Prior to its regular season finale on Saturday afternoon, Mexico had lost four fumbles all season.

The Bulldogs lost three fumbles in a 35-13 loss at Class 5 MICDS (5-4), falling behind 28-0 at halftime before outscoring the Rams 13-7 in the second half. Mexico (5-4) is the No. 4 seed in Class 4 District 5 and has a home game this week against Kirksville (4-5).

Head coach Steve Haag said he wasn’t sure if the light rain during the game was a factor in the turnovers, but two of them happened at inopportune times. Mexico drove deep into MICDS territory on 10 plays in the first quarter but lost a fumble at the six-yard line and then lost a fumble near its own end zone late in the second quarter resulting in a MICDS touchdown on the recovery.

Mexico vs MICDS Photo Gallery

“You’re not trying to fumble, but you see the end zone and you go hard,” Haag said. “You’ve got to protect the ball, and we didn’t do it there. We get the interception (by Charlie Fisher), and we’re there on the goal line. Maybe we didn’t block as well as we should’ve up front, get hit in  the backfield and we fumble. Those two are really big because there was the possibility of it being 7-7 or at least a little different.”

Mexico hopes the turnovers are an aberration heading into districts, and they have been with the team only losing one fumble in the prior five games.

Korbyn Dorsey had a busy Saturday on the ground with 77 rushing yards on 9 carries and 122 total yards. The senior already had a big role on the team as Mexico’s third leading rusher behind the injured Drew DeMint and quarterback Charlie Fisher but will be leaned on more with injuries in the backfield.

“I figured it was coming as soon as Drew got injured,” Dorsey said. “I knew I had to step up. I think I did a decent job. I could’ve played a lot better – always can – but I feel like I’ve taken that role and have been a leader.”

Haag said playing one more game before the win-or-go-home scenario of districts kicks in was helpful, even though Mexico was a lock for the home game against Kirksville no matter Saturday’s result. With some players injured, he said others had more touches to prepare them for important snaps in the near future.

“This is about competition,” Haag said. “Once we looked at district numbers, it wasn’t going to change anything. It was just about going out there and competing and having fun. I think some of these guys did and had some good games.”

MICDS used two quarterbacks – senior LJ Triplett and junior Noah Menneke – unlike when it faced Mexico last season. Menneke threw a 65-yard touchdown pass and ran for a five-yard touchdown and totaled 75 yards while Triplett had 113 total yards. MICDS finished with 352 total yards, including 154 rushing yards from Justin Bishop, compared to Mexico’s 293 total yards. 

Going into the game, Haag said Mexico regarded Triplett as the running option while Menneke was the stronger thrower, even though each showed shades of both in the game. Haag said he isn’t completely sure of the rationale of the MICDS coaching staff but would guess that it's designed to put the players and the team in good positions to move the chains.

“They had a pretty good balance of run and pass,” Haag said. “Probably why they are in and out is one is a little more dynamic in the run and one is probably a little more dynamic passing. You’ve got to be able to be prepared for both, and I don’t think we did bad against either of them.”

Overall, Haag said the defense did well swarming the ball carrier other than some aberrations of Menneke’s touchdown pass and one sideline-to-sideline first down run by Justin Bishop.

The Bulldogs found their own big plays with Connor Fisher, who had 93 total yards. First, he ran 57 yards for a touchdown and then caught a 27-yard touchdown pass from his senior brother Charlie Fisher. They hope this gives them a little momentum before the rematch with Kirksville.

“We can’t really keep our heads too high just because we beat them,” Dorsey said. “They’re a good team. We have to go do what we do and run the ball and play defense well.”

Haag said Mexico won’t be at full strength this time against Kirksville but thinks it can avoid losing in districts after a regular season win, which was what happened to the Tigers against Mexico last year.

“We need to run the option better than we did the first time,” Haag said. “Charlie was doing a good job today. They gave us opportunities to throw the ball, and I thought we threw the ball well today. It’s just looking at what they gave us last time and what we didn’t take advantage of.”