The Harrisburg Bulldogs ended their season with a 40-30 loss at Crystal City in a spirited Class 1 District 2 quarterfinal game on Friday. 

Harrisburg, seeded seventh, was matched up against second-seeded Crystal City (6-3) after finishing seventh in the nine-team district and avoiding a qualifying game between the eighth and ninth seeds. The Bulldogs conclude the season with an overall record of 3-7 in coach Brennan Claas’s first year as a head coach.

“The wins and losses didn’t go the way we wanted, but everything else was a great experience,” Claas said. “I really enjoyed the coaching staff. I thought we had a great group of guys. Everything clicked really easy for us. The administration was great. The town, getting behind the boys, was more than I could ask for. The kids were excellent in the way they fought through adversity.

“It’s been a great experience, and I couldn’t think of a better place to start my career.”

Crystal City now improves to 7-3 on the season and will host third-seeded Tipton (8-2) in the semifinals on Friday. The winner will advance to the district championship game on Nov. 17.

Harrisburg opened Friday’s game on defense for nearly the entire first quarter. After kicking off, Crystal City’s rushing game methodically moved the ball downfield, burning 11 minutes off the clock before finally scoring the game’s first points.

Harrisburg ran only two offensive plays in the opening quarter before the clock ran down. The possession didn’t amount to much, and the Bulldogs were forced to punt.

It was another Harrisburg punt late in the second quarter that ended up putting the Bulldogs into position for their first score. During the punt, senior Hayven Samuels sprinted down the field unblocked and forced the Hornets to fumble. He then picked up the ball and ran in for a touchdown. But high school rules don’t allow for touchdowns on such a play. While the score didn’t count, the play set up Harrisburg with possession inside the 20-yard line.

The Bulldogs then scored on a play-action pass from junior quarterback Trace Combs to sophomore Rylee Robinson. The two-point conversion was good, making the score 14-8. 

Crystal City would score again before halftime to take a 22-8 lead at the break.

Combs and Robinson hooked up in the third quarter on a 30-yard pass play for Harrisburg’s second touchdown of the game. The score came on a fourth-and-15 situation with just under seven minutes on the clock.

“Chase put it right on him,” Claas recalled. “He led him right over the hash, and he walked right in.” 

The two-point conversion failed, but the touchdown cut Crystal City’s lead to 22-14.

Robinson caught another pass in the fourth quarter on a busted play that turned into a 52-yard touchdown. The Hornets’ defender tipped the pass into the air, which then fell right into the sophomore wide receiver’s hands. He then went untouched into the endzone.

The Bulldogs’ final score of the season again came on long yardage with a 53-yard hook-and-ladder play. Trailing by 18 points with five minutes left in the game, junior Bryce Ott caught the short pass from Combs, then pitched back to Caleb Sager, who ran the ball downfield for the score.

“Ott kind of hesitated for a moment because Caleb Sager hadn’t made it there yet,” Claas recalled. “He kind of got held up. It was kind of a funny moment. He just caught it, then stood still, looking left and looking right, trying to figure out where Caleb was.”

The touchdown was the season’s final score for the Bulldogs, who would conclude the game 10 points behind.

Combs finished the day with 10 completions on 20 passing attempts for 197 yards and all four touchdowns. He also threw one interception.

Leading the receiving game was Robinson with 105 yards. Three of his four catches went for touchdowns. Ott, Sager, and Samuels each made two catches. Sager tallied 48 yards, Samuels had 35, and Ott finished with nine.

Almost all of Harrisburg’s offense came from the passing game. Crystal City held the Bulldogs’ rushing game stagnant, allowing just 33 yards on 19 carries.

“It was definitely through the air more,” Claas said. “We really only had three quarters of offense. A lot of it was catch and run, creating space for our guys.”

This year was Claas’s first and only season competing in the Lewis & Clark Conference. Harrisburg won the L&C title a year ago but will depart after this year to form a new conference, the Central State 8, with Fayette, Eugene, New Bloomfield, Russellville, Linn, South Callaway, and Tipton. 

“I’m excited about it,” Claas said. “It will be cool to build something from the ground level.

Of the eight teams forming the new conference, six field 11-man varsity football teams. Claas said he looks forward to not only competing in the new conference but also having the opportunity to play some old rivals, including South Shelby and Clark County, in non-conference matchups. Those will be the Bulldogs’ first two opponents when they step onto the field to begin the Fall 2024 season on Aug. 30.

Claas and the Bulldogs expect to return four juniors and seven sophomore’s from a team that this year dressed only 15 for a significant portion of the season.