SPORTS
Bowie gives Brock its best shot
It was always going to possibly be the toughest game of the year for the Bowie Jackrabbits, and despite losing their opening district game against state-ranked Brock, they came out of the game with more hope than anything.
Bowie got off to an inspired start, but it did not last as the Eagles outplayed them the rest of the game on their way to a 31-13 win. With the Jackrabbits having been outscored by Brock 115-6 combined the previous two seasons, the deficit does not ring as bad as many expected.
Bowie exploded on their opening possession as running back Ty Harris ran up the middle and down the left sideline for a 60-yard touchdown run. They missed the two-point conversion, but they were up 6-0 against the Eagles.
Brock’s ever effective wishbone offense grinded its way down the field against the Jackrabbits. As the Eagles neared Bowie’s red zone, the Jackrabbit defense held its own and forced a turnover on downs on their own 13-yard line to keep Brock out of the end zone.
It seemed like the picture perfect first quarter for Bowie trying to pull an upset until they fumbled the ball on their own 40-yard line right before the quarter ended. Still, not many people in the area thought the Jackrabbits would have the lead at any point during the game, let alone at the end of a quarter.
The Eagles rumbled down the field a bit at a time, picking up some big plays here and there, but mostly just consistently picking up positive yards to keep the chains moving with runs.
Brock’s Toby Morrison scored from four yards out and with the made extra point, the Eagles led 7-6 early in the second quarter.
Hope was not lost for Bowie. They had moved the ball well enough before their big scoring play, mostly through short passes and direct snap runs to Harris with the defense spread out, to know that if they executed their offense to perfection they could score again to take back the lead.
Unfortunately, the Jackrabbits threw an interception to one of Brock’s lineman, who read the screen pass perfectly and returned into Bowe’s territory. A couple plays later Morrison broke through for his biggest run of the game so far, scoring from 32 yards out to put the Eagles up 14-6.
The Jackrabbits were able to drive into Brock’s territory on their next drive after picking up several first downs. They were stopped on fourth down on the Eagle’s 29 yard line. With the momentum switched, it looked like Brock was going to be able to score once more before the half to make it a two-score game.
Fortunately, Bowie was able to stop Brock’s offense and force them to punt with a little more than a minute left. The Jackrabbits were able to make some big plays to move the ball within scoring distance to the Eagle’s 32 yard line. Just outside field goal range, Bowie chucked the ball up Hail Mary style as the half ended, but no one came down with the ball. The Jackrabbits went into halftime trailing 14-6.
With their last two drives only stalling deep in Brock’s territory and their defense stopping the Eagle’s rushing attack two out of four chances in the first half, Bowie still felt like they had a chance coming out for the second half, especially with the score still being so close.
The Eagles received the ball to start the second and drove the ball inside of the Jackrabbit’s 10-yard line. Bowie’s defense bowed up and forced a fourth and goal and Brock elected to kick a short field goal to make the score 17-6.
The Jackrabbits responded with another successful offensive drive, powered by a big run from Harris deep into the Eagle’s territory. Unfortunately, Bowie’s drive again stalled outside of field goal range as they turned the ball over at Brock’s 25 yard line.
The Eagles did not take long to take full control of the game as Morrison broke free for his longest run of the game for a 62-yard touchdown run to put Brock up 24-6 heading into the fourth quarter.
Things did not get better for Bowie. Their offense went nowhere and was forced to punt, but their defense also forced the Eagles into their first punt of the game. Brock’s punter shanked the punt off the side of his foot and it went much shorter than it was expected and it was outside of the Eagles kick coverage.
The Jackrabbit’s returner made a gamble to try and return it off the bounce as the coverage from Brock was disorganized due to the shank, but fumbled the ball trying to gather it, allowing the Eagles to recover the ball near midfield. The next play saw Morrison score on a 48-yard touchdown run to put Brock up 31-6 with most of the fourth quarter still to play.
For most outside observers, it was worrying to think how much worse the score would get for Bowie now that it seemed everything was going wrong, and it seemed likely the Jackrabbits would submit to the inevitable.
Fortunately, Bowie was not done trying to compete. After both team’s exchanged punts, it was the Eagle’s turn to muff a punt, with the Jackrabbit’s Joey Crawford recovering the fumble deep in Brock’s territory.
