SPORTS
Bowie loses heartbreaker 22-15 against Bridgeport
The Bowie Jackrabbits had their first home football game on Friday night hosting Bridgeport in a game that went down to the wire.
Unfortunately, the Jackrabbits came out on the wrong side losing 22-15 as the Bulls pulled ahead midway through the fourth quarter. Bowie gave itself a chance to tie or take the lead as the game wound down, but came up short.
The Jackrabbits started the game on the right foot. The defense recovered a botched handoff exchange as Ryder Richey fell on the ball near midfield on Bridgeport’s first offensive possession.
The offense then drove down the field and the drive ended in glory as running back Ty Harris scored from a couple of yards out. The extra point put Bowie up 7-0.
The Jackrabbits great start continued, especially for Harris. On the Bulls next possession, a ball thrown deep down the middle was snagged by Harris from his safety position near midfield.
Bowie’s sideline was fired up and looked poised to turn this turnover into points as well as it drove into Bridgeport territory.
Unfortunately, with the first quarter winding down, momentum swung the other way. Bridgeport’s Chris Pritchard intercepted a pass and took it 70 yards for a touchdown. The extra point tied the score at 7-7 and the whole mood of the game shifted as the second quarter started.
Both teams continued to have some success moving the ball mostly through running the ball, but penalties and negative plays stalled drives. The Bulls broke through with a successful drive as Pritchard powered his way in from eight yards out. A successful two-point conversion had Bridgeport up 15-7.
After the Jackrabbits offense went nowhere and gave the ball back to the Bulls, Bowie’s defense got a big stop on fourth down near midfield. With a little less than two minutes before halftime, the Jackrabbits had a chance to score but nothing came of it as the quarter wound down.
The third quarter was a stalemate as both team’s defenses came up with stops struggling to fully shut down either’s rushing attacks. Bridgeport forced a turnover on downs at its own 25 yard line and Bowie’s Jake Fallis recovered a bobbled snap near midfield as the quarter was winding down.
The Jackrabbits were moving the ball well into the Bull’s red zone as the fourth quarter started. From there Harris scored from seven yards out 11 minutes still to play. Bowie tied the score 15-15 with a good two-point conversion as Colby Miller found Richey.
Bridgeport responded on its next drive. Deep in Jackrabbit’s territory, Bowie’s defense looked like it might come up with a stop. The Bulls faced a fourth and 11 inside the Jackrabbits 30-yard line, but still too far away for a field goal attempt.
Bridgeport converted as it completed a pass to the slot receiver over the middle for a first down. A few plays later quarterback Mason McComis completed a swing pass out to the right side to Pritchard. Two Bowie defenders tried to meet him at the goal line, but could not keep him out of the end zone. The extra point made the score 22-15.
There was still time left (6:16) for the Jackrabbits to respond. Unfortunately, Bowie’s next possession went nowhere and the Jackrabbits had to punt the ball away. The defense did its job and got the ball back, but time and time outs were not plentiful.
Bowie still moved the ball into Bridgeport’s territory to just inside the 30 yard line, but faced a fourth and long conversion. The Jackrabbits put up a desperate pass to try and allow their receiver to make a play or get a penalty called, but the Bull’s Garrett Hudson came down with the interception on his own five yard line. With 1:22 left in the game, Bridgeport was able to ice the game, kneeling the ball down until time ran out.
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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