SPORTS
County football teams open season this Friday night
Bowie
The Jackrabbits will open the season at home against Godley. The Wildcats are a bigger school, classified as 4A division II, and coming off a 9-3 record with an exit in the area round of the playoffs.
“They have big, physical kids,” Coach Dylan Stark said. They have a real athletic receiver. They are coached by a former Bowie coach, Duke Dalton.”
Dalton coached in Bowie back in the early 2000s. The Wildcats have two good running backs and wide receiver Easton James on the outside. The team plays out of the spread formation and plays a standard 4-3 defense.
Stark knows playing a bigger school coming off a playoff run is a tough challenge and that is exactly what he wants to see his team face.
“It will be a real good test for us at the start of the year, kind of see where we are at,” Stark said.
Nocona
The Indians open the season on the road at Boyd. A 3A division I team coming off of a 3-8 season, the Yellow Jackets feature a lot of up and coming freshman and sophomores Nocona will have to deal with.
Despite the youth, Coach Brad Keck has said Boyd has more than held their own in their scrimmages against Bridgeport and Godley the last two weeks. Keck knows one of the keys will be trying to stop their quarterback Kody Risenhoover from making plays.
“Their quarterback from last year is a really good athlete,” Keck said. “He throws the ball well on the run. He does a real good job of scrambling around and keeping his eyes down the field to his receivers.”
Keck knows the key will be the size and experience the Indians will have up front on the offense and defensive side.
“We can’t have stalemates up front,” Keck said. “We need to be pushing on them pretty good.”
Saint Jo
The Panthers play division II team Fannindel to open the season at home. Sharing the same district with old rivals Forestburg and Gold-Burg, the Falcons are picked to win that district from outsiders.
Coach Derek Schlieve knows his team is up for a challenge Friday night. “They have a whole lot of speed,” Schlieve said. “We have to try to bottle that speed up, contain it and make the tackle when we get to that spot.”
Fannindel was a 5-5 team last year and finished second in their division I before losing in the first round of the playoffs. Their quarterback Layne Miller threw for 25 touchdowns last year and running back Dayton Dunbar ran for 23 touchdowns.
Saint Jo is a bigger school and will have more fresh bodies to throw at the Falcons to stay fresh all game.
“We are going to need to play physical at the point of attack,” Schlieve said. “We are going to have to hold our blocks whistle to whistle. We have to make sure we take care of the football.”
Gold-Burg
The Bears play private school power Wichita Falls Notre Dame at home.
Coming off a down year where the Knights missed the playoffs after consecutive years in the state title game, Notre Dame is looking to bounce back this year.
“They have got two players that can really run,” Williams said. “We are going to have to do a good job of bottling them up because if they break one tackle in the open field or outside, it is a touchdown.”
The Knights still have some players from those title game appearances and that experience will be a huge test for Gold-Burg.
“I feel like we can run the ball on them to keep possession and take time off the clock,” Williams said.
Knowing the value of home field advantage, Williams hopes the familiar playing site along with the support from home fans will give his team the edge it needs to beat such a good program.
“Everyone feels so much more prepared for the first game this year compared to last year,” Williams said. “We feel ready for the season.”
Forestuburg
The Longhorns head into their opening game at home against private school Lone Star North banged up.
Several players are fighting through injuries that plagued the team in their two scrimmages.
It also is a team that is still trying to figure things out and has unproven players stepping into big shoes.
Coach Kyler Roach feels he still has the personnel to execute his game plan.
“I feel like our offense is like a second defense,” Roach said. “I’m a big believer in ball control. The more we have it, the less time they have to score.”
Lone Star North has some fast kids, but Roach hopes the physicality and toughness his team has will be the difference for the Longhorns.
“I am preparing for a close game,” Roach said. “Friday night is going to come down to who is tougher.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News. All games scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers again made a come back win against Perrin-Whitt in a high scoring affair that ended early.
The Lady Panthers won 20-10 against the Lady Pirates, winning after six innings due to run-rule.
Saint Jo’s last game had been 12 days earlier against the same Perrin-Whitt team it had also beaten in a high-scoring game 35-20. Another win would secure the Lady Panthers district title.
Saint Jo started off the game well, scoring five runs in the first inning and one more in the top of the second inning to go up 6-0. The Lady Pirates then reeled off nine runs in the bottom of the second inning which usually would change the whole momentum of the game with them up 9-6.
Perrin-Whitt added one more run in the third inning after holding Saint Jo scoreless, which is another rare feat in the team’s history of playing the other. The Lady Pirates led 10-6 and had momentum.
Then the Lady Panthers scored six runs in the fourth inning to take the lead back. Saint Jo’s pitching and defense tightened up to not allow any more runs in the final three innings while the Lady Panthers added four runs in both the fifth and sixth innings.
