Coming in off back-to-back losses to end the regular season, Dixon was looking for something to turn things around in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs.
The Dukes found it in their running game, as the 1-2 punch of Dylan Conderman and Brenden Kastner was too much for Plano in a 28-13 Dixon victory Friday night at A.C. Bowers Field.
“Coming into this, everyone knew the last two weeks weren’t great, didn’t look very good, and we knew we had to make a statement. We had to come back and do our thing,” Kastner said. “It went great. We couldn’t ask for much else from the run game tonight.”
Kastner rushed 15 times for 136 yards and two second-half touchdowns, while Conderman finished with 14 carries for 81 yards and two first-half TDs. Conderman worked the middle of the field for tough yards, and Kastner complemented that with off-tackle runs to pick up chunks of yardage.
“We like to call ourselves ‘The Committee,’ because we both contribute, we both run hard, we both do our best, and we just try to make the best out of everything we can,” Conderman said. “The run game is what we were doing well tonight. We’ve got a bunch of guys who can do it and an O-line to support us and lead the way, so when it works, we’ll stick with it – and it worked tonight.”
Conderman scored on a direct snap from 2 yards out on Dixon’s second drive for an 8-0 lead, then added a 6-yard scoring run on another direct snap with 4:30 left in the first half for a 14-0 lead.
That series saw the Dukes (7-3) facing a first-and-32, then a second-and-30 inside their own 20, but they moved the chains after back-to-back passes of 23 and 17 yards from Jagger Kemp to Owen McNitt. Kastner sprinted for 21 and 13 yards on the next two plays to set up Dixon inside the Plano 10-yard line.
“Those big plays are huge, especially in the playoffs,” Conderman said. “When you’ve got guys who want to fight for it, who really want to win, they’re going to go out and do what we need to do to get the win.”
Plano (2-8) answered with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Braylon Schmidt to Fin Winter two plays after a Dixon offsides penalty gave the Reapers a first down on fourth-and-3 near midfield.
It was one of 10 penalties called on Dixon for 95 yards; the Reapers had just five for 35 yards. That discrepancy helped keep Plano in the game.
“We tried to keep it going, just keep the momentum even when we got hit in the mouth,” Schmidt said. “We just didn’t give up. We just wanted to keep on going because we know it’s the last game ever for some of us, and we just wanted to keep on going until the last second, fighting every second.”
Dixon scored on its second drive of the second half, as Kastner capped the drive with consecutive 12-yard runs. The Dukes were able to overcome a personal foul penalty on that series.
The defense also stepped up, as Kastner intercepted a fourth-down pass when Liam Withrow hit Schmidt as he released the ball, then stuffed fourth-and-short runs on the next two Plano drives.
“You’ve got to give them a lot of credit. I thought up front they were really physical and they played a really good game,” Plano coach Kyle Tutt said. “I thought they did a really good job of taking care of the opportunities that they had and making some big plays.
“I thought we had some opportunities there and we didn’t convert on some of those, and I think that was the difference in the game. It was a couple of momentum swings that kept them in it and didn’t allow us to claw back into it the way we have been throughout the year.”
Dixon’s final touchdown drive overcame a third-and-19 when Conderman broke through for a 24-yard run and Kastner paid it off the next play for a 28-7 lead.
The Reapers capped a nine-play, 79-yard scoring drive with a 17-yard TD pass from Schmidt to Winter on fourth-and-10 with 2:13 remaining, but Dixon recovered the pooch kickoff and ran out the clock.
Schmidt finished with 121 yards passing and two TDs and ran 17 times for 92 yards in his final game for Plano.
The 10th-seeded Dukes will travel to Evergreen Park next week for a first-round game against the No. 7 seed in their half of the 4A bracket.
“It’s huge to get that first playoff win,” Kastner said. “And yeah, we got the win, but there’s things we’ve still got to fix. We’re going to get better and the next one’s going to be an even bigger game.”
For Plano, the season ends with a playoff appearance for the first time since 2023 – and after an 0-5 start, no less.
“It’s been an eventful season, a good season with my boys,” Schmidt said. “We fought really hard and came up short in so many games, but we’ve gotten better and better every game, and I just like how we never give up and play with a lot of heart.”