SPORTS
Falls Town Flyers lose rematch with Amarillo 8-3
In a rematch against an Amarillo Bombers team that beat them in their opening game a few weeks back, the Football Club Wichita Falls Falls Town Flyers could not get revenge on Saturday despite a home crowd backing them.
In a physical game where the Flyers were trailing the whole time, the Bombers pulled away in the final 12 minutes to win 8-3.
The first period belonged to Amarillo. The Bombers scored two goals within two minutes of each other in the first 10 minutes to go up 2-0. Wichita Falls was able to get some shots on goal, but these shots were either off the mark or went right to Amarillo’s goalie.
The Bombers seemed to dominate possession and create more passing opportunities closer to the goal than just unloading a shot when they got in range. The two goals came from unexpected angles and off of great passes.
The Flyers’ defense and goalie Carolos Gonzalez fended off many more chances Amarillo had, with especially great plays from defenders Ralph Annam and captain Robert Swann.
The second period saw Wichita Falls put a bit more pressure on the Bombers, who liked to give their goalie a chance to dribble far up before trying to drop in a deep pass in Flyers territory.
For a time it worked and with that renewed energy, Wichita Falls capitalized with a scramble in front of the goal that ended with the ball in the back of Amarillo’s net. Chris Mendez scored on the play to cut the lead to 2-1. Scored within the first five minutes of the second period, it looked like momentum might swing Wichita Falls way.
The rest of the period played out in a defensive struggle. The Flyers could not keep up that defensive pressure for long and the Bombers went back to their slow methodical pace of controlling possession.
Great defensive plays from both teams kept the ball out of goal for the rest of the period, until Amarillo snuck in a goal in the final minute before halftime to get the lead back up to two goals. Wichita Falls trailed 3-1.
Things did not seem to get much better to start the third period after a 20 minutes halftime. The Bombers scored within the opening few minutes to increase their lead to 4-1.
Still the Flyers played hard. In only its second home game of the season, and with many families with young kids at the game thanks to a free two-hour kids camp hosted earlier that day, Wichita Falls played for them.
Great defensive plays kept the score close for the Flyers. Hard shots on goal went wide. Both teams conditioning was tested as the game dragged on. Some life for Wichita Falls came from former Wichita Falls High School player Pedro Reza in the final minute of the period.
Dribbling up from the left side with a defender between him and the goal playing off of him, Reza took a shot. It deflected off the defender and the sudden change in direction was enough to trip up the goalie as the ball found the back of the net. The Flyers trailed 4-2 heading into the fourth and final period.
The physical play and frustration from both teams started to peak early in the period. After a take down a Bombers’ player was sent to the penalty box for two minutes to give Wichita Falls a one player advantage.
The Flyers did not capitalize in those two minutes, but a few minutes later former WFHS player Alex Ramirez passed to former Rider High School player Christian Okeke, who put the ball in the back of the net just before being converged on by both a defender and the goalkeeper. The score cut the lead to 4-3 with plenty of time still to play.
With Amarillo a player down after getting penalized again for two minutes shortly afterwards and the crowd behind them, the Flyers were riding on momentum.
Wichita Falls could not take advantage of its extra man during the two minutes as they still trailed by one goal. Still aggressively pressing with less than 10 minutes to go in the game, the Bombers countered and created a two on one scenario they scored on to go up 5-3.
This seemed to open the floodgates as Amarillo scored three more times in the final six minutes, doubling its score to make the final score 8-3 misleading.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
It was announced last week Nocona Athletic director/football coach Blake Crutsinger is resigning from his position at the school after serving four years.
Crutsinger said now is the time for his family to make the move, with his daughter Avery graduating after spending four years at Nocona and with his son Kellar about to enter high school and wanting the same for him at another school.
“With her going off to college, she had a really good four years here and just looking at Keller heading into high school and exploring some opportunities that might be better for him, it is just time,” Crutsinger said.
Crutsinger went 19-22 overall, helping the Indians to two playoff appearances in 2022 and 2023. The team’s best season was 2023, when it went 8-2 and won the district title, the first one in 11 years for the program.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
Saint Jo senior Payzlie Cervantes signed her letter of intent to play college basketball last week at Highland College in Kansas. She also played volleyball, softball and ran track at Saint Jo. “After talking with Coach Tana Coleman, I really connected with her and loved the campus vibe and direction she wants for the team,” Cervantes said. “I’m looking forward to continuing my basketball career while getting my associates degree in nursing to become a registered nurse.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
Last week Montague County had five girls from Bowie and Saint Jo compete at the state tennis tournament, and one team brought back some hardware.
Sisters from Bowie, junior Heidi and freshman Willow Siebert brought back a bronze medal competing in the 3A girl’s doubles bracket.
The pair were the first people from the program to make it back to state since their half sisters, Meagan and Myah Russell, advanced nine years previously.
The Sieberts came into state as a two-seed, having finished second at the regional tournament the previous week.
The duo was ready as they blew through their first two matches. They beat a team from Hondo in the first round with the scores being 6-1, 6-1 and dominated even more in the second round against a team from Tatum, winning 6-0, 6-1.
That got them through to the second day of the tournament, but Coach Dayna Boothe was worried they had had it too easy on day one.
Playing in the semifinals, the Lady Rabbits faced a familiar foe, a team from Peaster they had beaten in the regional tournament the previous week. Unfortunately, near the end of the first set, with the Sieberts fighting to stay alive, Heidi went after a high lob and slammed into the fence. She hurt her right arm and had to play through it for the rest of the match.
They lost the match with the scores being 6-3, 6-3.
It was an all Peaster final, with the other side of the bracket producing the team that both beat the Sieberts at the regional tournament and won their second straight state title.
Still, despite the disappointment, Bowie is bringing back a bronze medal. According to Boothe, after contacting people who would know dating back to the late 1970s, it could possibly be the program’s first medals from the state tournament in tennis.
Of course, Bowie was not the only school represented. Saint Jo had Taylor Patrick competing in girl’s singles and the team of Bailie Nobile and Maxey Johnson competing in girl’s doubles in the 1A classification.
Senior Patrick was making her third appearance at the state tournament, but her first in the singles competition.
She finished third at the regional meet which meant she had a tough first round matchup against a second seed from Fort Davis.
It took everything from Patrick in a match that lasted two and a half hours. She went down in the first set 6-2, but rebounded in a tight second set to win 6-4 to force a third and final set. She had the momentum and won 6-2 to move on.
She had to summon the energy to play later that day against a fresh one-seed player from Utopia. Patrick lost 6-1, 6-1 to end her Saint Jo career. Her opponent would go on to finish second.
Juniors Johnson and Nobile were making their first appearances at the state meet after finishing second at the regional tournament. In the first round they played a tough match against a team from Marathon. It seemed evenly matched throughout, but small mistakes at inopportune times cost them throughout the match. In the end, the team lost by the scores of 6-3, 6-3.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
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