By ERIC VICCARO
sports@bowienewsonline.com

This past football season it became increasingly clear Bowie High School needed a new inflatable run-through.
The difference was clear when the Jackrabbits played Clyde in the bi-district round of the Conference 3A Region 2 playoffs on Nov. 14. The Bulldog was much larger, and in much better shape than the Jackrabbit helmet.
“We had this one for eight or nine years,” said Bowie Booster Club president Craig Stallcup. “We used it at the old stadium. It kept on leaking at the seams.”
Problems with the inflatable were exacerbated after it was washed last summer, Stallcup said.
The new inflatable will be 26-feet tall and 30-feet wide.
“It will be one of the biggest inflatables in the state,” Stallcup said. “Also, we did a last-minute design change, and the players will run out of two 10-foot tunnels, and through the Jackrabbit under each arm.”
Stallcup reported the All-Star Inflatables, Inc., the Garland-based company that produces the run-through, asked for Bowie’s permission to use it at the Texas High School Coaches Association meeting this summer as a demonstration model. Read more in the Feb. 27 Bowie News.

Bowie High School’s new inflatable is shown here. This is a conceptual model provided by the manufacturer, All-Star Inflatables, Inc., out of Garland. This new run-through replaces an existing helmet from the mid-2000s. (Courtesy rendering from All-Star Inflatables, Inc., Garland)