There were far more instances of irresistible forces than immovable objects Thursday night at Happy State Bank Stadium with two District 2-4A Division I teams smelling their playoff destinies.
When the West Plains Wolves see what’s in front of them, though, no objects seem immovable.
West Plains hosted Dumas already knowing it was a playoff team, but not yet established as the best team in 2-4A DI. Despite trading scores with the Demons in the first half and trailing at halftime, the Wolves let everybody gathered for their last home game of the season know the secret they were in on, as they took the lead and simply rolled over Dumas the rest of the way, 56-37.
The win gave West Plains (8-1, 4-0 in district) the No. 1 seed in the playoffs in two weeks and assured that the Wolves will have no worse than a share of the district championship after next week’s game at Hereford. Thursday’s win bore so much similarity to their postseason wins last year en route to the state semifinal.
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“There wasn’t a sense of panic but there obviously a sense of urgency,” West Plains coach Adam Cummings said. “The coaches did a great job of staying calm and the players knew that if we just played our game that we’d give ourselves a chance to win. We just hadn’t done that very well defensively in the first half and came out in the second half and played much better.”
The two teams traded blows like heavyweights and appeared punch-drunk by the end of the first half. Dumas (6-3, 2-2) landed the more frequent blows and led 28-21 at halftime.
West Plains, though, isn’t returning the bulk of starters from last year’s team with state championship aspirations for no good reason. The Wolves got the second half and on the first play from scrimmage, junior Slade Russell found a big hole up the middle and ran 64 yards for a touchdown to tie it 28-28.
While so much of the offensive focus goes on senior four-year starter Reid Macon at quarterback and his receiving corps, Russell is as potent a weapon as any of them. He ran for a school record 347 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries.
“I’m just thinking about the next play and trying to dominate that and set our team up for that success that we deserve,” Russell said. “I just we just started executing at a really high level and firing on all cylinders on offense and that just what happens when everyone’s on the same page.”
It was a prototypical offensive performance for the Wolves, if a little more run-heavy than usual. Thanks largely to Russell and the line, they piled up 474 yards rushing and 667 yards of total offense, not punting once.
That was absolutely necessary considering that Dumas had a balanced offense which rolled up 494 yards. Defensive purists had to cringe, but that home fans had to enjoy it.
“Offensively obviously we were rocking and rolling from the opening kickoff,” Cummings said. “That allowed us to stay in the game. We always want to establish the run and we base everything off our run game. Slade having a the night that he had is a credit to our offensive line having an outstanding night up front.”
When Dumas got the ball back, the Wolves made what was a rare defensive stop for either team, forcing the Demons to punt. West Plains put together another scoring drive, this one ending when Macon kept it for a 5-yard touchdown run, one of three he had on the night.
That gave the Wolves their first lead of the night at 35-28 with 7:19 left in the third quarter, and after that, there was little doubt they were in control for the rest of the game.
The Demons threatened to tie the game on their next possession by taking the ball down to the West Plains 5-yard line. However, when the drive stalled on fourth down, they were forced to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Christian Saldana to cut it to 35-31.
That was hardly enough to keep up, as West Plains immediately answered with a 50-yard scoring pass from Macon to Kaden Hooker to make it 42-31. It was the second touchdown pass of the game by Macon, who had a fairly pedestrian (for him) night with 193 yards passing, but more than compensated with 96 yards rushing.
“It’s cool to play in a stadium like this with my brothers in the offensive line who have my back,” Macon said. “Having Slade in the backfield is pretty special. There’s a talented group of guys at West Plains and I’m extremely grateful for all of them.”
Dumas still wasn’t out of the game and early in the fourth quarter they marched inside the red zone and threatened to make it a one-score game. However, quarterback Colton Mills was forced out of the pocket and tried to throw to the sideline but it was intercepted by Jayson Lamons at the West Plains 4.
A few plays later, Macon kept the ball on an option and ran 76 yards for a touchdown to make it 49-31.
The Demons still had a fighting chance with four minutes left when Mills hit Luis Balbuena for a 6-yard touchdown to cut it to 49-37. After an onside kick went out of bounds, though, the Wolves took over at the Dumas 45, and Russell ran up the middle for another score to put away the game.
It showed the closing instinct the Wolves utilized so effectively in the second half of games during last year’s deep playoff run.
“It was a huge game because there were a lot of implications playoff wise due to seeding and obviously the district championship,” Cummings said. “You don’t want to share a district championship. I think that’s important and out kids understand that. To come out here with a win over a quality opponent like Dumas is big.”
The Demons had plenty of offensive stars of their own on the night as well. Mills completed 21-of-36 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns to Balbuena, along with running for 77 yards and a touchdown.
Balbuena had a game-high six catches for 106 yards. Running back Zhastian Jara was a dual threat, running for 148 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries, and catching four passes for 54 yards and another score.
Both teams scored on their first possessions of the first quarter and were tied 14-14 at the end of the period. Things picked up in just over a minute to open the second quarter, as Mills hit Luis Balbuena on a 32-yard scoring pass to give the Demons a 21-14 lead. That lasted all of 17 seconds, as Russell ran 71 yards for a touchdown to tie it at 21.
The Demons recaptured the lead on a 16-yard scoring pass from Mills to Zhastian Jara (who earlier ran for a touchdown), to make it 28-21.
On the final play of the half from their own 29-yard line, the Wolves quickened some pulses when Macon completed an inside screen to Kade White-Tinsley (who earlier caught a touchdown pass) and White-Tinsley did the rest, taking it down the sideline before he was knocked out two tantalizing yards from the end zone to end the half.
“That’s just adversity we face every day at practice,” Macon said. “We fall back to the level of our training and we all want to win. That tells us where we need to go.”
Dumas will be tied for third in the district with the winner of Friday night’s game between Canyon and Hereford, so the Demons still control their own postseason destiny. A win over Pampa at home to close the regular season will clinch a playoff spot, and mathematically Dumas is still alive for the district’s No. 2 seed.