Pendleton's Payton Lambert (32) wraps up Dallas quarterback Ashton Foster (1) for a sack. The Pendleton Buckaroos lost 7-6 against the Dallas Dragons on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, in the first round of the OSAA 5A State Football Championships at the Pendleton Round-Up Arena in Pendleton.

PENDLETON — The football sat on the Dallas 9-yard line. There were 26 seconds on the clock, Pendleton had a first down and trailed 7-6.

Bucks coach Erik Davis wanted to get a few more yards to give kicker Ben Jennings more of a comfort zone. Those yards never came.

An incomplete pass, and quarterback Collin Primus losing yardage back to the 25-yard line, left Pendleton with one play to find the end zone or go home. Another incomplete pass in the end zone turned the ball over to Dallas, who escaped with a 7-6 win in the first round of the 5A state playoffs on Friday, Nov. 5, at the Pendleton Round-Up Grounds.

“It’s a tough one,” Davis said. “It was ugly. It came down to a missed PAT and the inability to put the ball in the end zone when you are in the red zone. The kids played hard. With them, it’s never a lack of effort. They played with the utmost character, and we played great defense.”

Dallas (6-4) will play at West Albany in the quarterfinals. The Bucks finished their season at 9-2.

With time winding down in the fourth quarter, the Dragons turned the ball over on downs at the Pendleton 21-yard line with 1:39 left in regulation.

A Dallas penalty put the ball at the 36-yard line. On second-and-10, Primus connected with Jennings on a 16-yard pass play to the Dallas 48.

Another big pass play from Primus to Luke Bensching put the ball at the 21, and a 12-yard run by Primus landed the ball at the 9.

“We had their backs against the wall all night,” Dallas coach Andy Jackson said. “I’m just really proud of our kids and the fight they had in them. They stood up against some really good running backs, and made a great stop on the goal line.”

After trading possessions to start the game, the Bucks scored with 4:51 left in the first quarter as Primus connected with Payton Lambert for a 65-yard touchdown. Jennings missed the PAT, leaving Pendleton with a 6-0 lead that held at the end of the quarter.

On their ensuing drive, the Dragons drove 75 yards in 10 plays, and took a 7-6 lead on a 15-yard touchdown run and PAT by Logan Person just 7 seconds into the second quarter.

“When it came down to it, my line got the job done on my touchdown run,” Person said. “Defensively, this is the best we have played all year. They got their touchdown, but we said we wouldn’t let that happen again.”

Pendleton had two solid opportunities to score in the third, but the points never came.

Dallas opened the third quarter with the ball, but an incomplete pass and a sack by Enoch Crane put the ball at the Dragons’ own 15. On third-and-14, the Bucks flushed Ashton Foster out of the pocket and brought him down in the end zone for what looked to be a safety. The officials said he was down at the 3-yard line.

Late in the third, the Bucks had the ball at the Dallas 15, facing fourth-and-4. Lambert took the handoff, but only got half of the yards he needed.

“Attitude, preparation and effort. We did all of those things,” Davis said. “We checked those boxes off. Defensively, we played well enough to win. You hold a team to seven points, you should win. Hats off to Dallas for showing up and playing sound defense.”

Lambert rushed for 56 yards and had one reception for 65 to lead the Bucks. Primus threw for 175 yards, and Bensching had two catches for 49 yards.

Defensively, Kyle Liscom had 14 tackles, Aiden Gunter had five and a sack, Dylan Abrahamson had five tackles, Easton Corey had a sack, and Jennings knocked away two passes that would have gone for big plays.

It was the final game for Liscom, who has been the leader of the defense the past two seasons.

“This hurts, it really does,” Liscom said. “Our defense played really well, we just didn’t click on all cylinders on offense. We just didn’t get things done.”

Liscom got a hug from every player and coach on the team after the game.

“I have played with or against these guys since the third grade,” he said. “You love the game, but you love your guys more.”