SPORTS
Indians lose tough playoff game
The Nocona Indians were not the biggest tribe on the field Friday night as they lost their bi-district football game Friday night in Mineral Wells against Comanche.
Nocona had their opportunities late in the game after digging themselves a hole early, but Comanche ultimately won 42-30 to end their season.
Early on it did not look good for the home Indians. After driving down and getting themselves a challenging, but makeable 42 yard field goal, a penalty made the kick even harder and Nocona came away with nothing on their opening drive.
Comanche’s run first attack out of the Wing-T, forced into a three and out on their first drive, got things going in a big way by breaking a 57 yard touchdown run to go up 7-0. An interception by the road Indians at the end of the first quarter spelled trouble for Nocona heading into the second quarter.
Comanche methodically ran the ball bit by bit down the field as they scored on their next two drives early in the second quarter to go up 21-0.
The game seemed like it was threatening to get out of hand before Nocona’s offense, who was dormant after their opening drive, started to move the ball with better execution. They drove the ball into Comanche’s red zone where quarterback Carter Horn ran up the middle on a draw from two yards out to cut the score to 21-7 at halftime.
Needing to carry over that momentum to the second half, Nocona’s opening drive looked stalled as a penalty put them in a third and twenty. Horn dropped back and threw the ball deep to the outside and found Hunter Fenoglio, who got behind the corner for a 56-yard touchdown catch. It cut the lead to 21-14 and made it seem like, even with a bad start, the game was winnable for the home Indians.
Unfortunately, Comanche answered. A block in the back brought a kickoff return for a touchdown back, but the ball was still deep in Nocona’s territory. The road Indians offense kept groove up as they ended up scoring from eight yards out to make it a two score 28-14 game.
The home Indians immediately responded as Tyler Richards found a gaping hole on one of their first plays of the series and outran the Comanche defenders for a 74-yard touchdown run. The missed extra point made the score 28-20.
Following the score, Nocona pooch kicked the kickoff to not allow another big return, but Comanche mishandled it and the home Indians recovered the ball. Unfortunately, Nocona could not take advantage of the great field position to score a touchdown, but Fenoglio did make a 38-yard field goal to cut the lead to 28-23 heading into the fourth quarter.
Sill, the road Indians ever steady offense kept rolling as Comanche drove the field and scored on a seven yard run to go back up two scores 35-23. Nocona would not give up as it drove down the field as everything was working offensively at this point. Horn scored again on a two-yard draw to make the score 35-30 midway through the fourth.
There was enough time for at least one more possession if the defense could just get one more stop, but Comanche’s offense kept their level of consistency on point till the very end. The road Indians again drove down the field and scored on a short seven yard run to go up two scores 42-30.
With 2:49 left in the game, Nocona needed to score fast and recover an onside kick if they wanted a chance. They scored on a run that was called back on a hold Coach Brad Keck says he is still looking for on film, but they moved down the field completing big pass plays as they drove all the way down to Comanche’s 14 yard line with a little more than a minute left.
Unfortunately, a free rusher came around the right side and blindsided the quarterback, who fumbled the ball and the road Indians recovered it to ice the game. The ever fighting Nocona Indians who never gave up all season finally saw the writing on the wall as time ran out on their season.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Nocona Indians wrapped up their first playoff berth since 2005 with a dominant win against Chico on Thursday at home.
The Indians won 10-0 in four and half innings due to run-rule to earn the district’s final playoff spot and break a nearly two decade drought.
Nocona was in a similar situation last year after beating Chico in the first game before losing twice more to the Dragons, once in the regular season finale and then in the play-in series.
The Indians won the first game earlier in the week 9-4, but knew they could play better. On Thursday they then proved it.
In the bottom of the first inning, Nocona got the scoring going as Wesley Murphey hit an RBI double. Two batters later, Landon Fatheree drove in two runs with a double.
Konnor Harrington followed with a groundout that scored another run as the Indians led 4-0.
In the second inning, Nocona kept up the pressure. Brody Langford drove in a run with a single. Later with the bases loaded, Caden Belcher was hit by a pitch that scored a run. A later passed ball allowed one more run to score as the Indians extended their lead to 7-0.
Nocona got one more run in the third inning. With the bases loaded, Wesley Murphey grounded into a fielder’s choice out that scored one run to make it 8-0.
