Nocona
The Nocona Indians picked up a win at Tom Bean on Thursday night.
The Indians were able to score twice in the fourth quarter to pull away to win 21-8 in a game they felt like they should have been leading much sooner.
Nocona came into the game following two straight losses after winning the first six games of the season.
The Tomcats were looking for their first district win as they had only two wins earlier in the season. They are not eligible for post season play the next two years due to recruiting allegations handed down from the University Interscholastic League.
The Indians took their opening drive down the field and eventually scored when quarterback Brady McCasland found Luke Fuller for a six-yard touchdown. It took nearly nine minutes off the clock to start the game and put the Indians up 7-0.
Tom Bean answered as the team scored early in the second quarter on a short run. The Tomcats elected to go for two and made it to go up 8-7.
The rest of the first half and all of the third quarter saw neither team’s offense find any success scoring the ball.
Nocona was moving the ball well, but penalties and two turnovers put a stop to promising drives.
The Indian defense meanwhile did not let Tom Bean do much on offense after the scoring drive. Nocona only allowed 139 yards of offense in the game and also forced two turnovers as Cade Gaston and McCasland intercepted passes.
Early in the fourth quarter the Indians finally got ahead. Arturo Garcia broke off long touchdown runs from 31 and 61 yards on consecutive drives to seel the win up for Nocona as it won 21-8.

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers won at Campbell on Thursday night.
The Panthers won 56-7 early in the third quarter due to mercy rule against the Indians.
Saint Jo was coming into the game following a tough loss to Union Hill to open up district play. Campbell came into the game following a blow out win against Savoy to start off district.
It was all Panthers from the opening kickoff. Devin Stewart returned it for a touchdowns to start the game and put Saint Jo up.
Saint Jo’s defense forced a turnover on downs and the offense would then score when Dylan Brockman ran for a 25-yard touchdown on fourth down to go up 16-0.
The Panthers recovered an onside kick, but unfortunately gave it back to Campbell by fumbling the ball away a few plays later. The Indians took advantage as they scored on a long run to cut the lead to 16-7.
That would be about all of the fight Campbell would show the rest of the game.
Saint Jo got the ball and scored on its next drive as Matthew Butler-Everson found Stewart open for a 35-yard touchdown pass to make it 24-7.
The two teams exchanged stops on defense with the Panthers forcing a turnover on downs and the Indians intercepting a pass before the first quarter ended.
Following two straight stops on defense for Saint Jo, the offense scored on both ensuing drives. Stewart ran in a short touchdown and Trevor O’Neal would score on a 22-yard run.
After a deep kickoff pinned Campbell deep in its territory, the defense then tackled the Indians for a loss in the end zone for a safety.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Panthers Lee Yeley then returned it for a touchdown to put Saint Jo up 50-7 at halftime.
It did not take long for the Panthers to end the game after starting the third quarter.
The defense forced another turnover on downs to give the ball back to the offense. Three plays later Butler-Everson found Stewart for a 14-yard touchdown to end the game.
The final score was 56-7.

Forestburg
The Forestburg Longhorns lost a tough game against defending state champ Strawn on the road Friday.
The Greyhounds won 59-14 with the game ending in the third quarter.
The Longhorns were hoping they could upset a Strawn team that was not having its usual dominant season after a heavy graduation year.
Early on, Forestburg looked poised to try and steal the game. The Longhorns scored on their opening possession then got a stop on defense and was hoping to score once more.
Unfortunately, three holding penalties put a stop to that drive and once Strawn started scoring it was tough to stop.
Forestburg went into halftime down 36-7.
The Longhorns were not going to give up though. They started the third quarter like they did to start the game and went down the field to score a touchdown. Forestburg looked poised to score again on its next drive, but penalties again got in the way.
The Greyhounds then kept scoring to eventually win by mercy rule 59-14.
Coach Greg Roller thought there were good moments sprinkled in, though he wished the field conditions which were all muddy due to the rain, made passing the ball tougher than he would have liked for his team.

Gold-Burg
The Gold-Burg Bears were hoping to be sitting in first place in the district if it beat Newcastle on Friday.
Unfortunately, the Bobcats won definitively 45-0 due to mercy rule.
The Bears were coming off a big district win against county rival Forestburg.
Newcastle had won against defending state champs Strawn to start off district. The winner would be in first place.
Unfortunately, it did not prove to be a competitive game. Gold-Burg failed to execute like Coach Brady Hibbitts wanted and could never recover.
The Bears still have a chance to get second place. Gold-Burg hosts Strawn and both teams are tied for second place with a 1-1 record. Whoever wins will get the final playoff spot.
The game is schedule for 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 4 at home.

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