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Looking back at football 25 years ago in Montague County

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On this Sports Rewind column, it is time to look back 25 years at the fates of the football programs in Montague County that were getting coverage from The Bowie News.
Back then, the paper was covering not just Bowie, but also Nocona at the time as well which was not always the case in the years to follow. Also, Saint Jo was a part of the coverage.
Not just that, but the Panthers were playing 11-man football at the time instead of the six-man football it has played in recent years.
The beginning of the season had a lot of positivity and optimism for all three programs, which was captured by then sports writer Sonny Armstrong. At the end of the season, new sports writer Matt Kelton captured each team’s final games and the outcome for their season.

September 4, 1997, The Bowie News
Headline: ‘Rabbits ready!

The Bowie Jackrabbits have the potential to be the surprise team of class 3A in the state of Texas in 1997… and they know it!
As a matter of fact, they don’t just know it, they feel it.
All the pieces are in place.
They have the talent.
They have the depth.
They have the experience.
They have a coaching staff that not only cares about winning, but also cares about developing character.
Most importantly, though, they have the “want to.”
The scrimmage against class 4A Justin Northwest Texans Friday night was quite an impressive showing which should give the “Rabbits the right stuff they need going into the season opener against Graham this week.
These guys are good.
“We had a great scrimmage against Justin,” Coach Paul Hurst said. “We feel good, and when you feel good about yourself you know you can win.”
BHS came out of the Friday night practice game with a positive attitude that was contagious to the fans that nearly filled both sides of the stands at the stadium.
“We know we can beat Graham,” an exuberant Hurst stated confidently. “We’re where we need to be right now, we’re ready.”
Hurst was particularly proud of his defense which swarmed all over the Texans and showed intimidating pursuit on both the run and pass.
Led by potential all-stater Cody Price, the Jackrabbits frustrated the bigger school all night with determined ferocity.
“The defense swarmed all over them and we were great,” Hurst said. “We believe we can play with anybody.”
Something else the team did Friday that should serve them well this season was pointed out by an official working the contest.
“This is one of the most well-behaved bunch I’ve been around in a long time,” he admired. “They go at it hard, tough and have a good time. Andy they look like they really like their opponents, too. I don’t see too much of that anymore.”
Maybe Hurst said it best when he remarked, “Whether we win or lose, we’re going to do it with class.
“We have the ability to fight it out with anybody, but we’re always going to control ourselves. That’s what sports is supposed to teach us.”
Game time Friday night is 8 p.m. in Graham.
Good luck ‘Rabbits!

Headline: Indians on warpath
The Nocona Indians have shown flashes of brilliance in pre-season scrimmages this year, and the new system installed by Coach Ronnie Wilson and his staff may have come together for the players at just the right time.
Nocona opens against Henrietta Friday night and this could well be the most interesting contest in the area.
Nocona comes in loaded with talent and depth, but is still a little tentative with Wilson’s offensive scheme designed to maximize the Indians’ strengths.
But, with their defense, they should be able to shut down the multi-talents of Henrietta’s speedy, strong backfield.
“We’ve improved week-by-week,” Wilson said. “We’ve made steady progress and I have confidence in these kids. We’re really gelling and I can’t wait to see them show what they can do.”
Friday night’s scrimmage against Archer City was an affair that showed Nocona may just be doing what Wilson said: “gelling.”
One of the most impressive displays was the passing game which saw Indians connecting on the bread-and-butter short tosses as well as drawing the Wildcat defense in tight in order to surprise them with the long plays.
Overall, Nocona showed the balance needed to go far this season.
Before two-a-days Coach Wilson said, “We’re going to the playoffs!”
They probably will.

