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Panthers win bi-district 74-38

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The Saint Jo Panthers won their bi-district playoff game on Thursday night against Leverett’s Chapel.
The Panthers won 74-38 in a game with little drama outside of an injury scare after Saint Jo took a two touchdown lead into the second quarter.
With the Panthers last regular season game against Perrin-Whitt being forfeited due to COVID-19 from the Pirates, Saint Jo came into the game fresh.
The Panthers opening drive of the game saw them gain consistent but small amounts of yards on running plays. They had to convert a fourth down before running back Logan Brawner finally got loose for a 16-yard touchdown run put Saint Jo up 8-0.
The Lions offense featured a lot of short quick passes that forced the Panthers to tackle well in space. Chapel’s players were also willing to freelance with improvised laterals and passes during plays that were clearly not designed with these things in mind.
The Panthers defense forced a turnover on downs near midfield to get the ball back. Two plays later, it was Brawner scoring on a 35-yard run to put Saint Jo up 14-0.
The Lions came back and scored on their next drive. Short passes to their athletic players in space sprung some big plays, ending with a 17-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 14-8.
A deep kickoff pinned the Panthers back on their own nine-yard line, but Brawner quickly made that obsolete. He found the corner and ran for a 71-yard touchdown to end the quarter, Saint Jo up 20-8.
Chapel was not going to roll over though. The Lions offense scored on their second play in the next drive on a 34-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 20-14.
On the kickoff, Brawner got the ball and was trying to hurdle a player. He got upended and flipped violently.
It looked like the Panthers were going to get tested with their best offensive weapon sidelined for the moment as Jonathon Diaz picked up some yards and Cade Stevens finding Jase Johnson on a short pass.
Brawner came back in and scored on a four-yard touchdown run to go up 28-14 as he dove for the corner. He must have felt bad after the dive because he did not play for the rest of the quarter.
The Saint Jo defense picked up its intensity after pushing the Lions back for losses on consecutive plays, forcing a turnover on downs near midfield.
With Diaz running on three consecutive plays, the Panthers faced a fourth and six. Stevens rolled out to his left and found Tyler Cook open for a 27-yard touchdown pass. Stevens completed the pass despite playing most of the game with one of his fingers pointing the wrong way.
Up 36-14, the Panthers especially did not want to let the Lions score before halftime since they would also get the ball to start the second half.
Chapel drove down into Saint Jo territory, getting help with a roughing the passer penalty on third down. The Panthers defense held and forced another turnover on downs to keep the lead heading into halftime.
The Lions offense found some success to start the third quarter completing an 11-yard pass and a 16-yard run to get within scoring range. A bad snap allowed the Panther’s Chance Bennett to dive on the ball to force a turnover at Saint Jo’s own 23-yard line.
Brawner came out with his pads on and looked to give it a go. His first run was for a loss and the coaching staff initially thought he was not himself and put Diaz in. A big run came back because of holding and put the Panthers into a big hole.
Brawner came back in and ripped a 13-yard run to make the fourth down manageable, but Chapel’s defense held to force a turnover on downs at Saint Jo’s 20-yard line. The Lions took advantage scoring on a nine-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 36-20.
In case there was any doubt whether Brawner would contribute for the rest of the night, they were answered on the kickoff. He recovered the short kickoff and took it 56 yards for a touchdown to put Saint Jo back up 42-20.
Chapel would not go away though. The laterals and the freelancing picked up as the game went on. It became harder to make those tackles in space as fatigue came in to play even as substitutions were made.
The Lions drove down the field, converting another fourth down before scoring on another short touchdown pass from eight yards away. Scored in the final minute of the third quarter, Saint Jo’s lead was still solid at 42-26 as long as the offense kept scoring.
The offense obliged as Brawner scored on a 40-yard run on the first play of the fourth quarter make the score 50-26.
Chapel continued to show heart though. A Saint Jo player slipping while trying to come up and make a tackle after short completion led to a 37-yard touchdown pass as the Panther defense seemed to struggle more as the game wore on.
The Panthers offense made sure the Lions were never getting close.
After one big run and a missed opportunity in the passing game, another perfectly blocked sweep play allowed Brawner to bust through for another touchdown run, this one from 19-yards out. The kick from Kyler Dunn made it 58-32.
Saint Jo could not catch a break on its next defensive series. A pass interference call and a facemask call helped move the ball down the field.
From there, Chapel was able to score on a 15-yard run as the Panthers could not push the running back out of bounds. The touchdown made the score 58-38 with half the quarter still to play.
Just like the last drive, a couple of runs from Brawner and Bennett eventually led to Brawner scoring from 18-yards out to keep Saint Jo’s spirits high.
Just in case there was any doubt left which team would win, Brawner jumped a pass on defense and took the ball back 55-yards for a defensive touchdown to put the final score on the board.
Saint Jo’s defense forced one final turnover on downs to end the game with a kneel down to end the game, the Panthers winning 74-38.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

