In the final regular season meeting between Mexico and Odessa, it was a memorable one at Hawthorne Heights.

The Mexico Bulldogs defeated the Odessa Bulldogs 48-43 to earn a victory over a Class 4 District 5 opponent and the No. 4 team in the state. Mexico and Odessa have played four times in the past four years with Friday’s shootout being the final in the regular season series. Quarterback Charlie Fisher ran for two touchdowns and 95 yards and returned an interception for a touchdown.

Head coach Steve Haag said the series was bookended by similar games and endings with Mexico winning 51-47 three years ago after the team batted down a final-second pass. Drew DeMint, who also had 120 rushing yards and a touchdown, batted down Odessa’s last-second attempt this time after allowing Odessa’s last touchdown on a fourth-down pass.

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“There at the end, a lot of things can happen,” Haag said. “You can be in the wrong position. Our guys bowed their necks and said, ‘You’re not going to score.’ I told them ‘It’s like life. There were some down times during that and there were some good times. You bounce back and forth and you keep playing.’”

A down time for Mexico happened in the third quarter when Odessa tied the game at 35 on a 33-yard run and successful two-point pass. Odessa recovered an onside kick, but Fisher jumped a route on the first play from scrimmage for a 66-yard defensive touchdown.

“I was kind of upset because I said to our up front guys, ‘They can onside it’ and they didn’t pay attention,” Haag said. “You’re kind of down, but you have to stop them because probably if they score, it makes it a lot harder on us.”

Haag told his players before the game that “great players have great mentalities,” meaning they can respond after any good or bad moment in the game. Fisher had already responded to Odessa’s attempts to rip the momentum away from Mexico in the first half. He ran for touchdowns of 59 yards and 16 yards after Odessa took leads with touchdowns.

Fisher said the team was well-aware of what to expect from Odessa based on past experience and film. Mexico finished with 382 rushing yards, and Korbyn Dorsey had 147 yards and a touchdown.

“I was watching their receiver’s hips to see what he was going to do,” Fisher said. “He ended up running hitch and hit off his hands. I made sure I caught the ball before I did anything, but once I got it, I outran them.”

Fisher was able to outrun Odessa despite pulling his glute earlier in the game. He said strength and conditioning coach Devon Scott was stretching him out on the sideline before the play.

“It didn’t feel good,” Fisher joked while talking about returning the interception but said he felt better after entering the end zone.

After Fisher left the game, Kyler Benne took over at quarterback and completed a 22-yard pass to his brother Kaden Benne to put Mexico at the 10-yard line. Marshall Ball took a handoff from two yards out for the 48-43 Mexico lead.

Haag said it’s tough replacing a senior, especially with how well Fisher has run the offense this season. He said he hopes the offense doesn’t lose a beat when injuries happen, and that’s how it went.

“Hopefully that gives (Kyler Benne) confidence,” Haag said. “It gives us somebody who has more snaps in a varsity game.”

Fisher said he didn’t feel good while staying on the sideline but was confident his teammates could pick up where the offense left off.

“I’m really confident in my teammates,” Fisher said. “We’re all working and pushing each other. Our coaches do a great job of getting our guys prepared.”

Odessa came in with an offense that was averaging over 30 points a game like the last seven years and finished with 495 total yards. Michael Scott had a busy night at quarterback like he did last year for Odessa, finding Amaury Powell for two touchdown passes and finishing with 255 yards and three touchdown passes. Powell had 123 receiving yards.

Mexico was successful putting pressure on Scott when he held the ball for a prolonged time. Leighton Hilderman and Kelvin Watson each had a sack so Odessa tried to offload the ball quickly. Haag said he likes the athletes Mexico can run out there to defend the pass like Charlie Fisher and James Matthews, who each had interceptions.

“They run a (Run Pass Option),” Haag said. “He can fake a run and then throw it. We knew they were good at it. They keep you off-balance that way. I feel lucky because it could have gone either way tonight, and it went our way.”

Mexico plays at North Central Missouri Conference foe Marshall (2-1) at 7 p.m. Friday. Marshall is also another district opponent for Mexico.

“We want to stay up near the top (of the district),” Haag said. “We want to stay healthy and just want to continue to get better.”