The Bowie Jackrabbits lost a tough game on the road Friday night against Vernon that puts their playoff hopes in the hands of fate going into their bye-week.
The Lions won 51-26, pulling away in the second half after the Jackrabbits had clawed their way back into the game in the second quarter.
Bowie came in as the underdog, playing a Vernon team with 5-2 record that had a lot of playmakers that could break the game open. Still, the Jackrabbits were fresh off their first district win and were already in survival mode if they likely wanted to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The game did not start out well for Bowie. Vernon drove down the field and scored on a short run to take the lead. The Lions followed it up with a long catch and run to the running back for 33 yards for another score.
Down 14-0, the Jackrabbit offense hit on a big pass play. Rayder Mann found running back Justin Clark streaking wide open down the middle of the field for a 44-yard touchdown pass. It cut the lead to 14-7.
Unfortunately, still in the first quarter, Vernon came right back to score on a big play. The Lions running back got loose for a 74-yard touchdown run to go up 21-7.
Early in the second quarter, Bowie was able to hit on another big pass play. Mann found tight end Zac Harris open down the seam for a 32-yard touchdown pass. Unfortunately, Vernon blocked the extra point and returned it the other way for two points. The Lions led 23-13.
Still, the Jackrabbit defense got a stop and the offense drove down the field into Vernon’s red zone. There, rolling to his right, Mann found Tyler Richey who caught a tightly contested pass for an eight-yard touchdown pass. It cut the lead to 23-19.
Unfortunately, that would be as close as Bowie would get. Hoping to hold that score until halftime, Vernon had other ideas. The Lions drove down the field and scored on a short pass right before halftime to extend their lead to 30-19 heading into the second half.
Vernon was able to feed off that momentum to start the third quarter since it was receiving the ball first. The Lions then scored quickly when their quarterback scrambled for a 54-yard touchdown run.
The earlier four-point deficit had changed in a hurry as now Bowie found itself down 37-19.
The offense struggled in the second half as explosive plays in the passing game were harder to come by. The Jackrabbits were not able to take their time running the ball for short gains like they usually like to establish since they were down multiple scores for the entire second half.
Vernon’s offense scored twice more on short runs after long drives to push its lead up to 51-19. Bowie scored once more at the end of the game when Lane Whitfield found the end zone after a five-yard run.
It made the final score 51-26.

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