Bowie had been trying to take advantage of their two tall outside receivers all night in Jed Castles and Boo Oakley by throwing fades to them all night. Despite some pass interference calls, they had not been too affective until the Jackrabbit’s Payton Price threw one to Oakley from 15 yards out for a touchdown to cut the lead to 31-13.
The defense forced one more turnover on downs deep in their territory for good measure to show they had not given up even late in the game, but there would be no magic comeback for Bowie.
To read the full story, including the full stat sheet, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Nocona Lady Indians played their final game of the regular season with a drubbing of Alvord at home.
The Lady Indians won 11-1 after six innings due to run-rule to end their season on a positive note despite no playoffs.
The game was rescheduled from last week due to weather.
Nocona was coming off a tough loss against Muenster the previous game, but knew it had a chance against Alvord after beating the Lady Bulldogs 6-4 in the first game.
The game started slow, but the Lady Indians got the lead with one run in the first inning. Alvord answered with one run in the third inning before Nocona retook the lead and never let it go.
The Lady Indians scored three runs in the third inning, two in the fourth, three in the fifth and the final two in the sixth inning to end the game on Charity Claxton’s sacrifice bunt that scored the last run.
Nocona won 11-1.
Coach Nolan Lanham thought it was the most complete game the team had played all season.
While he is sad this year’s season is complete, he is excited about what the team accomplished this year and what it can build off of it in the coming years.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians won their first game against Chico on Tuesday night to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Indians won 9-4 against the Dragons.
Nocona was coming into the game after a close, low-scoring series against Perrin-Whitt that saw the Indians win one game and lose another.
The Indians took an early lead with Brody Langford driving in a run on a single. Chico answered with two runs in the same inning to take back the lead 2-1.
The teams exchanged runs in the next four innings.
Nocona tied the score at 2-2 in the second inning when RJ Walker hit a sacrifice fly ball deep enough to score one run. The Dragons took the back the lead with an RBI double in the third inning to make it 3-2.
The Indians again tied the score in the fourth inning when Langford hit into a fielder’s choice out with the bases loaded. Once again, Chico retook the lead in the fifth inning, also scoring on a fielder’s choice groundout to go up 4-3.
After a scoreless sixth inning, Nocona was down to its final three outs of the game.
With two runners on base and two outs and looking at a full-count, Caden Belcher came through for the Indians with a base hit. It scored the tying run and the second runner was waived home and had a chance to score the game’s winning run. He was just tagged out for out three, but not before Nocona had tied the score at 4-4.
Chico loaded the bases up with one out in the seventh inning, but Wesley Murphey stepped up and struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam scot free and force the game into extra-innings.
Nocona was still reeling from the momentum of the last inning and it came through in the eighth inning.
With two runners on base and two outs, the Indians started a two-out rally with Wesley Murphey hitting a triple that brought both runners home to score.
Langford followed with a single that drove in one run. Following another single, Konnor Harrington hit a single that drove in another run. Following a walk that loaded the bases, a passed ball allowed Nocona to score another run.
The Indians more than doubled their seven inning total, scoring five runs and leading 9-4.
Wesley Murphey and the defense then closed the door, striking out the first batter before inducing groundouts to shortstop and second base for outs two and three to end the game.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers played their final regular season series in a double-header on Tuesday against Lindsay.
The bigger Knights won both games by run-rule, 12-2 after six innings and 15-2 after five innings.
Saint Jo had last played a week ago in a double-header against Muenster’s JV and varsity teams. The Panthers competed well with the JV team, but struggled more against the varsity team.
Lindsay had no JV team so Saint Jo had to play the 2A school twice and hoped it could compete.
The Knights got off to a fast start in game one, scoring seven runs in the first inning and never looking back.
The Panther defense played better from then on, never allowing Lindsay to score more than two runs in an inning and even holding the Knights scoreless in two innings.
Saint Jo was able to score in the fifth inning when the team loaded the bases and drew two walks to score two runs.
That was enough to keep the game from ending after five innings, but Lindsay scored two runs in the sixth inning to end the game early with the score 12-2.
The second game saw Lindsay score at least one run in every inning, highlighted by seven in the second inning.
Saint Jo scored two runs in the fourth inning. Charlie Evans hit an RBI double. Later he scored on the base paths after Lindsay failed to prevent a stolen base elsewhere.
