SPORTS
Jackrabbits come up just short in opening district game at Peaster
A week after scoring the second most points in program history, the Bowie Jackrabbits lost their opening district game on the road at Peaster in a defensive struggle.
The Greyhounds hung on to win 10-9, doing all of their damage in the first quarter while the Jackrabbits came up just short of coming back in the final three quarters.
Bowie came into the game with something to prove. While the Jackrabbits and Peaster both came into district play with 3-1 records, the Greyhounds played what was perceived to be the better teams and were a preseason playoff pick within the district.
Bowie was picked to finish last and now that district was starting, it was time for the Jackrabbits to get exposed.
In the first quarter it looked like that was coming to fruition. Peaster hit on a some explosive pass plays down the field that set up a short touchdown run to start the game up 7-0. Later in the first quarter, the Greyhounds then hit on an impressive 35-yard field goal to take 10-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
Bowie’s defense made the adjustments in its secondary on defense and ratcheted up the pressure on the quarterback.
While it did not completely shut down Peaster’s run game, it did make Greyhounds running back Kaden Albert earn every bit of his 101 yards on the ground and not let anyone else hurt the Jackrabbits.
Peaster only gained 46 yards of offense in the final three quarters.
The Bowie offense were finding some success running the ball, but not quite enough success to get out of third and long situations it kept finding itself in when something went wrong.
Twice the Jackrabbits entered the red zone in the second quarter. On one trip, Bowie was able to settle for a short 23-yard field goal from Nick Salazar.
The other trip saw a holding penalty back the team up too far for another field goal chance and the Jackrabbits turned the ball over on downs.
Bowie went into halftime trailing 10-3.
The Jackrabbits defense continued to keep Bowie in the game. In what has emerged as a trend, the Jackrabbit defense pitched its third second half shut out of the season in five games. It would be in four of the games, but the team allowed Dublin to score once in the second half in the previous week’s blow out win.
The Jackrabbits racked up seven sacks, with Noah Metzler leading the team with three while Preacher Chambers and Zac Harris each added two.
The team also forced and recovered two fumbles in the game. Metzler forced one and Tyson Jordan the other one while Hayden Rodriguez recovered both. As a team, Bowie finished with 30 tackles for loss in the game.
On offense, the Jackrabbits continued to struggle in the second half, but got a boost on their biggest play of the game. Running back Justin Clark proved to be a workhorse all game as he finished with team high 151 yards rushing. He also scored the team’s only touchdown when he found a lane on a sweep to the left for a 25-yard touchdown run.
Unfortunately, a special teams gaff would come back to bite Bowie later.
A high snap on the extra point led to a missed kick opportunity and the Jackrabbits trailed 10-9. With it still being the third quarter and the defense playing well, Bowie had time to not dwell on the missed opportunity. Unfortunately, that would be the Jackrabbits last good chance.
Bowie’s offense turned the ball over twice in the game on a fumble and an interception. The Greyhounds played tight and physical coverage which seemed to limit the Jackrabbits wide receiver screen passing game as Bowie was held to 75 yards passing.
Trying to make Peaster pay with passes down the field unfortunately did not produce the big plays Bowie needed to exploit the strategy, which Coach Tyler Price thought was the difference in the game.
“A couple of times we just didn’t make plays in the air,” Price said. “We had a couple of dropped passes. We didn’t win one-on-one matchups outside and those are things we have to get better at. When the ball comes to you, you have to make plays.”
It made the final score that much more crushing as the Jackrabbits fell 10-9.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Bowie boys
The Bowie Jackrabbits had a good tournament back from the Christmas break last week, playing four games at Bridgeport.
The Jackrabbits went 3-1 overall, with the one loss coming against a bigger schools that is state-ranked.
Bowie started the tournament playing a small but athletic team in 4A Western Hills that liked to press on defense and shoot a lot of 3-pointers.
The Jackrabbits started the game out well, going up 14-6. Bowie was able to stay in control up 25-18 at halftime. The Cougars rode the hot outside shooting of one of their players, but the Jackrabbits had more of a team effort offensively throughout the game that never wavered.