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Nocona softball wins final game of the season against Alvord

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The Nocona Lady Indians played their final game of the regular season with a drubbing of Alvord at home.
The Lady Indians won 11-1 after six innings due to run-rule to end their season on a positive note despite no playoffs.
The game was rescheduled from last week due to weather.
Nocona was coming off a tough loss against Muenster the previous game, but knew it had a chance against Alvord after beating the Lady Bulldogs 6-4 in the first game.
The game started slow, but the Lady Indians got the lead with one run in the first inning. Alvord answered with one run in the third inning before Nocona retook the lead and never let it go.
The Lady Indians scored three runs in the third inning, two in the fourth, three in the fifth and the final two in the sixth inning to end the game on Charity Claxton’s sacrifice bunt that scored the last run.
Nocona won 11-1.

Coach Nolan Lanham thought it was the most complete game the team had played all season.
While he is sad this year’s season is complete, he is excited about what the team accomplished this year and what it can build off of it in the coming years.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

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Baseball Roundup

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Nocona
The Nocona Indians won their first game against Chico on Tuesday night to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Indians won 9-4 against the Dragons.
Nocona was coming into the game after a close, low-scoring series against Perrin-Whitt that saw the Indians win one game and lose another.
The Indians took an early lead with Brody Langford driving in a run on a single. Chico answered with two runs in the same inning to take back the lead 2-1.
The teams exchanged runs in the next four innings.
Nocona tied the score at 2-2 in the second inning when RJ Walker hit a sacrifice fly ball deep enough to score one run. The Dragons took the back the lead with an RBI double in the third inning to make it 3-2.
The Indians again tied the score in the fourth inning when Langford hit into a fielder’s choice out with the bases loaded. Once again, Chico retook the lead in the fifth inning, also scoring on a fielder’s choice groundout to go up 4-3.
After a scoreless sixth inning, Nocona was down to its final three outs of the game.
With two runners on base and two outs and looking at a full-count, Caden Belcher came through for the Indians with a base hit. It scored the tying run and the second runner was waived home and had a chance to score the game’s winning run. He was just tagged out for out three, but not before Nocona had tied the score at 4-4.
Chico loaded the bases up with one out in the seventh inning, but Wesley Murphey stepped up and struck out the next two batters to get out of the jam scot free and force the game into extra-innings.
Nocona was still reeling from the momentum of the last inning and it came through in the eighth inning.
With two runners on base and two outs, the Indians started a two-out rally with Wesley Murphey hitting a triple that brought both runners home to score.
Langford followed with a single that drove in one run. Following another single, Konnor Harrington hit a single that drove in another run. Following a walk that loaded the bases, a passed ball allowed Nocona to score another run.
The Indians more than doubled their seven inning total, scoring five runs and leading 9-4.
Wesley Murphey and the defense then closed the door, striking out the first batter before inducing groundouts to shortstop and second base for outs two and three to end the game.

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers played their final regular season series in a double-header on Tuesday against Lindsay.
The bigger Knights won both games by run-rule, 12-2 after six innings and 15-2 after five innings.
Saint Jo had last played a week ago in a double-header against Muenster’s JV and varsity teams. The Panthers competed well with the JV team, but struggled more against the varsity team.
Lindsay had no JV team so Saint Jo had to play the 2A school twice and hoped it could compete.
The Knights got off to a fast start in game one, scoring seven runs in the first inning and never looking back.
The Panther defense played better from then on, never allowing Lindsay to score more than two runs in an inning and even holding the Knights scoreless in two innings.
Saint Jo was able to score in the fifth inning when the team loaded the bases and drew two walks to score two runs.
That was enough to keep the game from ending after five innings, but Lindsay scored two runs in the sixth inning to end the game early with the score 12-2.
The second game saw Lindsay score at least one run in every inning, highlighted by seven in the second inning.
Saint Jo scored two runs in the fourth inning. Charlie Evans hit an RBI double. Later he scored on the base paths after Lindsay failed to prevent a stolen base elsewhere.
The game ended after five innings with the Knights winning 15-2.

Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles lost its final regular season game against Alvord on Tuesday.
The Bulldogs won 22-0 after four innings due to run-rule.
Bellevue knew it was going to be tough competing against a bigger school, but was hoping to compete.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs came through and scored 14 runs in the first inning to suck any momentum from the Eagles before they had even had a chance to bat.
Bellevue prevented Alvord from scoring in the second inning, but not the third or fourth innings.
The Eagle bats did not have much luck scoring any runs as the Bulldogs won 22-0 after four innings.
Bryce Ramsey and Blake Reese got the only two hits for Bellevue in the game. Alvord racked up 15 hits, drew nine walks and were hit by five pitches which led to all of the runs.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

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Saint Jo softball beats Perrin-Whitt in the playoffs

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The Saint Jo Lady Panthers won their one-game playoff game agaisnt Perrin-Whitt on Wednesday 16-1 to continue their season to the area round.

The Saint Jo Lady Panthers won their playoff one-game series against Perrin-Whitt on Wednesday afternoon.
The Lady Panthers stomped the Lady Pirates 16-1 after three innings by run-rule to advance in the playoffs.
Saint Jo was coming into the playoffs after a tough regular season. The Lady Panthers won their first game of the season, but struggled the rest of the way due to injuries, the busyness of spring and because most of their opponents were larger 2A schools.
Finally playing a school their own size while having more than a week from its last game to prepare to get everyone more healthy and focused paid dividends on Wednesday against Perrin-Whitt.
Saint Jo has struggled with its pitching and aspects of its defense, but its ability to score runs when locked in has been documented this year.
In four of its 10 games this season, the team has scored 13 or more runs in high scoring affairs.
Starting out hitting in the top of the first allowed the Lady Panthers to start out strong against the Lady Pirates team that had their own problem with pitching and defense.
Maxey Johnson drove in the team’s first run on a bunt that she somehow stretched into a double. Later she and Jordyn O’Neal would score on wild pitches to put Saint Jo up 3-0.
While the team was hit by two pitches and drew a walk during the inning, a surprising double-play from Perrin-Whitt ended the Lady Panthers scoring start to the game.
Pitcher Johnson has struggled through injuries this season, but started great on the mound. Her first pitch thrown was lined out right to the shortstop for an out. She then struck out the next two batters to keep Saint Jo’s momentum going heading into the second inning which would break the game open.
Nevaeh Spann led off with a single and Tatum Morman followed with a double.
After the next batter loaded the bases up with a drawn walk, the next two batters were hit by pitches while the following drew a walk to drive in three runs.
In between another batter getting hit by a pitch and another drawn walk scoring two more runs were a strikeout and fly out to the pitcher.
Morman was then up again for the second time in the inning and hit a double to left field to drive in two runs. Saint Jo earned one more run in the inning on a wild pitch before a strikeout ended the scoreathon. The Lady Panthers had scored eight runs in the inning and now led 11-0.
The Lady Pirates were able to get some offense going in retaliation. A leadoff walk would come back to bite Saint Jo.
Johnson struck out the next batter and fielded a pop up for out two. After a walk put another baserunner on, a fly ball to center field resulted in an error that allowed one run to score for Perrin-Whitt.
The Lady Panthers put out the fire before it could grow out of control. The next batter hit a groundball that was easily fielded by Johnson who tossed her out at first base.
Up 11-1 entering the third inning, Saint Jo hitters were getting inpatient just sitting idly by for good pitches to it after drawing so many walks and being hit by pitches. They started to take more chances and put the ball in play.
Two singles led off the inning for the Lady Panthers. O’Neal then grounded out to third base, but it drove in one run. Aubrey Morman followed with an RBI single.
Following a hit, Saint Jo would draw three walks in a row. However, the Lady Panthers scored three more runs thanks to wild pitches to grow their lead to the limit of the run-rule before a strikeout ended the offensive onslaught.
Heading into the bottom of the third inning and up 16-1, Saint Jo had to not let Perrin-Whitt score at all to end the game early.
The Lady Pirates got their leadoff hitter on base again, this time thanks to an error on a fly ball in the outfield that got the runner on second base.
The baserunner would then successfully steal third base and was in perfect position to score on any contact hit or wild pitch.
Johnson was not fazed and induced a weak pop up to the catcher for out one. Johnson then struck out the next batter four out two.
The final batter then grounded out to second base for out three to end the game.
Saint Jo won 16-1.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.

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