The Dodge City Red Demon football program travelled to Lawrence on Friday night in Week 9 of the 6A playoffs – and nearly pulled off the upset of the Lions, who now advance to play Derby in the Sectional Round of the western side of the bracket.
In a matchup between two of the top five teams in Kansas all-time wins, it was the underdog Red Demons that dominated large chunks of the game on Friday night. Dodge City struck first on a long drive that ended with a Ryan Gonzalez TD plunge. The Demons led 7-0 and seemed to have the early momentum when a muffed punt gave the Lions a short field they quickly turned into a TD. After some back and forth by both teams, Lawrence was turned away deep in Demon territory after a second Demon turnover resulted in a field goal to put Lawrence up 10-7 in the second quarter.
As they would later do in the second half, the Demons ended the first half with a touchdown to take the lead. Alan Flores threw a 9-yard strike to Jayden Amaro to put the Demons up 13-10 at halftime. Amaro would finish with a season-high ten catches on the night as the Red Demons offense kept the Lions off balance throughout the game.
The Red Demons would not score again until the fourth quarter. After a Dodge City interception, Lawrence scored the only points of the third quarter to go up 16-13 to set up the wild finish.
The Red Demons started the fourth quarter by driving down to the Lion goal line before being turned away on fourth and goal. Not to be denied, the Demons forced a Lawrence punt and began what appeared to be the potential game-winning drive. An Alan Flores sneak for the go-ahead touchdown with under three minutes remaining put the Demons up 20-16.
The ensuing kickoff nearly spelled disaster for Lawrence. The kick skipped on the turf before hitting the Lawrence return man, Josh Galbreath, in the chest. Galbreath initially lost sight of the ball and recovered just as the Demon defense converged. After shaking an initial tackle, a couple of edge blocks sprang Galbreath for the 90-yard return – and the game winning touchdown. A last-ditch effort by the Demons came up short and the upset bid ended a tough season for the Red Demons.
Dodge City finished the 2023 season with a 3-6 record – their lowest win total since 2017. However, Head Coach Glenn O’Neil sees a bright future for the Demons as they graduate only three players from this year’s squad, and enjoyed a great deal of sub-varsity success this season. Dodge City will open up next season at home on September 6 against the Woodward Boomers. The 2024 season will be the 123rd season for Red Demon football.
