SPORTS
Jackrabbits beat Boyd 25-18
The Bowie Jackrabbits earned their first district win in front of their home crowd against Boyd on Friday night.
The Jackrabbits won 25-18, withstanding a second half comeback from the Yellowjackets to pull out the win.
Bowie came into the game feasting for a win. Despite a 3-4 record, the Jackrabbits were 0-3 in district play, with two of those games being winnable on the night.
They thought they could get one against a young Boyd team that came in with a 1-5 record and also looking for its first district win. Still, that record proved to be deceptive since the Yellowjackets showed they could play from the opening kickoff.
The pooched kickoff was sent sky high and Bowie’s player failed to call fair catch in a fashion that caught the referee’s eye. Boyd recovered the onside kick and then went down and scored on its opening possession when a wide receiver screen scooted 11-yards into the end zone.
The Jackrabbits responded immediately, marching down the field with ease and scoring in just more than two minutes. Running back Justin Clark scooted his way for a six-yard touchdown run. The extra point put Bowie up 7-6.
Bowie’s defense recovered from the shocking first drive to buckle down on Boyd’s pass happy offense. From the beginning the Jackrabbits did not allow the Yellowjackets to get anything on the ground so Boyd threw the ball as much as any team Bowie had faced all season, but with limited success for the rest of the half.
The Jackrabbits got the ball back and still in the first quarter, Rayder Mann bought time with his legs before finding Tyler Richey wide open. Richey made a move past a closing defender and ran the rest of the way in to complete a 37-yard touchdown pass.
Bowie led 14-6 heading into the second quarter, having recovered from the opening knock down well.
The defense gave the Jackrabbits a good chance to score to start the second quarter. Cornerback Mo Azouak intercepted two passes on consecutive drives. On the second one he returned it inside of Boyd’s 10-yard line.
Unfortunately, this would be the start of when Bowie’s offense seemed to run into some hiccups that would last the rest of the night as drives seemed to find ways to stall.
This one did too, but the Jackrabbits were close enough for kicker Nick Salazar to make a 23-yard field goal. Bowie led 17-6 and despite some good play from the Jackrabbits, that was the score at halftime as well.
Boyd came out ready to still fight in the second half despite its offense being neutered since its opening drive. The short screen passes were not consequential and any deep passes had not been on target enough to routinely hurt the Jackrabbit defense or had been broken up.
To start the third quarter, the Yellowjackets drove their deepest into Bowie’s territory since the start of the game. It looked like the Jackrabbit defense was going to get a stop as they had Boyd in a fourth and long situation.
The Yellowjackets were able to find their slot receiver just open enough for a 23-yard touchdown pass on a go-route, finally connecting on a deep pass. It cut Bowie’s lead to 17-12 and showed the team it was not going to coast to an easy win.
Frustration mounted as the Jackrabbit offense continued to struggle. The rhythm just was not right at the beginning of drives and after the first quarter big plays were few and far between to keep the chains moving if one play went off script.
It went into the fourth quarter with Bowie still up 17-12, but one big play from the Yellowjackets could upend that.
It turns out it was a disappointing sequence. The Jackrabbits offense decided to go for it on fourth down since they were in Boyd’s territory, but too far for a field goal attempt.
The Yellowjacket defense came up with the stop and then their offense hit on another big play.
It was a wide receiver screen on the left side of the field that broke open for a 58-yard touchdown catch and run. Boyd had its first lead since the beginning of the game 18-17.
While there was still plenty of time in the quarter, Bowie’s spirits were as down as it had been to start the game. With its offensive sputtering leading directly to the Yellowjackets next score, momentum was on Boyd’s side and the Jackrabbits would have to find a way to make a big play.
They found it on their next drive. Facing its first third down of the drive, Mann looked deep and found Hunter Rodriguez wide open behind the defense on the home sideline. He reeled it in and took it into the end zone for a 66-yard touchdown.
The good two-point conversion put Bowie up 25-18.
The score had happened fast so Boyd still had multiple attempts to respond.
The Yellowjackets drove into the Jackrabbits red zone on their next drive. Bowie’s defense held and on fourth and goal cornerback Boston Farris intercepted the pass in the end zone for a touchback and to complete the crucial goal line stand.
Later Boyd’s defense turned the ball over on downs near midfield.
The dagger came when punter Zac Harris nailed a punt to the Yellowjackets four-yard line with 17 seconds left.
Bowie won 25-18.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News. For pictures from the game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6869929&T=1
Two former Bowie boy’s golf members played in the PGA University Championship on Nov. 12-13. (L-R) Cy Egenbacher and Imanol Walker are both in the Sam Houston University PGA Golf Managerment program. The team finished 16th overall. Egenbacher shot 168 during the two rounds and finished tied for 67th. Walker shot 180 and finished 84th. The tournament is a fun one for univesities that have PGA Golf Management programs, which is for individuals who want to work in the golf industry after graduation.
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers came up short at the regional final for the third straight season, one game away from state, on Saturday at the regional tournament in Midlothian.
The Lady Panthers beat Evant in straight sets 3-0 on Friday to reach the final game against Harrold which they lost 3-0.
Saint Jo knew before the season even started it would likely come to this big challenge, but it still had to go through all the steps to get there.
