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
A solid day was had by Montague county high school tracksters at the State Track and Field Meet May 16 in Austin.
Bellevue’s Mattie Broussard had a pair of second place finishes in both the 800-meter run with a time of 2:21.41 and the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:31.33. Broussard also was 4th in the 1,600-meters with a time of 5:22.18.
Her teammate Brylie Hager was 9th in the 110-meter hurdles in 19.93.
Forestburg’s Brenna Briles was 4th in the triple jump with a 35’9 1’2” leap. Her teammate Jocelyn Rich was 4th in the pole vault with a 9’ leap.
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
Bowie had a pair of top four finishes at the State Track and Field Meet May 14.
Sophomore Brayden Willett made it onto the medal stand, finishing 3rd in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:17.89. Bowie junior Tyler Richey finished 4th in the pole vault after a 14’6” effort.
The top two finishers from Holliday, also in Bowie’s district, celebrated with him after he crossed the finish line.
“It was kind of surprising,” Willett said about Ryder and Noah Stroman embracing him in a celebratory hug. “They’re good guys, so it was kind of cool.”
For further details, pick up a copy of Thursday’s Bowie News.
This past week found your outdoor scribe doing some rather mundane things such as yard work, vegetable gardening and repairs around the old cabin. Oh, I also wrapped up a couple of magazine articles. I always enjoy sharing my adventures with all of you in this column but to be perfectly honest, not nearly as much as my ‘field work’ hunting and fishing which is an iatrical part of any good outdoor column. If you’re like me, you much prefer reading about an adventure that you can also partake.
I am far more comfortable telling you about an outdoor experience I had firsthand knowledge of rather than the reporting part of my job as an outdoor communicator. So, this week, I’d do a bit of ‘reporting’ and share some planned adventures I have scheduled for the next couple weeks. By the time you’re reading this, I will have already been in the woods in quest of a fat ‘eater’ hog and probably have some freshly caught blue catfish fillets in the freezer, details will follow in the next couple of weeks.
I’ll kick things off early in the week heading down to my friend Jeff Rice’s Buck and Bass Ranch located on the upper end of Lake Fork. Jeff produces our weekly TV show “A Sportsman’s Life” which airs on Carbon TV and YouTube. Our plan is to film a segment of our show on stalking wild hogs. It will be a challenge to capture the shot with all the thick grown spring vegetation. It could happen fast and require a fast shot. We will be breaking in my CVA Cascade scout rifle in 308 caliber. This short barrel little rifle is light and easy to handle in thick cover, ideal for this type of hunting. Our plan is to hit the woods during the last couple hours of daylight and ease along the trails, watching and especially listening for hogs. Wild porkers are vocal critters and it’s common to hear them before seeing them. We will play the wind and attempt to get downwind and then close the distance for a shot but you can never guess how a hog hunt will unfold. Wild pork or not, Jeff and I always have a great time together and I plan to bring a side of wild pork ribs already slow smoked and covered in brown sugar and BBQ sauce with a side of camp baked beans!
After a tasty dinner we plan to get a good night’s sleep and head out the next morning for a planned fishing trip with guide David Hanson at Lake Tawakoni. Both channel and blue catfish are on a very good bite right but it’s hard to pass up those snow white blue catfish fillets when the bite is good. David is, to my knowledge, the most veteran catfish guide on the lake and became friends close to a quarter-century ago when we first began fishing
together. The plan is to use freshy cut shad in shallow water and target eater size blues weighing between 2 and about 10 pounds but as every catfish angler knows, it’s always possible to connect with a big trophy size blue when fishing Tawakoni.
Next week, I plan to join my long-time friend J.C. McCollough on the Red River below the Texoma dam. I’ve been fishing and hunting with J.C. for many years and look forward to getting with him again. I would describe this to catching big catfish in a barrel but in this case the deep holes in the river are comprised of several acres. The water level in the river below Texoma are dictated by the water release at the dam by the Corp of Engineers. When there is a current in the river, fish move upstream to feed on baitfish coming through the dam. When the water recedes, they fish move into the deeper holes where baitfish also seek refuge from the falling water. Catching will be fast paced with the chance to connect with some big fish as well as limits of “eater” size fish. We’ll be rigging with big live gizzard shad fished weightless on a free line, using medium spinning gear. The bigger fish will often nail the frisky live shad and the fresh cut bait is a sure way to connect with lots of smaller fish. There is something very exciting about fishing big live baits on a slack line. One minute your bait will be darting around and you will occasionally feel it taking up slack and the next when a big blue catfish grabs the bait, the rod will bow and the fight will be on. There is usually no ‘setting the hook’, by the time you feel the fish, it will already be hooked and making a strong run to the nearest submerged brush. Your job will be to keep the drag set just enough to keep pressure on the fish but not so much as to cause the line to break.
J.C. uses his airboat to access these deeper holes because of the very shallow water. While it’s not impossible to portage a kayak or small boat in the river, it often requires a few miles travel to get to these deep holes, this is best accomplished by experienced kayakers with plenty of endurance. There was a time when I was game for this type fishing but I much prefer to do my river fishing these days from a boat designed to negotiate the shallow waters.
Squirrel season is underway in many of the east Texas counties and there’s some pretty good fox squirrel hunting here close to home in Kaufman county and I’ve been thinking about how tasty a big skillet of smothered squirrel with rice, gravy and biscuits would be. Bream are on the beds now and my friend Edgar Cotton invited me to come do some ‘perch jerking’ with him and his son David-it’s in the plans! Well, hopefully next week I will have a ‘sure nuff’ adventure of two to relate you you-I’m ready to get some relief from all this work around the homeplace! LC
You can contact Tawakoni/Fork catfish guide David Hanson at 902-268-7391. Contact J.C. McCollough at 580-372-0320.
Listen to Luke’s podcast, “Catfish Radio” just about everywhere podcast are found.
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