Nocona vs Saint Jo
The Nocona Lady Indians traveled to down the road to beat Saint Jo on Friday night.
The Lady Indians won 3-1 as the two most recently successful volleyball programs in the county faced off for the first time in years.
Nocona was coming into the match following several tough losses against bigger schools while still missing its top outside hitter Meg Meekins with injury.
Saint Jo was coming off a successful run at its tournament the previous week and was playing well against schools both big and its own size.
With both teams making it all the way to the regional finals last year and each having good bet aspirations of making a deep playoff run this year, it was a good matchup for both programs that had been building towards this game for the past several seasons.
While Lady Indians were not at full strength and still has a couple younger players it is counting on at setter, the Lady Panthers had a senior led group that wanted to show it could play with and maybe beat the big school down the road.
The first set saw Nocona get off to a good start and Saint Jo could never catch back up. Up 10-5, the Lady Indians did not allow the Lady Panthers to get any closer and eventually closed the set well, winning 25-16.
The second set proved to be the most competitive one of the match from start to finish. The biggest lead any team ever got was two points at any time as it went down to the wire.
In the end, it was Nocona that came out on top 27-25. Up 2-0, the Lady Indians were feeling confident they were coming in and showing the difference between what a top team at 2A plays like compared to a 1A team.
Still, Saint Jo was not going to give up. The Lady Panthers started off set three well and seemed to catch Nocona lacking. Up 9-6, Saint Jo went on a 8-2 run to break the set open. The Lady Panthers won easily 25-15 to cut the lead to 2-1 and show the Lady Indians they would not be able to coast to a victory.
Not wanting to give Saint Jo any more hope of possibly turning this match around and forcing a fifth set, Nocona had to shake off the bad play from the third set and come in focused in set four.
The Lady Indians established control early up 12-8 and then 21-14. Saint Jo made a last gasp effort that made up a lot of the comfortable lead for Nocona in the final points, but in the end the Lady Indians won 25-22 to be victorious 3-1.

Bowie
The Bowie Lady Rabbits are still looking for their first district win after losing at City View on Friday.
The Lady Mustangs won 3-1 against the Lady Rabbits.
Bowie came into the match 0-2 in district after losing to Henrietta and Iowa Park.
The first set proved to be the most competitive of the match and could have gone either way. In extra points, City View came through winning 28-26 to go up 1-0.
This was a tough start as the Lady Mustangs took that momentum into set two and won far easier 25-16 to go up 2-0.
With their backs against the wall, the Lady Rabbits fought back and played the third set well, winning 25-16 to continue the match and give Bowie a chance for a comeback.
Unfortunately, the fourth set saw City View start off well and the Lady Rabbits just could not make up enough of the difference. The Lady Mustangs took the set 25-19 and the match 3-1.

Forestburg
The Forestburg Lady Horns won their final non-district match on Friday at Vernon Northside easily.
The Lady Horns beat the Lady Indians in straight sets 3-0 to head into district on a positive note.
Forestburg was able to take a part Northside relatively easily with the set scores being 25-16, 25-21 and 25-7.
Brenna Briles led the team with 16 kills while also getting 11 assists, 10 digs and five service aces.
Logan Ladewig led the team with 12 assists while totaling 12 kills and also getting five aces.

Bellevue
The Bellevue Lady Eagles lost a tough match at Petrolia on Friday night.
The 2A Lady Pirates won in straight sets against the Lady Eagles.
Bellevue was coming into the match following a difficult loss against Olney earlier in the week. Playing against an even better team meant the margin for error was slimmer.
Early on, the Lady Eagles struggled in the serve-receive part of the match which hamstrung the team from consistently being able to create offense. As the match went along Bellevue got better, but unfortunately it was not enough for the team to take a set.
Petrolia won with the set scores being 25-15, 25-18 and 25-22.

Missing scores
The Bowie News did not receive scores from Gold-Burg and Prairie Valley’s matches from Friday.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News. For pictures from the Saint Jo vs Nocona game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6869053&T=1

Saint Jo vs Forestburg
The Saint Jo Panthers were able to stay undefeated as they had a happy homecoming this year beating fellow county team Forestburg.
The Panthers beat the Longhorns 58-0, ending the game at halftime due to the mercy rule.
Saint Jo came into the game undefeated, but still not pleased since none of its wins had come by the way of mercy rule.
Forestburg was 1-2 coming into the game shorthanded, with four of its players out due to injury or off the field related incident. Even at full strength, the Longhorns would have needed to play their best game of the season for a chance, with the last win against the Panthers coming in 2017.
It was one-sided from the jump.
Saint Jo got a stop on defense before Wade Lucas scored on a 34-yard run. The Panthers then recovered the onside kick and Devin Stewart connected with Lee Yeley on a 32-yard touchdown catch.
The Panther defense got a stop before Stewart could find Lucas on a 25-yard touchdown pass.
Saint Jo’s defense then forced a turnover when Stewart intercepted a pass. Shortly later, Blayton Calabrese scored on a 39-yard run.
Following another stop on defense, the Panthers scored once more before the first quarter ended with Stewart scrambling for a 19-yard touchdown.
Saint Jo led 36-0.
The Panthers got another turnover on defense as Stewart intercepted a pass. With it being fourth down, it served more as a defacto punt.
Saint Jo gave the ball to Logan Hoover who scored on a 55-yard run.
Following another stop on defense, the Panthers scored with Lucas scoring on a short run.
Saint Jo’s defense forced its final turnover of the game when Mathew Sampson recovered a fumble. It was followed up with Charlie Barclay scoring on a short run for the game’s final score.
The Panthers won 58-0.

