SPORTS
2021 Year in HS Sports Review
Bowie
To start the year, both of Bowie’s basketball teams made the playoffs. The boy’s team got the unfortunate matchup of state-ranked Peaster that ended its season, but for a team coming off its first non playoff appearance in many seasons the previous year, new coach Andy Atkins and the inexperienced roster pushed the program back to respectability.
The Lady Rabbits again went three rounds deep in the playoffs, punctuated by a dramatic win against Brock, before the mostly senior led crew and Coach Joe Crabb again fell to state power Jim Ned.
The start of some spring season redemption came with the girl’s powerlifting team. The team finished third at the regional meet and had four girls compete at the state meet.
With state being cancelled literally the day before it was supposed to start the previous year, this year was time for redemption. While it was not Jessie Henry, Ashley Aguirre or Kerstin Kindsfather’s day, it was for Chelsea Price. The senior set a new personal record of 980 total pounds and finished second in the 220 pound weight class.
The same could be said for the golf program. The season was cancelled before it could really get underway, but both teams were rolling before then. Despite some key graduations, the team came back stronger than ever under Coach Matthew Miller. Both the boy’s and girl’s teams swept the team district titles and went on to the regional meet.
While the Lady Rabbits season ended there, the boy’s team rebounded from a bad first day to a great second day to finish third and qualify for the program’s first state appearance. The Jackrabbits then did well to finish sixth playing against the state’s best.
Further into spring, the baseball team had barely played a month before the previous year’s season was cancelled.
With new Coach Tyler Price and a team filled with players who had little experience of varsity baseball, the team exceeded expectations by finishing second in district play and beating Bangs in the playoffs. The season came to an end in the area round against state-ranked Jim Ned.
The tennis team sent several players to the regional meet while the boy’s team won the overall district title.
Going into the fall season, the volleyball team was able to finish third in district play and make the playoffs again. Along the way, senior libero Taygon Jones collected her 3,000th career dig. Unfortunately, the Lady Rabbits lost in the first round to Brock.
The boy’s cross country team finished as district runner-up to qualify for the regional meet again, finishing 20th.
Nocona
To start the year, both Nocona basketball teams made the playoffs again. The Lady Indians won their third straight district title and went three rounds deep in the playoffs before losing to Peaster.
The boy’s team again made the playoffs as a fourth seed for the second straight year, but lost its playoff game to state-power Brock.
In the golf program, Laci Stone was able to qualify for the regional tournament individually where she finished eighth overall.
In the fall season, the volleyball team finished district play in fourth place and qualified for the playoffs. Unfortunately, state-ranked Peaster ended the team’s season in the first round.
Both cross country teams ended up qualifying for the regional meet, with the girls finishing second and the boys finishing third at the district meet.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo program started the year with its boy’s basketball team having a good run. The Panthers finished second in district play and got playoff wins against Bryson and Ector before losing to state-power Graford.
In tennis, Jacqueline Hanna was able to make it all the way to the state tournament competing in the tough girl’s singles division.
The Panther baseball team was able to go three rounds deep in the playoffs before losing to state-power Dodd City.
In track the boy’s team won the district title and the program had a list of kids qualify all the way to the regional meet.
In the fall season, every team did well. The football team won its third straight district title and won its playoff game against Leveretts Chapel. The team lost a tragic game to Coolidge in the area round.
The volleyball team overcame its youth to finish with the co-district title and qualify for the playoffs before it lost to county rivals Prairie Valley.
The boy’s cross country team finally broke through to win the district title while Aubrey Morman qualified for the regional meet individually.
At the regional meet, the team got fifth overall while Collin Thomas and Devin Stewart would qualify for the state meet individually. Thomas would earn his first medal at state while finishing 10th while Stewart finished 80th.
Prairie Valley
In the spring the program had some great individual performances. In track, Mason Allen came out of nowhere to not only qualify for the state meet in the high jump, but jump 6’ 1” and win the bronze medal.
The tennis team also had some athletes reach the state level. The mixed doubles team of Isaac Yeargin and Veronica Gutierrez qualified for the state meet where they lost in the first round.
