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HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL: Forestburg, Throckmorton vie for district title

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By ERIC VICCARO
[email protected]

The stage is set for Friday’s District 12-1A-II championship game between Forestburg and Throckmorton.
Last year, the Greyhounds defeated Forestburg 64-7 for the title, but that was before Shane Mallory and Coletyn King bolted for Hermleigh and Hayden Farquhar graduated.
Forestburg, on paper, appears to be the better team with a 6-3 record while Throckmorton stands 3-6.
The Longhorns have scored 451 points while allowing just 259; meanwhile, the Greyhounds have totaled 291 points while surrendering 397.
Brad Hall, a former assistant at Happy, took over at Throckmorton this year. Still, Forestburg head coach Wayne Tuckwell is concerned with the game.
“They’re a well-coached team,” Tuckwell said. “What they do, they do very well. They are going to be a tough team to beat.”
On offense, Throckmorton will mostly run the Jaybird and off-set I-formation. Tuckwell said the key for Forestburg’s defense will be to contain the Greyhounds’ misdirection.
“We have to get in position to make plays and be able to tackle well,” the coach commented.
Defensively, Throckmorton will run mostly with a 4-2.
Forestburg’s offense has been scorching in recent weeks as Matthew Wallace has developed into a premier quarterback. Taten Vann is Wallace’s go-to receiver. J.D. Moore has given the Longhorns’ a threat when lined up with Wallace and his brother, Malaci, in the backfield.

OTHER GAMES

There are three other games of note in the area. Saint Jo will play host to suddenly surging Bryson, Jacksboro travels to Nocona for the Indians’ Senior Night, and Gold-Burg plays at Woodson.
Nocona will honor eight seniors, Jake Dingler, Robert Hawkins, Austin Waters, Emmanual Gaytan, Peyton Crabtree, Juan Mancilla, Barkley Hayes and Mack Hill.
Saint Jo also will have Senior Night, recognizing seniors in the sports of football, volleyball, cross country and cheerleading. T.J. Lindenborn and Clay Hall are Saint Jo’s football seniors. Read more, and see complete district standings, in the mid-week Bowie News.

Forestburg’s Malaci Moore (11) and Matthew Wallace (12) both attempt a tackle during an Oct. 29 District 12-1A-II football game versus Woodson. Forestburg plays Throckmorton Friday for the district title. (News photo by Eric Viccaro) 

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District awards for 1A released

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Bellevue’s Bryce Ramsey was named his district’s newcomer of the year.

With the baseball and softball seasons over for the area 1A schools, district awards have been released.
Listed below are those earned honors on the field and in the classroom for Saint Jo and Bellevue.

Softball
Saint Jo
Honorable mention

Utility player: Taylor Patrick; Catcher: Jordyn O’Neal

Baseball
Superlatives
Offensive MVP: Devin Stewart, Saint Jo
Newcomer of the Year: Bryce Ramsey, Bellevue

Pitcher: Trent Gaston, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Jayden Curry, Saint Jo

Second team
Pitcher: Charlie Barclay, Saint Jo
Infielder: Brycen Bancroft, Bellevue; Sam Martin, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Rylan Forrester, Saint Jo
Catcher: Charlie Evans, Saint Jo
Utility: Logan Hoover, Saint Jo
DH: Amzy Barclay, Saint Jo

Honorable mention
Cody Gaston, Saint Jo; Xander Joyner, Saint Jo

To see academic awards from Saint Jo players, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

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Forestburg coach retiring

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Forestburg boys basketball coach Eldon Van Hooser helped lead the program to its first playoff win in nine years in his last year coaching.

Eldon Van Hooser is leaving Forestburg better than he found it.
The head boy’s basketball coach is retiring after more than 30 years, spending the last five at Forestburg.
Van Hooser did not come to this decision because of a lack of fire or feeling tired after decades in the profession. He had to for family reasons.
“My wife has MS (multiple sclerosis) and it’s a disease where you have trouble standing and walking and she needs help,” Van Hooser said. “I am able to so I am going to step away from teaching and coaching to be there for her.”
Van Hooser was hired in 2019. Along with being the boy’s basketball coach, he also was the football team’s defensive coordinator.
There were some lean years for Forestburg on the boy’s athletic side, with numbers being low and the available athletes being mostly underclassmen.
For two years, the Longhorns’ boy’s basketball team won few games and one of those seasons saw the team field five players on the high school team.
“One of those years we had COVID-19 and the other we had five kids,” Van Hooser said. “It was very rough. After that we worked with the kids and we had a good freshman group coming up. Next year they are going to be seniors.”
That group has helped to turn the program around. Last year the young Longhorns team contested for a playoff spot and just barely missed it finishing fifth in the district.
This season, that same group took a leap and finished second in district with a record of 7-5.
Despite losing its last two regular season games in dramatic fashion heading into the playoffs, the team stepped up in the bi-district game.
Playing against an athletic Newcastle team, Forestburg led for most of the game.
Unfortunately, the previous game against Bellevue saw the Longhorn team blow the lead late in the fourth quarter against a hard pressing style team and they were suffering the same fate against the Bobcats down the stretch.
Fortunately, Forestburg held on just enough to win 53-46. It was the first boy’s basketball playoff win in nine years for Forestburg.
“It was huge for our program,” Van Hooser said. “This new year we will have new goals. The new coach will have some goals of his own, but I set some for the team and think that we have come a long way.”

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

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Bowie Sports Banquet

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The Bowie sports banquets was on Monday night. Olivia Gill and Tucker Jones were named Jackrabbit and Lady Rabbit of the year. Pick up the mid-week paper for all of the sports team awards and pictures.

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