BLOOMFIELD — With the exception of the opening drive of the second half, the Davis County Mustangs dominated play in the final two quarters, but came up short and were defeated 28-21 by Iowa City Regina in Class 2A, first-round state football playoff action Monday.

Mustang fans had to wonder what might have happened with a few more minutes to play Monday night in Bloomfield.

The Mustangs opened the game with a three-and-out but forced Regina to punt on its first possession. A sack forced a Mustang punt the second time they had the ball, and the Regals marched 64 yards for a 7-0 lead. The touchdown came on an eight-yard run by Anthony Halsch.

The Mustangs converted a fourth-and-short on their next drive but turned the ball over as they were later stopped on a fourth-and-two.

“They really didn’t do anything that we didn’t expect, but you can’t really tell how fast somebody is on film,” commented Mustang coach Dave Lukens. “Their linebackers got wide so fast and they bothered our passing game in the first half and took away half of our running game.”

The Mustang defense stiffened and gave the ball back to the offense. but Regina forced a Mustang punt. The defense responded again as Aaron Halls intercepted a Regal pass. This time the offense turned the defensive stop into a score.

Starting at the Regina 44 — and aided by two penalties on the visitors — Coleton Mathews scored on a three-yard run. The big play in the drive was a 16-yard pass from Mathews to Halls. Mathews hit Josh Martsching with the conversion pass and the Mustangs led 8-7 with just under five minutes to play in the first half.

The visitors answered with a 66-yard drive that ended with a one-yard run by quarterback Jack Verducci, as the first half ended with Regina holding the 14-8 lead.

A three-yard run by Kevin Arnold finished the 66-yard drive that opened the second half. The score put the visitors up 21-8 at the midway point of the third quarter. The score remained 21-8 at the end of the quarter.

With just enough running and the passing game starting to click, the Mustangs started to move the ball but the lead widened to 28-8 as Verducci scored early in the final 12 minutes on a 14-yard run.

Then the Mustangs caught fire.

“We made an adjustment at halftime to run more routes over the middle to stay away from the flow of the backers,” said Lukens.

The Mustangs would pull to within 28-15 as Mathews hit Tucker Henderson with a four-yard pass. Henderson, who had no catches in the first half, had three in the drive. He would lead Davis County with nine catches for 100 yards in the game, all in the second half.

Davis County would then pull off the successful onside kick and start their next drive at the Regina 47. The drive didn’t start well, as Mathews was sacked on the opening play. A 23-yard screen play to Austin Utt kept the drive alive. A shuttle pass on fourth and six, again to Utt, kept the Mustangs moving.

The Mustangs would have to fight through two penalties and a sack before Mathews and Henderson would hook up twice again to set up the one-yard touchdown run by Utt.