SPORTS
Bowie falls short against Godley
Things did not go the Bowie Jackrabbits way Friday night as they lost their home opener to Godley.
Despite a valiant second half comeback, the Jackrabbits ran out of steam down the stretch as the Wildcats won 27-13.
Things did not start off good for Bowie. After stopping Godley on their first drive, the Jackrabbits established a solid ground attack they would be able to sustain for the rest of the game. Unfortunately, one penalty got them behind the sticks and they could not convert after that in a trend that would follow for most of the game.
After a punt into the end zone the Wildcats, who ran a wildcat type of offense that featured a lot of direct snaps to a lone runner for most of the game, did some misdirection in the backfield that allowed Brenen Hawkins to get behind Bowie’s secondary to score a 67 yard touchdown catch to go up 7-0.
The Jackrabbits responded with another solid drive featuring the running game, driving down in the Wildcats territory. Unfortunately another penalty put Bowie in a difficult third and long situation and needing to complete a pass.
Godley brought pressure and the pass was intercepted by the Wildcats Ian Mapes, who returned it 82 yards for a touchdown. A missed extra point put Godley up 13-0 heading into the second quarter.
There were moments in the second quarter that looked like the Jackrabbits could turn the game around. The defense recovered a fumble deep in Godley’s territory. The offense got the ball within the Wildcats redzone, but another penalty put the ball back on the 22 yard line where Bowie turned the ball over on downs with just over three minutes remaining.
Godley made some big plays offensively to move the ball inside of Bowie’s 10 yard line with plenty of time and time outs left to score before the half. The Jackrabbit defense held up and prevented any other score before the half as they went into the locker room still trailing 13-0.
Bowie was on offense to start the second half. Needing to start the half right after blowing several chances in the first half, quarterback Payton Price kept the ball on a zone read play and found a seam as he broke away from the defense to score on a 59 yard touchdown run. The extra point cut the lead to 13-7.
The Jackrabbits defense continued to play well against Godley’s rushing attack, bending but not breaking for most of the game. Bowie’s offense got the ball again and drove down the field on the strength of running the ball with Ty Harris and Jacob Skinner.
The Jackrabbits threw some short bubble screens to receiver Jed Castles and Joey Crawford to keep the Wildcats defense honest on the outside.
As they drove the field, Price put a ball to the six-foot-six-inch Castles in the end zone. Godley’s corner got too physical and a pass interference penalty was called on the play. This put the ball on the Wildcat’s five yard line.
A few plays later, a direct snap to Harris burst through from four yards out as Bowie scored. Unfortunately, they too missed the extra point and the game was tied 13-13 heading into the fourth quarter.
With momentum gained, the Bowie sideline was confident it was only going to be a matter of time before they took control of the lead.
Godley tried to respond and ran into some of the same problems the Jackrabbits were, gaining a decent amount of yards on most runs, but not enough to overcome a penalty. The Wildcats were in Bowie’s territory, but out of reach for a field goal featuring a third and long.
Godley’s quarterback threw a ball to the inside receiver up the seam and right in front of the safety, but it was a little high. The receiver went up to catch the pass right before the Jackrabbits safety put a good hit on him, trying to jar the ball lose. The receiver held on and the ball was now inside Bowie’s 15-yard line.
After that, it just seemed like a matter of time before the Wildcats would score, which they did as Mapes scored on a 5-yard run to give Godley a 20-13 lead.
Still, Bowie had almost 10 minutes to respond back and regain control of some of the momentum they lost. The Jackrabbits moved the ball to midfield and featured a short fourth and one conversion. Having gotten a good push up front all night, Bowie was sure they would get it to prevent the Wildcats from running any more clock. Unfortunately, the Jackrabbits were stopped short and turned the ball over on downs at midfield with 6:30 left to play.
Bowie did give itself another chance. The defense allowed minimal time to run off the clock and forced a punt. The offense got the ball back with 4:28 left and one time out and had the ball on their own 16 yard line. These were good amounts of time for an offense if they had a bit of urgency to go the length of the field to tie or possibly win the game.
Things never got that far. After a few first downs, the Jackrabbits fumbled the ball on their own 33-yard line with 3:45 left to play.
Things seemed to deflate from there. Godley scored on another short touchdown run to go up by two score 27-13. In a desperate attempt, Bowie tried to get some down the field up tempo throws going, but the Wildcats intercepted another pass with 1:29 left in the game to seal the deal.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Nocona Lady Indians won their area round playoff match on Saturday at Weatherford beating a tough Hawley team.