The game ended after five innings with the Knights winning 15-2.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles lost its final regular season game against Alvord on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs won 22-0 after four innings due to run-rule.
Bellevue knew it was going to be tough competing against a bigger school, but was hoping to compete.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs came through and scored 14 runs in the first inning to suck any momentum from the Eagles before they had even had a chance to bat.
Bellevue prevented Alvord from scoring in the second inning, but not the third or fourth innings.
The Eagle bats did not have much luck scoring any runs as the Bulldogs won 22-0 after four innings.
Bryce Ramsey and Blake Reese got the only two hits for Bellevue in the game. Alvord racked up 15 hits, drew nine walks and were hit by five pitches which led to all of the runs.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers won their playoff one-game series against Perrin-Whitt on Wednesday afternoon.
The Lady Panthers stomped the Lady Pirates 16-1 after three innings by run-rule to advance in the playoffs.
Saint Jo was coming into the playoffs after a tough regular season. The Lady Panthers won their first game of the season, but struggled the rest of the way due to injuries, the busyness of spring and because most of their opponents were larger 2A schools.
Finally playing a school their own size while having more than a week from its last game to prepare to get everyone more healthy and focused paid dividends on Wednesday against Perrin-Whitt.
Saint Jo has struggled with its pitching and aspects of its defense, but its ability to score runs when locked in has been documented this year.
In four of its 10 games this season, the team has scored 13 or more runs in high scoring affairs.
Starting out hitting in the top of the first allowed the Lady Panthers to start out strong against the Lady Pirates team that had their own problem with pitching and defense.
Maxey Johnson drove in the team’s first run on a bunt that she somehow stretched into a double. Later she and Jordyn O’Neal would score on wild pitches to put Saint Jo up 3-0.
While the team was hit by two pitches and drew a walk during the inning, a surprising double-play from Perrin-Whitt ended the Lady Panthers scoring start to the game.
Pitcher Johnson has struggled through injuries this season, but started great on the mound. Her first pitch thrown was lined out right to the shortstop for an out. She then struck out the next two batters to keep Saint Jo’s momentum going heading into the second inning which would break the game open.
Nevaeh Spann led off with a single and Tatum Morman followed with a double.
After the next batter loaded the bases up with a drawn walk, the next two batters were hit by pitches while the following drew a walk to drive in three runs.
In between another batter getting hit by a pitch and another drawn walk scoring two more runs were a strikeout and fly out to the pitcher.
Morman was then up again for the second time in the inning and hit a double to left field to drive in two runs. Saint Jo earned one more run in the inning on a wild pitch before a strikeout ended the scoreathon. The Lady Panthers had scored eight runs in the inning and now led 11-0.
The Lady Pirates were able to get some offense going in retaliation. A leadoff walk would come back to bite Saint Jo.
Johnson struck out the next batter and fielded a pop up for out two. After a walk put another baserunner on, a fly ball to center field resulted in an error that allowed one run to score for Perrin-Whitt.
The Lady Panthers put out the fire before it could grow out of control. The next batter hit a groundball that was easily fielded by Johnson who tossed her out at first base.
Up 11-1 entering the third inning, Saint Jo hitters were getting inpatient just sitting idly by for good pitches to it after drawing so many walks and being hit by pitches. They started to take more chances and put the ball in play.
Two singles led off the inning for the Lady Panthers. O’Neal then grounded out to third base, but it drove in one run. Aubrey Morman followed with an RBI single.
Following a hit, Saint Jo would draw three walks in a row. However, the Lady Panthers scored three more runs thanks to wild pitches to grow their lead to the limit of the run-rule before a strikeout ended the offensive onslaught.
Heading into the bottom of the third inning and up 16-1, Saint Jo had to not let Perrin-Whitt score at all to end the game early.
The Lady Pirates got their leadoff hitter on base again, this time thanks to an error on a fly ball in the outfield that got the runner on second base.
The baserunner would then successfully steal third base and was in perfect position to score on any contact hit or wild pitch.
Johnson was not fazed and induced a weak pop up to the catcher for out one. Johnson then struck out the next batter four out two.
The final batter then grounded out to second base for out three to end the game.
Saint Jo won 16-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
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