The Indians got the final two runs they needed in the fourth inning. Walker Murphey and RJ Walker hit back-to-back RBI singles to put Nocona up 10-0.
Chico needed to score at least one run to prevent the game from ending early due to run-rule. Instead Walker Murphey completed the shutout performance by retiring the next three batters to end the game and the Dragon’s season.
The Indians won 10-0 and earned the district’s final playoff spot.
Wesley Murphey and Fatheree drove in two runs each to lead the team. Walker Murphey led the team with three hits. The team finished with 11 hits and drew six walks.
Walker Murphey also allowed zero runs and one hit while striking out five batters and walking none. The defense behind him committed only one fielding error.
Coach Zach Denson was beyond proud of this team for breaking the playoff drought.
“The amount of growth that they have shown throughout the year has been the most incredible I’ve seen in 13 years of coaching,” Denson said. “We went on a little skid in the middle of the year and that could have derailed our young team, but it actually brought us closer together as a unit.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie Jackrabbits were able to clinch the final playoff spot on Thursday with a senior night home win against Henrietta.
The Jackrabbits won 6-1 in a game where all of the offensive action happened in the first three innings for both teams.
Bowie came into the game needing to win. Failing to do so would mean setting up a series with the Bearcats for the final playoff spot. If the Jackrabbits just took care of business against a team they had already beaten once pretty easily then they could avoid that whole situation.
Henrietta knew it was playing for the future of its season and struck first. A one out double followed by a single two batters later put the Bearcats up 1-0 against Bowie’s top pitcher Edmond De Leon on the mound.
The offense responded in the same inning with a two-out rally. Troy Kesey hit a single and Hayden Rodriguez drew a walk. De Leon then hit a double to drive one run in.
Cooper Hammer was then hit a by a pitch to load the bases up. Rayder Mann then drew a walk that scored one run and the Jackrabbits led 2-1 before the next batter popped up for out three.
Bowie added to that lead in the second inning. Boston Farris led off with a triple. Tucker Jones then hit a groundball to second base that resulted in an error that allowed Farris to score and make it 3-1 for the Jackrabbits.
Bowie then extended the lead in the third inning. Hammer hit a one-out single. Mann and Cy Egenbacher followed with hits that resulted in fielding errors for the Bearcats. The Jackrabbits scored one run on the second error.
Farris then hit a single that drove in another run. After a strikeout, a wild pitch then allowed another runner to score as Bowie was up 6-1. Another strikeout ended the scoring for the Jackrabbits.
The next three and half innings saw neither team score runs, though both had several chances with two runners getting on at times.
Henrietta’s best chance came in the fifth inning with two singles, but De Leon and Bowie’s defense shut that down. De Leon retired the final seven batters he faced as the Jackrabbits won 6-1.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Last week all of the area schools competed in their district’s tennis tournament and several schools had athletes qualify for the regional tournament.
In the end, 10 athletes finished second or better at district to move on for a chance to qualify for state.
Unfortunately, no players from Bowie were able to break through and qualify.
Many faced early seeding opponents from tennis power Vernon that ended their tournament.
The highest finish for a Bowie player was Lily Hodges who placed fourth in girls singles.
From Nocona, one girl was able to break through as Kaygan Stone finished second in girls singles to qualify for regionals.
Stone has had a tough year, dealing with shoulder problems that shortened both her volleyball and basketball seasons, but she bounced back this spring to qualify for regionals in tennis.
Her teammate Melissa Segura was not so lucky, as she finished third in girls singles and just missed the cut, having to settle for an alternate spot
At the 1A tournament, several schools had multiple athletes in one division qualify.
From Saint Jo, last year’s state qualifying girl’s doubles team of Kyler Dunn and Taylor Patrick won the division.
They beat out the second place finisher and their teammates, the girl’s doubles team of Maxey Johnson and Bailey Nobile, who also qualified for regionals.
From Gold-Burg, Jimena Garcia and Alyson Rojas placed first and second in girls singles to move on to the regional tournament.
Other schools only had one team or individual.
From Forestburg, the mixed doubles team of Jesse Wadsworth and Alli Cisneros finished second as they qualified for regionals.
From Prairie Valley, Case Carpenter finished second in the boys singles division.
To read the full story and see pictures of all of the qualifiers, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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