SPORTS

Smith coming to stabilize Prairie Valley

Published

3 years ago

06/10/2023

Mark Smith takes over for Prairie Valley girl’s athletics. (Courtesy photo)

At Prairie Valley, Mark Smith was hired a month ago to be the new girl’s athletic coach.
The previous coach abruptly resigned near the beginning of the basketball season which meant athletic director Seth Stephens was in the tough situation of coaching both boys’ and girls’ basketball teams in the same season.
Smith comes to Prairie Valley after teaching math for the last six years at charter school International Leadership High School in Grand Prairie.
His previous coaching experience before that came at schools of various sizes like 6A Byron Nelson as an assistant, 4A Lake Worth as a head coach, 2A Itasca as a head coach and 1A Advantage Academy in Waxahachie as a head coach. He started at 4A Kennedale and Spruce as an assistant.
Stephens said Smith impressed him and the administration with his emphasis on taking a program wide approach to coaching and trying to get girls to compete in as many things as possible.
“He has quite a bit of experience coaching,” Stephens said. “We thought with his personality, the way he wants to commit to not just focusing on one sport. He’s real calm and somebody we were looking for who could come in and give us some stability and consistency.”
Smith was attracted to the job since his daughter is about to enter the 10th grade and her previous school was starting to pressure athletes to start specializing.
Smith graduated from 1A high school Whiteface and wanted the small school experience for his daughter.

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

SPORTS

Saint Jo qualifies for football postseason

Published

2 days ago

11/12/2026

bowienews

Saint Jo clinched a playoff spot in their home finale. Nocona and Gold-Burg both suffered regular season losses.

Brief summaries of the games follow:

Tioga 50, Nocona 0

After losing a Nocona High students a few days before the Nov. 5 game, the Indians never fully recovered and wound up on the short end of the stick to the Bulldogs.

Nocona had just 95 yards of offense. Quarterback Brody Langford was 6-11 passing for 21 yards. Logan Gaston had 53 yards on 10 carries. McCrae Crossen had 22 yards on eight carries with Jax Fuller adding 18 yards on four totes.

For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.

SPORTS

Lady Indians roll into State semifinals

Published

2 days ago

11/12/2026

bowienews

Looking to get back to the State championship, Nocona’s volleyball team got off to a quick start in its area round matchup with Coleman Nov. 3.

A bit of a letdown in the middle games was rectified in game four, allowing the Lady Indians to post a 3-1 (25-12, 26-24, 22-25,25-13) victory. Nocona Coach Sandy Langford said getting back to its style of game helped.

“We’ve had to overcome a lot this week,” Langford said in reference to the school losing a student in an accident two days prior. “We talked during a timeout about getting back to playing fast which is more our style. Coleman had us playing a slower style of play and they took advantage of it.

The fast style of play benefitted the Lady Indians, who got out to a 4-0 lead in game one courtesy of Paige Davis. Maddyn Bowles added a kill to keep things moving.

For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.

SPORTS

Rabbits qualify for F-Ball playoffs

Published

2 days ago

11/12/2026

bowienews

When you’re gunning for a playoff spot, playing error free football is paramount.

Or is it?

In a District 4-3A Division I battle for the fourth and final playoff spot, Bowie had made five turnovers in the first nearly three quarters but still managed to lead 21-17 late in the third quarter. The Jackrabbits received a pep talk from their coaches and did not turn the ball over again while receiving some clutch defense down the stretch in a much closer than it looked 42-17 win over the Boyd Yellowjackets.

With the victory, Bowie clinched its first playoff spot in football since 2017. The Jackrabbits, 1-3 in district and 5-5 overall, will travel to Cisco for a 6 p.m. Nov.13 game vs. defending state champion Wall, who is ranked No. 4.

For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.