In the fall season, the volleyball team was able to battle through a tough district to qualify for the playoffs again. Even as a third seed, the Lady Bulldogs were able to win against rival Saint Jo and Evant before falling to district foe Bryson in the third round.
In cross country, both teams were able to qualify for the regional meet with the girls finishing second and the boys third. At regional, the boy’s team finished ninth and the girls 15th, but the programs had something to celebrate individually.
Eli Croxton and Linzie Priddy both qualified for the state meet where Priddy finished 79th and Croxton finished 82nd.
Gold-Burg
The program had its biggest accomplishment in the spring in tennis as the girl’s doubles team of Shadie Whitaker and Kelly Contreras qualified for the state meet. The team won the regional tournament despite not winning the district title the previous week. At state the team was knocked out in the first round.
In the fall season, the football team got a lot of attention. Coach Joe Helms and the Bears built on their success from the previous year and turned in the best season in school history while setting several program firsts: winning nine games, winning an outright district title and beating Lueders-Avoca in the first round of the playoffs.
The ride came to an end in the area round against Gordon, but it was a fun ride for Gold-Burg football.
In cross country, Isaac Renteria exceeded everyone’s expectations by qualifying all the way up to the state meet. He finished fifth at the district meet, 19th at the regional meet and 48th at the state meet.
Forestburg
Playoff appearances did not happen for Longhorn teams and no one qualified all the way to the state meet, but athletes at Forestburg still did well despite the odds. The boy’s track team finished tied for third at the district meet and were only one point behind second place. The girls finished fourth despite only three girls competing. Reagan Ladewign scored in four different events. Several athletes qualified all the way up to the regional meet.
The football season had its host of challenges. With new Coach Greg Roller dealing with a roster full of almost all underclassmen and with depth being an issue that led to one game being cancelled, winning three games is more than impressive.
None more so than the epic seven overtime battle against Vernon Northside on homecoming where the Longhorns came out on top for their first win of the season.
Bellevue
The Bellevue program had several great accomplishments this year. The Lady Eagle basketball team again qualified for the playoffs where they won in the first round against Newcastle before falling to state-power Dodd City.
In track, Sky-Lar Embry won the district title in the 100, 200 and 400 meter races. She was then able to qualify all the way up to the state meet in the 100 meter where she would finish ninth overall.
In the fall in cross country, the girl’s team would return to the regional meet after finishing third at the district meet. At regional, the Lady Eagles finished 16th overall.
To see pictures from every school, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
By Luke Clayton
Your outdoor scribe has been taking a cue from the fish and critters the past week. I am up well before daylight and enjoying the cooler hours of the morning and then seeking AC during the heat of the day whenever possible. Wildlife and fish do much the same, but they are smart enough to simply seek deeper water or look for shade in areas with a breeze when the summer sun bears down.
But even during the hottest period of the year, I still find ways to enjoy time in the outdoors. Let me share with you a few activities that I have found enjoyable, even when daytime temperatures are at or above the century mark. I have a good buddy with a covered boat dock and he keeps the water under the shaded portion baited with grain. Catfish, both channel cats and eater size blues are always plentiful this time of year thanks to the abundant food supply shade.
One of my favorite summer pastimes is arriving at the dock about the break of day and fishing cheese bait vertically under the dock. I bet the fishing would be good there even during midday but as mentioned, that is when ole’ Luke has himself positioned around a cooling AC unit somewhere. The water is only about 5 foot deep under the dock and a coffee can full of grain tossed around the dock puts the fish into instant feeding mode. Fishing could not be easier, I have a big fish basked tethered to the dock for my catch and a cooler back in the truck full of ice that I picked up before daylight on my way to fish.
Rigging is simple, a #4 treble hook baited with cheese bait with a small split shot about six inches above. The weight serves two purposes; it helps get the bait down to about six inches above bottom where the catfish are and it makes the sometime subtle strikes easier to detect. The bites usually occur the instant the bait gets near bottom and a quick hook set is necessary. The ‘eater’ size catfish I usually catch weighing between 1.5 and 3 pounds are notorious for hitting the baits on the run and the window for making a hookset is short. I use a 6-foot lightweight spinning rig with a soft tip that makes ‘feeling’ the fish easier.