The Lady Indians won 3-1 against the Lady Cats in a match where three of the four sets were won with little drama.
Nocona was confident heading into the match after easily defeating Seymour while Hawley had nearly been defeated in its previous match that went five sets. Still, the Lady Cats were a 30 win team and a district champion as well.
The first set proved to be the closest of the match and it could have gone either way. In the end it was the Lady Indians that executed at the end to win 25-23 to take the early lead.
Nocona then parlayed that win into the start of set two where it took control and never let go.
The Lady Indians won with a lot more wiggle room 25-16 to take firm control 2-0 and it looking like it might be a short match.
Hawley was not going to go down like that though. The Lady Cats came out with their backs against the wall in set three. Nocona was a little less intense being up and it allowed Hawley to grab control.
The Lady Indians were playing from behind and could never make up the difference as the Lady Cats won 25-15 to cut the lead to 2-1.
Having given Hawley hope it could turn the match around, it was important Nocona start set four playing well to not allow the Lady Cats a chance to come back.
Nocona played well with an early lead and pulled away to win 25-16, winning with little drama 3-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers came up just short on senior night against district rival Union Hill on Friday for the district title.
The Bulldogs won 40-32 to take their third straight district championship, with the Panthers finishing runners-up as a result as well.
It looked like this year would be Saint Jo’s year. The Panthers came into the game undefeated at 9-0, had won three close games along the way, with one of the wins coming against a Perrin-Whitt team that beat Union Hill earlier in the season by several scores.
The Bulldogs were 7-2, but had a younger nucleus than in years past. Combined with the two and half hour drive to Saint Jo, the Panthers wealth of senior talent playing in front of its home fans and the team playing better every week, all signs were pointing to Saint Jo getting some pay back.
Instead it was Union Hill that started out on top, leading 26-12 at halftime. The Panthers cut the lead to one score multiple times, but could not come back to tie or take the lead at any point.
The wet weather made throwing the ball more difficult for Saint Jo which did not help. The Panthers had one last opportunity at the end of the game to tie the game up with a touchdown, but did not come through.
The Bulldogs held on to win 40-32.
Devin Stewart completed four passes for 60 yards and one touchdown, which went to Wade Lucas on a 40-yard touchdown pass. On the ground, Stewart led the team with 127 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Lucas was second with 51 yards rushing and scored one rushing touchdown as well.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians’ tough season ended in a rough manner at district champion Tioga last week.
The Bulldogs won 62-0 against the Indians.
Nocona knew the game was going to be tough, having struggled scoring on offense during district play while Tioga had scored 34 or more points in its undefeated district run.
The Bulldogs passed the ball heavily out of the shotgun formation and it proved too much for the young Indians team.
Logan Gaston led the team with 47 yards rushing and had a team high nine tackles. Kasch Johnson forced a fumble and Walker Murphey recovered it as well.
Forestburg
The Forestburg Longhorns came up short at Fannindel on Thursday night as they missed the playoffs.
The Falcons won 43-26 against the Longhorns to earn the district’s final playoff spot as Forestburg’s season ends.
Coming into the season there was talk about how it was going to be a down year for Fannindel since the team had young players and some trouble finding a coach.
Then the Longhorns had to deal with a season full of things like injuries to key players, players leaving and reappearing, an assistant coach that resigned and more.
A team at the start of the season that had the most depth it has had in any recent years ended the season with eight players.
The Falcons actually came into the game with the better record at 4-5 to Forestburg’s 2-7, but the Longhorns still felt like they could come through.
The first half saw Forestburg’s defense make Fannindel earn every point. The Longhorns offense struggled despite playing their cleanest game of the season, but scored once as Jesus Sanchez found Tristan Cumby for a 14-yard touchdown.
Forestburg trailed only 19-6 at halftime.
The Longhorns then got a boost when Aiden White returned an interception for a touchdown to cut the lead down to one score 19-12 to start the second half.
Unfortunately, the Falcons were able to bust four long touchdown runs in the second half which grew their lead.
Forestburg could not keep up. It did score twice more as John Carranza found White for a 10-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. To end the game, Jesus Sanchez scored on a nine-yard run.
It made the final score 43-26 in favor of Fannindel.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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