The Panthers reached the regional finals the previous two seasons, losing both times to eventual state champion Blum.
With district realignment meant a new region so a rematch with a Blum program that had graduated several key players from those teams would have to wait until state possibly.
Instead, a showdown against last year’s state runner-up Harrold was forecast in the regional final.
With the team having six seniors, with five of them having been on varsity since they were freshman, it was this year or bust for Saint Jo.
First, the Lady Panthers had to beat Evant. The Lady Elks leaned heavily on a big front court player. When she rotated to the back row, Evant showed almost no net resistance which meant Saint Jo hitters had free reign during that time.
The Lady Panthers won each set pretty easily, with the scores being 25-17, 25-17 and 25-19.
This set up the match with Harrold the team had been anticipating. The Lady Hornets had been at or near the top of the state standings since the beginning of the season.
Harrold had so much respect it had even played bigger local schools this season, beating Bowie in straight sets and Nocona in five sets during its pre-district schedule.
The two teams had met earlier in the season when the Lady Hornets attended Saint Jo’s hosted tournament. The two teams met in the tournament championship where Harrold won 2-1.
Still, with the tournament format being a best of three instead of five and the match after playing an exhausting schedule of five matches the previous two days, that result was not gospel, especially two months later.
The challenge is Harrold had multiple big hitters at the net, which is a big deal since most 1A teams are lucky to have one or two, which meant constant pressure on Saint Jo’s defense.
This also meant the Lady Panthers constantly had to find ways to attack the Lady Hornet defense as well or it would face strong hit after strong hit which was unsustainable for any team.
The first set saw the Lady Hornets get out to a good start before the Lady Panthers rallied back and took a little lead 8-7. Unfortunately, it started turn from there.
Harrold had some good runs from the service line that Saint Jo struggled to make much offense out of and led to the Lady Hornets pulling away. Harrold won 4-1 to get the lead to 11-9 and then extended it to 14-11, 17-13. Another 4-1 run and the Lady Hornets could smell the end of the first set coming.
The Lady Hornets won 25-17 to take the lead 1-0.
Saint Jo needed to bounce back, but unfortunately never got anything going in set two.
Harrold led 4-1 and then 8-2. The Lady Panthers would have needed a huge run at some point from the service line to get back into the set, but it never came as the Lady Hornets lead grew more and more.
Harrold took set two 25-13 to go up 2-0 and had all of the momentum.
Saint Jo had its back against the wall, knowing the only option was to hope for a comeback that would lead to a fifth set, but to get there it needed to win set three.
The Lady Panthers initially started on the right foot. After falling being 4-1 to start the previous two sets, it was Saint Jo that started well up 4-1. Unfortunately, the Lady Hornets came roaring back, going on an 8-2 run as it led 9-6, then 12-8 and 15-10.
It looked like it was heading towards a similar place as set one with Harrold slowly running away with the set before the Lady Panthers made one last gasp.
Saint Jo eventually cut the lead down to one point, trailing 20-19 as the set entered the final stretch and the Lady Panthers had their best momentum of the match.
Unfortunately, it was Harrold that was able to close the set out with momentum, earning the final five points to win 25-19 and the match 3-0.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News. For pictures from Friday’s match, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870620&T=1
The Nocona Lady Indians lost in the regional final on Saturday for the second straight season, falling one game from the state tournament.
Wink won 3-0 in a tough match the Lady Indians just could not turn their way.
Nocona came into the match after three one-sided playoff wins, though the previous match against Forsan ended dramatically with a comeback in set four.
Wink came in with 39 wins, but there was hope the Lady Indians more difficult schedule might give them an advantage. The Lady Cats had the advantage of having Aizlyn Dewberry as their middle-blocker who could play all the way around.
The first set was competitive up until the midway point as neither team got three points or more ahead. Nocona led 13-12, but then Wink went on an 8-2 run to open the set up and led 20-15.
Even as the Lady Indians played better, it was not enough to make up the deficit as the Lady Cats won 25-21, with that stretch making the difference.
Nocona tried to maximize when Dewberry was in rotation in the back row since she would more likely be less involved in the attack and also away from the net on defense. The thing was, it was difficult to get balls down against Wink since the Lady Cats team proved to be solid in all aspects.
The second set did not start well for Nocona which put the Lady Indians on the defensive even as they stayed within range of two to three points.
Wink extended its lead to 17-13 and it looked like it might start to pull away. Instead Nocona fought back within one point, down 19-18 and hoping it could ride the momentum to snag the lead and control of the set.
Instead, the Lady Cats won six of the next eight points as they closed out the set strong, winning 25-20 and leading 2-0.
The Lady Indians knew they now needed to complete a five-set comeback if they wanted to win the match. To do that, they would first need to win set three to extend the match.
The opening 20 points were competitive and back and forth as both teams exchanged leads, though Wink established a small 11-9 lead. Then the Lady Cats went on an 8-2 run to extend the lead to 19-11 and the end was near.
Nocona tried to climb back as it outplayed Wink the rest of the set, but it was not enough to make up an eight-point deficit. The Lady Cats won 25-18 to secure the victory 3-0.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from the match, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870622&T=1
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