Harrisburg lost its season opener at home Friday to Cabool, 20-12, after holding a two-point lead in the second half.

Harrisburg coach Brennan Claas entered the game looking for his first career win as a head coach but came up one score shy.

“We fought really hard,” Claas said. 

Like other season openers across the state, the game was started an hour late due to the excessive heat. “It was a very physical game and very taxing with the heat,” Claas said.

The Bulldogs were dealing with cramps early in the second quarter. And with only 19 players on the roster, options for rest were limited.

“There was a lot of grit and grind, and it just didn’t go our way in the end,” Claas said.

Cabool scored first in the opening quarter on a halfback option pass and made a successful two-point conversion to take an early 8-0.

The Bulldogs got on the board with 34 seconds left in the first quarter on a 49-yard bomb from junior quarterback Trace Combs to senior Hunter Cole. The two-point try failed, and the score would remain close well into the third quarter. That’s when Harrisburg took the lead on another long pass from Combs to Cole, this time from 20 yards out. The two-point conversion attempt again failed, but the Bulldogs had a 12-8 lead.

“Those were two big scoring plays for us,” Claas said. “We had some other big completions. Overall, we were pretty good through the air. But we had some issues with not getting the ball out on time, or protections, or some different looks we weren’t expecting.”

The advantage would not hold for long. Cabool answered on its next possession, driving the length of the field before scoring on a three-yard rush. A failed two-point conversion made the score 14-12 in favor of Cabool heading into what would turn out to be a long fourth quarter.

After making a critical fourth-down stop inside the red zone, Harrisburg began working the ball downfield and lined up for a key fourth-down conversion attempt. That’s when something happened that nobody expected. The field lights went out.

Apparently, the lights were on a timer to shut off automatically. But with the game starting an hour late and extended water breaks given due to the heat, the automatic shutoff occurred with 4:39 on the clock in the fourth quarter.

The delay lasted about 15 minutes.

When play finally resumed, Harrisburg turned the ball over on downs, unable to pick up the nine yards needed for a first down.

“I take the blame for that,” Claas said. “It wasn’t a good play call. We had a long time to think about it, and I may have overthought it.”

Cabool took advantage of the turnover and scored a little over a minute later on a five-yard run to go up 20-12 with 4:20 left to play.

Harrisburg had a chance and plenty of clock to mount a comeback. But two holding penalties on the last drive left the ball  put the Bulldogs way behind the sticks.

“We threw pretty much a Hail Mary on the last play, and they picked it off,” Claas recalled.

The late interception ended what was otherwise a productive first game for Combs, in his second year as starter. He finished 6-for-13 for 113 yards and two touchdowns. 

Both scoring passes were to Cole, who made four receptions for 94 yards.

Harrisburg struggled to move the ball on the ground, picking up only four total yards. Sophomore Caleb Sager rushed for 38 yards on 14 carries. But Combs lost 26 yards on five rushes.

Cabool, however, had a solid ground attack, picking up 232 yards. The Bulldogs in blue also converted six of 13 third-down situations and picked up 17 first downs to Harrisburg’s six.

“I’m proud of the way they played,” Claas said about his team. “They fought through it and battled all the way to the end.”

Harrisburg hits the road for Week 2. On Friday, Coach Claas will lead his Bulldogs against Clark County, where he spent the two previous years as an assistant coach.

“They’re going to be very physical,” he said. “They’re very experienced on both sides of the ball. But there are things I think we can do.

“We have to focus on ourselves this week. We can’t have those mental mistakes and untimely penalties.”

Kickoff Friday is at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs return home on September 8 to face Marceline (0-1) in Week 3.