Dewar’s bid for second Gold Ball ends with second-round loss

The Dewar Dragon varsity football program’s dreams of a second state title in school history were dashed this past Friday night in front of their hometown fans.

The second-ranked Dragons saw their 2023 season come to an abrupt end in the second-round of the Class B state football playoffs with a 55-48 loss to the visiting Regent Prep Rams.

The second-round setback was the first time since 2017 (60-56 loss at home to Prue) in which the Dragons failed to reach as far as the quarterfinal round of the postseason.

The upset loss to Regent Prep brings the Dragons’ 2023 campaign to a close at 11-1, which included the Dewar gridiron squad extending two win streaks – regular-season wins (54) and district wins (35), as well as capturing its seventh- straight district championship.

The visitors began the scoring with a 5-yard TD run by junior QB JohnMark Roller at the 9:46 mark of the opening frame. Isaac Coffin’s successful PAT kick gave the Rams the early 7-0 advantage and put the Dragons in a deficit for the first time in 2023.

The Dewar offense had an answer a little more than two minutes later, as senior tailback Nevin Corbin put the Dragons on the scoreboard for the first time in the playoff contest with a 22yard scamper at the 7:27 mark. Peyton Kilhoffer connected with Keelan Berry on the conversion attempt to put the Dewar squad in front by a narrow 8-7 margin.

With 5:54 left in the opening quarter, Roller rambled 24 yards to paydirt to put the visiting Rams back on top, 13-8. Caedmon Fletcher found Ryan Wright in the end zone on the conversion attempt to push Regent Prep’s lead to seven, 15-8.

Once again, the Dragons had an answer, as Nevin Corbin scored on a short 2-yard run at the 3:30 mark of the opening frame to cut the deficit to one, 15-14, after the first 12 minutes of action.

The senior standout scored on another 2-yard plunge with 11:03 remaining in the first half to give the Dewar squad a 20-15 advantage.

Roller’s 7-yard TD pass and successful conversion toss to Fletcher at the 9:31 mark of the second quarter put the visitors back on top, 23-20, then Roller found Tres Borden on a 44-yard aerial strike just 44 seconds later to increase the Regent Prep lead to nine, 29-20.

At the 7-minute mark of the second stanza, Nevin Corbin found the end zone for the fourth time in the contest, scoring from 22 yards out. The senior tailback then caught the conversion pass from Kilhoffer to make it a 29-28 contest.

The Dewar defense gave the Dragons a 34-29 advantage at the 5:51 mark of the second quarter, as Christian Cargola scooped up a Regent Prep fumble at the Rams’ 35 and raced untouched into the end zone for the go-ahead score.

A 15-yard TD run by Roller and successful conversion run by Abram Farrington with 4:20 left in the first half put Regent Prep back on top, 37-34, while Nevin Corbin’s 6-yard scamper for Dewar with 31 seconds remaining gave the Dragons a 40-37 lead at the halftime break.

The second-half scoring in the playoff battle began with Nevin Corbin crossing the goal line on a 4-yard TD run at the 8:34 mark of the third quarter. Berry’s successful conversion run gave the host Dragons a 48-37 advantage just 3:26 into the second half.

Roller made it a 48-43 contest with a 7-yard TD run with 6:09 left in the third, then the standout signal caller completed TD passes of 41 and 16 yards to Rory Casey and Coffin, respectively, in the final frame to put the visitors in front by a 55-48 margin. The final score for the Rams came at the 2:26 mark of the fourth quarter.

The Dragons started their final drive of the contest at their own 40 with 2:21 left in regulation, but were unable to move the ball downfield, turning the ball over on downs with 1:23 remaining.

After the turnover, the Rams went into their ‘victory formation’ with Roller taking three-straight kneel downs to run out the remaining time off the gameclock and hand the host Dewar squad the season-ending 55-48 defeat.

— Class B Playoffs Second Round

Regent Prep 55, Dewar 48

Regent Prep: 15 – 22 – 6 – 12 (55) Dewar: 14 – 26 – 8 – 0 (48)

— First Quarter

Regent Prep – JohnMark Roller, 5-yard run (Isaac Coffin kick); 9:46 Dewar – Nevin Corbin, 22-yard run (Keelan Berry pass from Peyton Kilhoffer); 7:27 Regent Prep – Roller, 24-yard run (Ryan Wright pass from Caedmon Fletcher); 5:54 Dewar – Nevin Corbin, 2-yard run (Run Failed); 3:30 — Second Quarter Dewar – Nevin Corbin, 2-yard run (Run Failed); 11:03 Regent Prep – Fletcher, 7-yard pass from Roller (Fletcher pass from Roller); 9:31 Regent Prep – Tres Borden, 44-yard pass from Roller (Pass Failed); 8:47 Dewar – Nevin Corbin, 22-yard run (Nevin Corbin pass from Kilhoffer); 7:00 Dewar – Christian Cargola, 35-yard fumble return (Pass Failed); 5:51 Regent Prep – Roller, 15-yard run (Abram Farrington run); 4:20 Dewar – Nevin Corbin, 6-yard run (Run Failed); 0:31 — Third Quarter

Dewar – Nevin Corbin, 4-yard run (Berry run); 8:34 Regent Prep – Roller, 7-yard run (Pass Failed); 6:09 — Fourth Quarter

Regent Prep – Rory Casey, 41-yard pass from Roller (Pass Failed); 6:19 Regent Prep – Coffin, 16-yard pass from Roller (Run Failed); 2:26