Gold-Burg
The Gold-Burg Bears won their first game of the season on homecoming on Friday night against Harrold.
The Bears won 51-6, ending the game early in the third quarter due to mercy rule.
Gold-Burg had struggled in its first three games against really tough teams, but was able to beat up on a Hornets team that was 1-1.
The Bears used their speed on the perimeter to bust out big runs on sweeps that Harrold had no answer for while dominating on defense.
Paul Jones led the team with 85 yards passing, completing a 55-yard touchdown pass to Keelyn Case. He also rushed for 110 yards and two touchdowns.
Jayton Epperson led the team with 199 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

Nocona
The Nocona Indians lost another tough game on the road on Friday to Archer City.
The Wildcats won 53-14 against the Indians.
Nocona was coming off its first win the previous week against S&S Consolidated and the team had fully embraced it’s under the center, run first offensive identity.
Unfortunately, that was not enough for the Indians to hang with an Archer City team that proved to be more physical than them up front as the Wildcats finished 401 yards rushing.
Nocona did the move the ball a bit, finishing with 163 yards rushing and completing four passes for 75 yards. Jayce Lehde found Jose Gomez for an 18-yard touchdown pass.
Arty Malone led the team with 76 yards rushing and scored one touchdown on a 12-yard run. Jax Fuller was right behind him with 75 yards rushing.
On defense, Cristhian Cortez led the team with seven tackles. Raul Rodriguez and Gomez each recovered a fumble on defense as well.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News. For pictures from the Saint Jo and Gold-Burg game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6869054&T=1

The Bowie Jackrabbits had their second straight blowout win where their offense blew the doors off of opponent Dublin on the road on Friday night.
The Jackrabbits won 69-28, equaling the second highest point total in program history according to Coach Tyler Price.
Bowie was coming into the game fresh off a big win on homecoming against Howe. Dublin was still searching for its first win of the season and was hoping to get it on its homecoming on Friday.
The Lions started off well, striking first with a touchdown pass in the red zone to take the lead 6-0.
The Jackrabbits answered back on the ground in their next three offensive drives. Tyler Richey scored on a 25-yard run to give Bowie the lead it would never give up. Then Justin Clark scored on back-to-back 21-yard touchdown runs to put Bowie up 21-6.
Despite the final score and how the game was going in the first quarter, Dublin showed some fight in the second quarter. The Jackrabbits extended their lead even more early in the quarter when Rayder Mann connected with Braden Rhyne on a 30-yard touchdown pass to go up 28-6.
The Lions came back and scored on their next two drives. Another was on a short pass near the goal line and the other was a 39-yard touchdown pass. This cut Bowie’s lead down to one score, leading 28-21 and with Dublin threatening to make it a game.
The Jackrabbits were able to get some breathing room and some of their momentum back before halftime. After getting stifled on its previous two drives, Bowie was able to drive down the field and Mann was able to squirm his way in from two yards out for a touchdown.
The Jackrabbits went into halftime up 35-21.
Bowie came out of halftime determined to not let that stretch in the second quarter continue. The Jackrabbit defense was able to make some adjustments and pitched a second half shutout for the third time this season.
Meanwhile, the Bowie offense continued to pile on the points.
Clark started the second half by scoring on a 38-yard run. The next drive, Mann connected with Rhyne on a 74-yard touchdown pass. Mann then found some room to score on a 34-yard run.
Unfortunately, the end of the third quarter ended on a bit of a down note for Bowie. The Jackrabbits fumbled the ball away and Dublin was able to recover the ball and return in 75 yards for a touchdown. It was the Lions only score of the second half and cut the lead to 56-28 heading into the fourth quarter.
Bowie did not let that mistake affect the team for long. On the ensuing kickoff, a pooched kick was returned by Clark, who capped off his great night with a 70-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the final period.
The Jackrabbit started to pull starters and call less aggressive offensive plays with the game in hand. It still did not prevent Richey, playing quarterback with the second team, from scoring on a 55-yard run in the fourth quarter.
This would make the final score 69-28 for Bowie.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.