Noxon Red Devils await their 6-Man playoff fate

With time to lick their wounds and redirect their focus before playing again, coach Bart Haflich and his Noxon Red Devils now await their final playoff fate.

The No. 3 seed from the 6-Man Western Division, the Devils completed regular season play with a 48-28 loss to Hot Springs in the Spa City Thursday.

The Devils played well at times in that game, but most of those times were in the second half, when they staged a gallant comeback after falling behind 28-0 by halftime. The most damaging sequence for Noxon occurred right before halftime when Hot Springs scored two touchdowns in the last 2:11 of the second quarter, the first on a one-yard Kyle Lawson run and the second on a beautiful pass from Jack McAllister to Lawson with only 25.6 seconds left in the half.

Haflich and assistant Lucas MacArthur must have had a few choice words with their charges at halftime because the Red Devils took the field by storm in the second half.

"We were a little disappointed in the first half, we felt like we didn't come out as strong as we needed to," Haflich said. "Hot Springs is a disciplined, well-coached team, but we need to play all four quarters. It just seemed like we didn't come out as ready as we would have liked."

Maybe the locker room talk changed all that. Starting the third quarter, Noxon took the kickoff and put together a nice drive, capped by Nate Cano throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jared Webley for the Devils' first touchdown of the game.

On the ensuing kickoff, Red Devil sophomore Gage Hendricks came up with the recovery on an onside kick to give Noxon the ball at the Hot Springs 31-yard line and a few plays later Derreck Christensen threw a 26-yard scoring strike to Jeriko Smith-Roach to make the score 28-12.

After Hot Springs slowed Noxon's momentum with a touchdown, the Devils struck again when Josh Baldwin streaked 63 yards down the left sideline for another Devil TD and, after Christensen added the two-point conversion kick, the score was now 36-20 Hot Springs.

Not done with their big rally just yet, Noxon's defense held the Heat on downs on their next possession and took over the ball at their own 36-yard line late in the third quarter. Early in the fourth, the Devils completed that short drive when Hendricks broke a couple tackles to score on a three-yard run.

With Christensen's two-point boot tacked on, Hot Springs' once-safe lead was now down to only eight at 36-28.

Perhaps starting their rally a little too late, the Devils watched the Heat score two touchdowns after that to salt away the win.

Although the loss hurt, relegating Noxon to the No. 3 seed for the approaching 6-Man playoffs, Haflich was encouraged by the fight his boys showed in the second half in Hot Springs.

"We really feel like we can play with anyone," Haflich said. "It's just a matter of being on task right from the opening kickoff, we look forward to seeing how we do in the playoffs."

Hot Springs coach Jim Lawson certainly respects what Noxon brings. "I sure wouldn't want to play Noxon as a No. 3 seed in the playoffs," he said. "They are capable of shaking things up, that's for sure."