SPORTS
Football Roundup
Nocona
The Nocona Indians had a happy homecoming as they blew out Ponder for their second win.
The Indians won 50-22 in a game they never trailed as both sides of the ball showed what they could do when things went right.
Nocona’s offense took a little bit to get warmed up, but thanks to its defense forcing several three-and-outs, the Indians took the lead with a short run from Willy Salsman to end the first quarter and never looked back.
The short passing game from quarterback Carter Horn was working first for Nocona as the Lions sold out to stop the run. He found receiver Jason Sparkman twice in the second quarter for touchdowns as the Indians built a 20-0 lead at halftime.
The run game opened up in the second half for Nocona as the touchdowns really started to come. The Indians doubled their score in the third quarter alone offensively.
Ponder was able to score on some long passes during the game, but it was not enough to keep up with Nocona as it won 50-22.
Horn passed for 265 yards and three touchdowns while adding one more on the ground. Two went to Sparkman who caught 10 passes for 146 yards. On the ground Chandler Fenoglio led the team with 168 yards and one touchdown while Willy Salsman punched in two from the red zone.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers won their third straight game on Friday to stay undefeated as they beat Throckmorton at home.
While the Greyhounds gave the Panthers their toughest challenge so far this season by extending the game to the fourth quarter, Saint Jo still won by mercy rule 60-14.
The first quarter was competitive as the Panthers just could not get things rolling offensively. The game was tied 6-6 after the first quarter, but Saint Jo established its dominance in the second quarter by scoring 28 points, heading into the locker room leading 34-6.
Throckmorton scored on a big run to start the second half, but the Panthers made sure it did not lead to any momentum from the Greyhounds as the offense continued to score. A touchdown early in the fourth quarter was enough as Saint Jo won 60-14.
Eli Jones led the team with two touchdowns passing and two on the ground as he finished with 146 yards of offense. Logan Brawner led the team with 93 yards rushing on the ground and three touchdowns.
Pepe Gam led the team with three catches for 42 yards and the game ending touchdown catch in the fourth quarter. Gam also intercepted a pass along with Chance Bennnett. Bennett returned his for a touchdown early in the second quarter that Coach Mark Stevens felt was a turning point early in the game.
Forestburg vs Gold-Burg
A district matchup preview was played on Friday as Forestburg hosted Gold-Burg.
The Longhorns got some revenge from last year’s loss to the Bears with its first win in more than a season by the score 75-26.
A scary moment happened in the second half as Gold-Burg’s Will Hodges had to be care-flighted from the field as he sustained a neck injury. Bears Coach Leo Murguia said it was just a precautionary measure since it was a neck injury and that Hodges was able to check out of Cooks Children Medical Center at 4 a.m. with a muscle strain.
Murguia commended the people at Forestburg for how they responded and helped deal with the situation.
“We are small communities that look out for each other,” Murguia said. “When we compete against each other its one thing, but when one of us is hurt its great to see all of us in individual communities banding together and showing care and respect for each other.”
On the field Forestburg’s big Zach Bradley was too much for Gold-Burg as he had more than 400 yards of total offense and 10 touchdowns combined (six passing, four rushing).
Hayden Berry led the team with three touchdown catches while Braxton Osteen had two and Levi Balthrop had one. Tony Smith added one more touchdown on the ground.
The win was the first for Forestburg Coach Trey Cumby, but he chose to see it more as the first for this group of players after not winning last year.
“Winning can be contagious, but losing can get contagious too,” Cumby said. “More than my first head coaching win I think the big thing was to get our guys on the right side of a game and prove that we are a better team than we were after all of the hard work during the summer and in practice.”
Before going down, Hodges led the Bears with 121 yards on the ground and two touchdowns, a touchdown catch and nine tackles on defense. Kani Grace also scored on the ground as well, but it was not enough to keep pace with the Longhorns.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Lady Indians win area round 3-1
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.
SPORTS
Football Roundup
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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