SPORTS
Bowie wins homecoming 42-18
The Bowie Jackrabbits made it a happy homecoming as they took care of Henrietta.
A push in the fourth quarter from the Jackrabbits busted open a close game into a blowout, winning 42-18 thanks in large part to winning the turnover battle.
The first quarter was scoreless as both teams battled for field position as the offenses were struggling to get going. Both were moving the ball in spurts, but in different ways.
Bowie ran the ball with Ty Harris and Devin Melton while the Bearcats threw the ball with short, quick passes.
The Jackrabbits were more effective, but their most successful drive stalled at Henrietta’s 32-yard line right before the game moved into the second quarter where it picked up for both teams.
Bowie’s Colton Covington intercepted a pass and returned it to the Bearcats five-yard line. Harris scored on a short run a few plays later to give the Jackrabbits a 7-0 lead.
Bowie was able to get another drive deep in Henrietta’s territory, covering a fake punt and turning the Bearcat’s over on downs at Henrietta’s own 30-yard line.
Unfortunately, the Jackrabbits could not take advantage as a jump ball pass to the end zone was intercepted by Baron Brown. Bowie’s defense again did not allow the Bearcats to go anywhere and forced a punt. Harris collected the ball at around midfield and returned it down the Jackrabbits’ sideline for a touchdown, making the score 14-0.
Henrietta bounced back with a special team’s play of its own as Reece Essler returned the kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was no good, but it cut the score to 14-6.
Bowie’s next drive went far, but again stalled out deep in Henrietta’s territory on the 14-yard line. The Bearcats were moving the ball well towards midfield and with the recent momentum shift, it was not out of reason to think they were looking like they might tie the score up before halftime came.
The Jackrabbit’s Ryder Richey came through to put an end to that thinking, intercepting a tipped pass and returning it to Henrietta’s 38-yard line. Bowie again took advantage of the defenses turnover as Devin Melton punched the ball in from four yards out to put the Jackrabbits up 21-6.
With less than a minute to play it looked like Bowie was going to head into halftime with good momentum.
Unfortunately, the Bearcats quick pass offense was perfectly suited to move down the field in a short time. The Jackrabbits were worried about giving up the deep ball so were giving a generous cushion. Henrietta took advantage with quick pass after quick pass with receiver able to get out of bounds almost every time.
The Bearcats got into Bowie’s territory before quarterback Braden Bell found Carson Cody. He ran through and around some defenders to score from 34 yards out. The extra point was no good, but Henrietta had cut the lead to 21-12 heading into halftime while giving the Jackrabbits a quick reminder this game was far from over.
The third quarter saw Bowie keep its lead, but not do much else as both offenses struggled to move the ball after halftime adjustments.
The Bearcats got a boost from their special teams again midway through the quarter with a blocked punt that was recovered at the Jackrabbits 17-yard line. From there, Henrietta’s Essler scored on a nine-yard run. Extra points again eluded the Bearcats, but the score was cut 21-18 and the momentum surely on Henrietta’s side.
After a Bowie punt, the Bearcats looked like they were heading in for another touchdown drive to take their first lead of the game. Down at the Jackrabbits 12-yard line, Melton grabbed the Jackrabbits third interception of the game. He took the ball from his own five-yard line all the way to Henrietta’s 12-yard line. Unfortunately, the ball fumbled and the Bearcats recovered.
While Henrietta was no longer on the doorstep to taking the lead, it still felt like the Bearcats had the momentum as the game moved into the fourth quarter. Thankfully, Bowie’s defense had more plays up its sleeves.
Due to miscommunication on a route, Jackrabbits’ cornerback Alan Miranda found the ball thrown directly to him where he intercepted the pass at Henrietta’s own 24-yard line.
After struggling to move the ball all of the third quarter, this short field was almost squandered away as Bowie’s offense had to convert on a fourth and short to keep the drive going. From there, Harris was able to score from one-yard out and put the Jackrabbits back up by two scores 28-18.
The Bearcats drove into Bowie’s territory, but again the Jackrabbits defense bend-but-don’t break act came through again, turning Henrietta on downs at Bowie’s 22-yard line. One play later, Harris again came through with his fourth touchdown on the night, running 78 yards for the score.
With the Jackrabbits lead at 35-18 with five minutes to play, all of the tension of the game seemed to leave as Bowie firmly grabbed hold of the momentum.
After forcing a punt, the Jackrabbits tried a 29-yard field goal that missed. The Bearcats did not move the ball and turned the ball over on downs at their own 15-yard line.
Bowie took advantage, scoring one last time in the final minute as quarterback Colby Miller scored from five-yards out to put the finishing touches on the game as the Jackrabbits won 42-18.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
A solid day was had by Montague county high school tracksters at the State Track and Field Meet May 16 in Austin.
Bellevue’s Mattie Broussard had a pair of second place finishes in both the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.41 and the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:31.33. Broussard also was 4th in the 1,600-meters with a time of 5:22.18.
Her teammate Brylie Hager was 9th in the 110-meter hurdles in 19.93.
Forestburg’s Brenna Briles was 4th in the triple jump with a 35’9 1’2” leap. Her teammate Jocelyn Rich was 4th in the pole vault with a 9’ leap.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Bowie had a pair of top four finishes at the State Track and Field Meet May 14.