Headline: Panthers poised to win
“We got after ‘em and we’re gonna get after the rest of ‘em!”
Those are the words of Saint Jo Coach John Jones after last Friday’s scrimmage against the Muenster High School Hornets that saw a solid Panther offensive line open holes for the Saint Jo running game.
“We got a lot out of this last practice game,” Jones said. “We’ve stepped up a lot since two-a-days and we’re really pleased with efforts our kids have given us.”
Jones was particularly complimentary of lineman Charlie Dunn.
“He just did a great job on both sides of the line – offensively and defensively.”
The Panthers open the regular season against S&S Consolidated Friday night and Jones is aware of the Rams’ potential.
“They’re a good, solid ball club,” he said. “They can come at you from many directions.”
Jones is very optimistic about the Panthers chances at a playoff berth in ’97.
“Last year we were 4-6. If we come along like we’ve been doing we could go 8-2 or 9-1.”

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

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Nocona boys beat Saint Jo 55-48

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Saint Jo’s Barrett Johnson and Nocona’s Landon Fatheree, both of their team's leading scorers, compete for a rebound.

The Nocona Indians were able to beat Saint Jo at home on Thursday night in a tight contest.
The Indians won 55-48 against the Panthers in a game where both teams played hard, but made plenty of early season mistakes.
Nocona came into the game following a low-scoring win against Bells earlier in the week 35-30. For a young Indians team that only has a few players with varsity experience this year, every early season win builds confidence.
For Saint Jo, the Panthers were still without several returning starters since football is still going on. Despite that, new Coach Jacob Nocktonick is trying to build what he can with his group of basketball first players that include several key players even when the football team is integrated.
Despite Saint Jo being the smaller school, overall it had the height advantage in the front line since Nocona features only one player, Kasch Johnson, who is built like a post player. That is nothing new for the Indians, who featured a short team the previous year as Coach Brody Wilson emphasizes full-court pressure on defense and pushing the ball in transition in his system that makes up for a lack of height and size.
Initially Nocona’s pace and energy, grabbing several offensive rebounds, got it the lead 9-3. Eventually, the Panthers adjusted and trailed only 12-11 after the first quarter.
Saint Jo got the lead early in the second quarter. Post Trent Gaston took advantage of his size advantage, especially when the Indians had Johnson out, and led 17-12. Both teams had trouble scoring in a rough second quarter as open perimeter shots just were not going in and shots at the rim were tough to convert.
The Panthers led 23-20 heading into halftime.
Both teams had better offensive success pushing the ball when it could in the second half.
Saint Jo broke Nocona’s press and punished the Indians with quick baskets. Nocona ran whenever it could and seemed to put up an array of perimeter shots and drives, getting offensive rebounds it seemed at will to keep the pressure up and infuriate the Panthers coach.
The Indians got a big push from Landon Fatheree in the second half. After scoring eight points in the first half to lead the team, he scored 10 of his team’s 14 points in the third quarter.
Nocona got the lead back, but only led 34-33 heading into the final period.
The Indians had a comfortable lead up 44-36 when Saint Jo’s Gaston fouled out with 4:56 left in the game. Still, the Panthers did not give up and a minute later had whittled Nocona’s lead down to one basket 44-41 with 3:45.
The game stayed a one-possession game for the next two minutes as Saint Jo had several chances to tie or take the lead not go through.
Nocona made its free throws down the stretch to win with a little more comfort, with the final score being 55-48.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. To see more pictures, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870682&T=1

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Nocona’s Meekins signs to Lubbock Christian

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Nocona senior Meg Meekins signed her official letter of intent to play college basketball at Lubbock Christian University on Wednesday. Meekins, the daughter of Brandi and Lance, is a four-year starter on the volleyball and basketball court. She has earned several accolades like being named to the All State Teams for TGCA, TABC, Associated Press and was selected to the All Tournament Team at the UIL State Basketball Tournament in San Antonio last year.“The coaching staff and the community of the LCU program and just knowing you have a staff that coaches you, but also looks over you just like Coach (Kyle) Spitzer did here was a huge part in the recruiting process,” Meekins said. She plans to pursue a degree in either physical or occupational therapy.