Bait is not all that important, they will hit anything from earthworms to liver but I use a cheese bait that I helped Magic Bait company develop years ago. It’s called Stick-It and for years it’s been my go to bait for catching channel catfish. Needle nose pliers are a must for removing the hooks and snipping off the end of the barbs. I learned long ago to take the time and break the ends the barbs off to avoid getting stuck when the fish flop around and they always do when fresh out of the water. It usually only takes less than two hours to catch my limit and before the sun begins beating down, I have the fish on ice and heading back home to my little fish cleaning station-situated under a big shady oak in front of the little cabin behind my house. By the time the sun starts heating things up outside, you know where I will be! Chances are pretty good you might know where there is a shady dock on a lake nearby to enjoy some of this earl morning fishing. Many public lakes have fishing piers that provide good fishing, you can always bring a bucket of cattle range cubes along for chum, the catching might not always be non-stop like around a baited hole but chances are good you can catch a nice mess of good eating catfish and… be back home before it gets hot.
I limit my hog hunts to the first couple hours after sunset this time of year and I am planning a pork procurement hunt this coming week. My good friend Larry Weishuhn aka. “Mr. Whitetail” and I have an event we’re hosting at the Dallas Safari Club office in September. We will be visiting with folks and telling a few campfire stories but also furnishing dinner. I will help Larry grill a bunch of buffalo burgers, made from meat from a buffalo Larry’s friend Steven Hornady shot last winter at the Choctaw Hunting Lodge owned by the Choctaw Nation in southeast Oklahoma. My job is to supply the pulled pork.
My plan is to shoot a couple of fat younger pigs weighing from eighty to one hundred pounds and slow smoke the meat with several domestic pork butts and then chop it all into pulled pork sandwich meat. I absolutely loved wild pork from younger hogs but it is often a good bit more dry than domestic pork. The fat from the Hormel pork butts will blend well with the lean wild pork. I smoke pork at about 200 degrees for 12 hours usually. To keep it from drying out, I use large aluminum pans to retain the moisture. I like my pulled pork sandwiches to be well seasoned and punch holes in the meat and load it with bit so garlic and slices of jalapeno and then when the meat is fall off the bone tender, chop the garlic and jalapeno in with the meat and season with black pepper, salt and usually more garlic powder. A good dose of Bullseye barbeque sauce puts the finishing touches on the sandwiches. I caught the pork on sale last week and have about 40 pounds of meat in the freezer. I have a sounder of ‘just right’ pigs hitting one of my corn feeders every night and plan to be in the bed of my old GMC with my CVA .223 Cascade rifle topped with an ATN Thor 6 Mini thermal scope. Of course, I will have a big cooler half full of ice with me-have to keep that meat chilled in this heat you know!
Listen to Luke’s weekly podcast “Catfish Radio with Luke Clayton and Friends” just about everywhere podcasts are found. Email Luke through his website www.catfishradio.org
While school won’t start for another two weeks yet, Bowie tennis coach Dayna Boothe is getting her netters ready to start the 2026 Fall season.
Tryouts began July 21 with nearly 25 players trying out.
Boothe will have a young boys team this year but is excited about their prospects.
“Our boys team is returning with five juniors, a strong sophomore and some promising incoming freshmen,” Boothe said. “It will be a strong building year for our boys team.”
Boothe said the Lady Rabbits will be led by junior state champion in girl’s doubles last Spring Willow Seibert.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
The allure of coaching can be too much for some. Shea Diffie is just that type.
Diffie coached girl’s basketball at Slidell for a time. After the school moved up to Class 2A, Diffie quit coaching and took on a traveling salesperson’s position. After putting on what he says was more than 60,000 miles on his truck over the last year, he decided to get back into coaching.
He met with Bellevue’s athletic director, Colby Broussard, and recently became the new girl’s basketball coach. He replaces Larry Tidwell, who moved on to Arlington Baptist University to become their girl’s basketball coach.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
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