more of a rest.

“We did sustain drives better,” Sherwood said. “You can’t say we didn’t sustain drives in the first half, we just had a big play. The second half we gave up too many big runs, but again, the kids never quit on each other and that comes from our predistrict schedule with a couple of overtime games in there. We know how to play long games.”