Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers lost their bi-district game against undefeated Gordon on Friday night.
The Longhorns won 62-16 with the game being called early in the fourth quarter due to mercy rule.
Saint Jo was hoping its battle-tested schedule had prepared itself for a Gordon team that had easily won all of its games so far this season.
The Panthers had not done well in their losses against Knox City or Union Hill, but they have at least been pushed whereas a young Longhorn team had not really been challenged.
Unfortunately, Gordon showed why it had not been challenged. Saint Jo struggled to move the ball early in the game. The defense got two stops in the first quarter, including a fumble recovery from Caleb Workman.
Still, the Longhorns big play ability did yield one touchdown on a long touchdown pass to give them a 6-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
That broke open the door as Gordon scored four more times before halftime, including one on a fumble recovery on defense. Saint Jo scored right before halftime as Matthew Butler-Everson found Devin Stewart open for a six-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 38-8 heading into the second half.
The Panther defense got some stops in the third quarter, but the Longhorns scored three more times in the quarter. Saint Jo’s offense continued to struggle to keep up. Trevor O’Neal scored on an eight-yard run to cut the lead to 50-16, but the end of the game was coming with two more scores from Gordon icing the game early in the fourth quarter.
The final score was 62-16.

Gold-Burg
The Gold-Burg Bears lost a tough game against Throckmorton on Friday night.
The Greyhounds won 54-8 against the Bears.
Gold-Burg came into the game fresh off an upset district win against defending state-champs Strawn. Finishing second in the district standings though meant the Bears would have to face a district champion.
Throckmorton had an up and down pre-district schedule after big pre-season expectations, but won its last four games in one-sided fashion heading into the game. The Greyhounds kept that going on Friday night to end Gold-Burg’s season, but it was not all bad for the Bears.
Gold-Burg had an up and down season as well following the heels of the best season in school history. With only two wins heading into district play and two new district teams that were slated to get the only two playoff spots, the Bears playoff prospects were not looking good.
Newcastle showed why it was a playoff favorite after dropping down from division I. After soundly beating county opponent Forestburg, Gold-Burg would have to upset a Strawn program that has more state championships than the Bears had playoff appearances.
Even a down year like everyone was reporting about the Strawn Greyhounds would surely beat Gold-Burg with the season on the line. Instead the Bears beat Strawn at home to give the Gold-Burg community another happy senior night.

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