For more pictures, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870680&T=1

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Bowie girls survive Bellevue 44-40

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Bowie freshman Laney Seguria made this corner 3-pointer to tie the game up at 40-40 with a minute left in the game.

The Bowie Lady Rabbits got more than they bargained for when they traveled to Bellevue on Tuesday night.
The Lady Rabbits escaped with the win 44-40, taking the lead with less than a minute to go after trailing whole game.
Bowie came into the game confident. The larger 3A school was supposed to play Windthorst, but had to reschedule because the Lady Trojans volleyball team was playing in the state tournament.
Finding a last minute replacement, the Lady Rabbits thought they would have an easy game playing the 1A program down the road. Little did they know.
Bellevue had a couple of players out with injury to limit its depth a bit and a new coach in Celsey Hoffman, but the Lady Eagles were coming off of nearly beating a Nocona team the previous week. While the Lady Indians were missing four starters who were still in volleyball, it still showed this was not a 1A team to take lightly.
Bellevue came out fast showing tough defensive pressure despite giving up size at nearly every position. Within a few minutes the Lady Eagles had used that pressure to force turnovers and convert those steals into transition opportunities.
Also, the energy showed in other areas as Bellevue seemed to grab every loose ball and fought for offensive rebounds despite lacking in height compared to Bowie.
After a little more than four minutes into the game the Lady Eagles led 15-0. The Lady Rabbits had barely been able to set up their offense or attempt a shot against the pressure.
Bowie Coach Matthew Miller had to reset his shell-shocked team during multiple timeouts. The young ballhandlers was reminded how the team was going to break the press defense so it could set up its offense.
Bellevue led 19-4 after the first quarter, led by Mary Grace Broussard and Brittany Gill who each scored six points.
The Lady Rabbits settled down and made some good progress in the second quarter. Their defense switched between man-to-man and 1-3-1 to keep the Lady Eagles off balance. With them taking care of the ball better, there were less chances for Bellevue in transition and the Lady Eagles offense struggled to consistently find ways to score against Bowie’s length.
The Lady Rabbits offense found some success as well. Five different players made at least one basket and the team made two 3-pointers.
While the game was physical from the start, now that Bowie knew what type of game it was in the team responded back. It was not pretty and only enough fouls were called to make the game watchable, but individual foul trouble affected Bellevue harder than the Lady Rabbits in the second quarter.
The Lady Eagles still led heading into halftime, but Bowie had gotten it down to single digits trailing 25-19.
The third quarter was more even between the two teams as both had trouble consistently scoring baskets. Bellevue made three baskets and a couple of free throws to keep ahead.
The Lady Rabbits got a big lift from Lanie Moore, who knocked in all three of her 3-pointers in the quarter, scoring nine of the team’s 12 points.
Bowie still trailed, but had cut the lead down to one point earlier in the quarter and one basket 34-31 heading into the fourth quarter.
Bellevue grew the lead to 38-32 early in the final period. The Lady Rabbits struggled to get anything going offensively and trailed 40-34 midway through the quarter.
Bowie’s Kendall Fallis made a 3-pointer in transition to cut the lead to one basket 40-37.
The score stayed there for the next several minutes even as the Lady Eagles had two starters, Karis Denson and Mattie Broussard, foul out of the game.
With a little more than a minute left, the Lady Rabbits drew up and out of bounds play that got Laney Segura an open shot in the corner. Despite not having made a basket all game, she sunk the 3-pointer to tie the game at 40-40 with a minute still to play.
Bowie had been in a pressure defense for the second half of the fourth quarter to prevent Bellevue from passively running clock. Still in the defense, the team next stole the in-bounds pass and Railey Martin made the undefended layup to give the Lady Rabbits their first lead of the game 42-40 with 48 seconds left.
The Lady Eagles could not tie the score on their next offensive possession. Bowie would made two more free throws to make the final 44-40.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from the game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870678&T=1

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