Bowie won easily 51-38 to start off the tournament well. Rayder Mann led the team with 15 points while Gaige Goodman was second with 10 points and Adam Pickett had nine points.
The second game did not go well as the Jackrabbits were matched up with 4A state-ranked team Burkburnett.
Unlike the previous game, the Bulldogs press defense sped up the game to a pace Bowie did not want to be. After a close first quarter, Burkburnett had two quarters it scored more than 20 points that the Jackrabbits just could not match. The Bulldogs won 78-47.
Mann led the team with 17 points while Goodman was second with seven points.
The second day saw Bowie play previous Montague County rival Nocona for the first time since 2022.
The Indians led early 10-4, but the Jackrabbits cut into the lead and trailed only 20-16 at halftime. Bowie’s offense had a good third quarter, equaling its first half total on offense while limiting Nocona to seven points.
The Jackrabbits then made enough of their free throws in the fourth quarter to keep the Indians at bay as they won 41-34.
Mann led the team with 12 points while Bradly Horton was second with 10 points.
Bowie was able to take that win into its final game of the tournament, playing 4A Bonham. The Jackrabbits beat the Warriors 53-39 to close out the tournament on a good note.
Bowie girls
The Bowie Lady Rabbits came back from the holiday break and played a non-district warm-up game at Pottsboro on Friday to get back into shape.
The state-ranked 3A Lady Cardinals team won 56-35 against the Lady Rabbits.
Bowie had a great week heading into the Christmas break. The Lady Rabbits had started district 2-0 with wins against Iowa Park and Jacksboro. With district play waiting for the team this week, Bowie had one game to get its see legs back.
It did not start well for the Lady Rabbits. Pottsboro went ahead 19-6. Bowie had nowhere to go but up as it cut the lead to 25-15 at halftime.
Then the Lady Cardinals responded with a huge 24 point third quarter that put the game out of reach for the Lady Rabbits. Bowie finished strong with 15 points in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough to make up the big lead.
Pottsboro won 56-35.
Parker Riddle led the team with 12 points while Hanna Bell was second with 11 points.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
For more pictures of the Bowie boys at the Bridgeport tournament, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6871607&T=1
The Bellevue basketball teams both played in the playoffs for the first time in several years. The Lady Eagles finished fourth in the district to qualify after missing the previous season. In the bi-district round, Bellevue had to play the eventual state champs Newcastle.
The Eagles also finished fourth, though they played Saint Jo in a play-in game for third place. Bellevue then had to play state-ranked Graford in the bi-district round before ending its season.
The spring season saw Bellevue bring back its baseball program after many years.
While the team struggled during its initial season, it is a step in the first step for a program that hopes to compete well in the near future. In golf, the Lady Eagles ended up winning the district title to qualify for the regional tournament.
In the fall, both of Bellevue’s cross country teams finished second at district and qualified for regionals.
There, Mattie Broussard was able to qualify for the state meet individually after winning the regional title.
At state, Broussard came in ninth place to earn a medal.
To see pictures and highlights from all of the area schools, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Prairie Valley program had a good spring to start 2024. In tennis Case Carpenter qualified for regionals after finishing second at the district meet in boy’s singles. In golf, the Lady Bulldogs team finished second at the district tournament to qualify for regionals.
To cap off the spring season, Linzie Priddy qualified for the state track meet in the 800 meter race, where she placed ninth overall.
The fall season saw the Lady Bulldogs finish second in district to qualify for the playoffs. In the bi-district round, Prairie Valley held on to beat Vernon Northside in five sets to continue its season one more game. In the area round, the Lady Bulldogs lost to Garner.
In cross country, the program had one boy and one girl qualify for the state meet for the second straight year.
Josh Stout was running at state for the second time and he improved on his first appearance as she placed 29th. Priddy, running at the state cross country meet for her third time, finished 84th.
To see pictures and highlights from all of the area schools, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
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