Sophomore Brayden Willett made it onto the medal stand, finishing 3rd in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:17.89. Bowie junior Tyler Richey finished 4th in the pole vault after a 14’6” effort.
The top two finishers from Holliday, also in Bowie’s district, celebrated with him after he crossed the finish line.
“It was kind of surprising,” Willett said about Ryder and Noah Stroman embracing him in a celebratory hug. “They’re good guys, so it was kind of cool.”
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
This past week found your outdoor scribe doing some rather mundane things such as yard work, vegetable gardening and repairs around the old cabin. Oh, I also wrapped up a couple of magazine articles. I always enjoy sharing my adventures with all of you in this column but to be perfectly honest, not nearly as much as my ‘field work’ hunting and fishing which is an iatrical part of any good outdoor column. If you’re like me, you much prefer reading about an adventure that you can also partake.
I am far more comfortable telling you about an outdoor experience I had firsthand knowledge of rather than the reporting part of my job as an outdoor communicator. So, this week, I’d do a bit of ‘reporting’ and share some planned adventures I have scheduled for the next couple weeks. By the time you’re reading this, I will have already been in the woods in quest of a fat ‘eater’ hog and probably have some freshly caught blue catfish fillets in the freezer, details will follow in the next couple of weeks.
I’ll kick things off early in the week heading down to my friend Jeff Rice’s Buck and Bass Ranch located on the upper end of Lake Fork. Jeff produces our weekly TV show “A Sportsman’s Life” which airs on Carbon TV and YouTube. Our plan is to film a segment of our show on stalking wild hogs. It will be a challenge to capture the shot with all the thick grown spring vegetation. It could happen fast and require a fast shot. We will be breaking in my CVA Cascade scout rifle in 308 caliber. This short barrel little rifle is light and easy to handle in thick cover, ideal for this type of hunting. Our plan is to hit the woods during the last couple hours of daylight and ease along the trails, watching and especially listening for hogs. Wild porkers are vocal critters and it’s common to hear them before seeing them. We will play the wind and attempt to get downwind and then close the distance for a shot but you can never guess how a hog hunt will unfold. Wild pork or not, Jeff and I always have a great time together and I plan to bring a side of wild pork ribs already slow smoked and covered in brown sugar and BBQ sauce with a side of camp baked beans!
After a tasty dinner we plan to get a good night’s sleep and head out the next morning for a planned fishing trip with guide David Hanson at Lake Tawakoni. Both channel and blue catfish are on a very good bite right but it’s hard to pass up those snow white blue catfish fillets when the bite is good. David is, to my knowledge, the most veteran catfish guide on the lake and became friends close to a quarter-century ago when we first began fishing
together. The plan is to use freshy cut shad in shallow water and target eater size blues weighing between 2 and about 10 pounds but as every catfish angler knows, it’s always possible to connect with a big trophy size blue when fishing Tawakoni.
Next week, I plan to join my long-time friend J.C. McCollough on the Red River below the Texoma dam. I’ve been fishing and hunting with J.C. for many years and look forward to getting with him again. I would describe this to catching big catfish in a barrel but in this case the deep holes in the river are comprised of several acres. The water level in the river below Texoma are dictated by the water release at the dam by the Corp of Engineers. When there is a current in the river, fish move upstream to feed on baitfish coming through the dam. When the water recedes, they fish move into the deeper holes where baitfish also seek refuge from the falling water. Catching will be fast paced with the chance to connect with some big fish as well as limits of “eater” size fish. We’ll be rigging with big live gizzard shad fished weightless on a free line, using medium spinning gear. The bigger fish will often nail the frisky live shad and the fresh cut bait is a sure way to connect with lots of smaller fish. There is something very exciting about fishing big live baits on a slack line. One minute your bait will be darting around and you will occasionally feel it taking up slack and the next when a big blue catfish grabs the bait, the rod will bow and the fight will be on. There is usually no ‘setting the hook’, by the time you feel the fish, it will already be hooked and making a strong run to the nearest submerged brush. Your job will be to keep the drag set just enough to keep pressure on the fish but not so much as to cause the line to break.
J.C. uses his airboat to access these deeper holes because of the very shallow water. While it’s not impossible to portage a kayak or small boat in the river, it often requires a few miles travel to get to these deep holes, this is best accomplished by experienced kayakers with plenty of endurance. There was a time when I was game for this type fishing but I much prefer to do my river fishing these days from a boat designed to negotiate the shallow waters.
Squirrel season is underway in many of the east Texas counties and there’s some pretty good fox squirrel hunting here close to home in Kaufman county and I’ve been thinking about how tasty a big skillet of smothered squirrel with rice, gravy and biscuits would be. Bream are on the beds now and my friend Edgar Cotton invited me to come do some ‘perch jerking’ with him and his son David-it’s in the plans! Well, hopefully next week I will have a ‘sure nuff’ adventure of two to relate you you-I’m ready to get some relief from all this work around the homeplace! LC
You can contact Tawakoni/Fork catfish guide David Hanson at 902-268-7391. Contact J.C. McCollough at 580-372-0320.
Listen to Luke’s podcast, “Catfish Radio” just about everywhere podcast are found.
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