It was a one-sided beat down Friday night as Bowie started its season hosting rival Nocona.
The Jackrabbits won 72-7 against the Indians in a game where not much went right for Nocona and not much went wrong for Bowie.
It is the second straight year the team’s matched up to start the season after not playing for all of the 2010s. The Jackrabbits won last year’s game 35-6, though they did all of their damage in the first half. On Friday Bowie never let up.
After the Jackrabbits’ opening drive went nowhere, the Indians threw an interception to Bowie safety Devin Melton near midfield. The Jackrabbits then went down the field and scored the game’s first points as quarterback Colby Miller threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to Melton to make it 7-0.
Nocona’s offense had trouble trying to establish the run as Bowie kept getting penetration. The Indians tried to roll out quarterback Brady McCasland, who used his feet to try and extend plays, but struggled to connect on many passes.
The Jackrabbits scored on their next two possessions as Miller connected with Jake Fallis for a two-yard touchdown.
Bowie then ran a reverse with Landon Felts lined up at receiver who threw a deep pass to Kynan DeMoss for a 63-yard touchdown pass to make the score 21-0 heading into the second quarter.
The Jackrabbits scored midway through the quarter as running back Matthew McCarty scored on a 37-yard run to make the score 28-0. McCarty would scored twice more during the quarter on 12 and two-yard runs to make the score 41-0 heading into halftime.
The second half saw the Jackrabbits keeping the pressure on despite several flags, including several personal foul calls, being called on them. Despite being backed up at one point, Bowie’s Felts got lose for a long run that eventually set up Miller scoring a touchdown on a short run.
Nocona started to have its most successful drive despite several running backs getting hurt. Miguel Oliveras had the most success running the ball besides quarterback McCasland.
Unfortunately, the Indian fumbles started to add up in the second half, the first one coming when Nocona drove down to Bowie’s 29-yard line.
Ironically it did lead to the Indian only points in the game. The defense forced a Jackrabbit punt and tall Sam Davis blocked the kick which was recovered by Landon Wilson in the end zone for a Nocona touchdown to cut the score to 48-7.
Not wanting to give the Indians any hope of getting any more positive momentum, Bowie immediately responded as Felts rushed for a 34-yard touchdown right before the third quarter ended to make the score 54-7 heading into the fourth quarter.
Felts scored on another long run for Bowie midway through the period. Back-to-back fumble recoveries near midfield set up two more touchdowns. Back-up running backs Jax Johnson and Nathan Curry scored on long runs following the turnovers to bump the lead up to 72-7.
The Jackrabbits recovered one final fumble, this one on a kickoff, before kneeling the ball to run out the clock.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.