It was enough to end the game early by one inning, with Saint Jo winning 20-10.
Symbri Evans and Reagan Wilson each had four RBIs to lead the team while Mercedes Diaz was second with three RBIs. The team finished with 20 hits while drawing nine walks.
Defensively, Saint Jo allowed only seven walks, a good improvement from a lot of games where the total in the double-digits while the Lady Panther defense committed four fielding errors and allowed 15 hits.
The win wrapped up a district title for the team. For the girl’s program, it is the fourth team district title this season, having already secured one in volleyball, basketball and track.
Nocona
The Nocona Lady Indians ended their regular season on a sour note against one of the top teams in the district last week.
The Lady Indians lost to Lindsay 12-2, with the game ending after five innings due to run-rule.
Nocona was coming off of securing its first playoff appearance the previous week, but knew it would be tested against a Lady Knights team they had previously lost to handily in late March. The Lady Indians hoped they could competed better and try to treat the game like a playoff game.
Lindsay led after the first inning 1-0. Nocona came back in the second inning with two runs scored by RBI singles from Ashlynn Brown and Gwyndelyn Forsyth to take the lead 2-1. The Lady Knights tied the game with one run in the same inning to make it 2-2.
Unfortunately, the next three innings belonged to Lindsay. The Lady Knights scored six runs in the third inning to grab momentum. Lindsay then scored three runs in the fourth inning and one more in the fifth inning to end the game early due to run-rule.
The Lady Knights won 12-2.
Nocona ended with four hits while drawing six walks in the game. Lindsay finished with 11 hits and the Lady Indians committed four fielding errors.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians picked up wins against Era last week to secure their second straight playoff appearance with one more game to play.
The Indians beat the Hornets 12-5 and by run-rule 10-0 after four and half innings.
Nocona was coming off of a tough series against Muenster, losing both games, playing well in one but not the other.
The Indians knew they had a good chance to beat Era if they played up to their potential and they showed it from the first inning in game one.
Nocona rallied off seven runs in the first inning before the Hornets had even bat to put itself in a good situation to possibly end the game early.
The only downside was the Indians were not able to offensively keep up the pressure. Nocona added one run in the seventh inning, two in the sixth and two more in the seventh inning.
Era scored four of its five runs in the final inning to put a bit of a sour note on an Indians win that could have finished stronger as Nocona won 12-5.
Miller Jentry led the team with four RBIs while Walker Murphey and Jayce Lehde each drove in two runs. The team had 16 total hits and drew five walks.
On the mound, RJ Walker pitched three innings and allowed no runs on two hits while striking out seven. The defense committed three fielding errors.
While letting the Hornets off the hook in the first game, Nocona made up for it in game two.
The Indians scored seven runs in one inning again, this time it coming in the second inning. Nocona added three runs the next two innings and shut out Era to secure the win by run-rule after four and half innings. The Indians won 10-0.
Brody Langford and Murphey each drove in two runs each to lead the team. Nocona finished with 10 hits, with four going for extra base hits while Era committed three fielding errors.
On the mound, Walker pitched all five innings and allowed no runs on two hits while striking out eight and walking two. The defense committed two fielding errors.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers lost a tough game at Perrin-Whitt last week, with most of the damage coming in the sixth and final inning.
The Pirates scored eight runs in the sixth inning to win the game one inning early due to run-rule 16-6.
The Panthers were coming off an uplifting win against Bellevue that saw them come back several times the previous week on the road. Saint Jo had played Perrin-Whitt in late March and had lost both games in close fashion so the Panthers hoped this time would be a different outcome for them.
The Pirates scored four runs in the first two innings before Saint Jo answered with three runs scored in the third inning. Perrin-Whitt added one run in the same inning and three in the fourth inning.
The Panthers cut the lead down to two runs after scoring three more runs in the fifth inning, making the score 8-6 heading into the sixth inning.
Unfortunately, Saint Jo had an inning from hell, allowing eight runs on five singles, a triple, two walks and a hit batter. The final run scored ended the game early.
Perrin-Whitt won 16-6.
Charlie Barclay led the team with two RBIs while Devin Stewart, Trent Gaston, Charlie Evans and Rylan Forrester each drove in one run. Saint Jo finished with eight hits and drew seven walks.
Unfortunately, the Panthers gave up 12 hits and walked seven batters while committing two fielding errors.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles only played one game last week due to weather concerns later in the week and lost to Perrin-Whitt.
The Pirates won 15-0 after four innings, winning by run-rule in a game the Eagles hopes to forget.
Bellevue had one from Brycen Bancroft and River Trail drew the only walk in a game where not much went right. Eight fielding errors from the Eagles, eight walks issues and six hits added up really fast.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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