SPORTS
Bears earn second district title

The Gold-Burg Bears wrapped up the second district title in program history on Thursday night with a win against Fannindel on senior night.
The Bears won 70-25, with the game ending about midway through the fourth quarter due to mercy rule.
Gold-Burg was coming in with confidence in its final regular season game. The Bears had won their opening district game at Forestburg the previous week, which at least guaranteed them a playoff spot since they play in a three-team district. Another win would earn them the district title.
Gold-Burg was the favorite coming in with a 5-4 record. Fannindel before the season was picked to finish last in the district, but the Falcons came in with a respectable 3-5 record. Still, the Bears and their fans were hoping they could get the game done early, but it turns out they got more than they bargained for.
Gold-Burg started the game off like it wanted to when Jayton Epperson scored on the first offensive play of the game to go up 8-0. Then Zander Crawford recovered the following onside kick and it looked like the game was going to be a one-sided smash that was done at halftime.
The Falcons showed their first bit of resistance when their defense came up with a quick stop after four plays. The Bears defense followed by getting the ball back on downs and the offense recovering to drive down to score. Levi Hellinger, playing through a hurt thumb, found Epperson for a 10-yard touchdown pass to go up 16-0.
Fannindel’s offense then got some momentum, mixing things up running inside and outside and testing the Bears secondary on pass-run options. The Falcons drove down the field and scored on a short run to cut the lead to 16-6.
Still, Gold-Burg showed it was still in control when Epperson scored on a 34-yard run to improve the Bears lead to 24-6.
Gold-Burg looked to keep the gas pedal down when its defense forced a turnover when Keelyn Case recovered a fumble. The Bears were heading into score when the second quarter started.
Unfortunately, a fumbled handoff exchange from Gold-Burg was recovered by Fannindel at its own 10-yard line to stop that scoring chance.
It did not take long for the Bears to reverse that mistake. The defense recovered another fumble near midfield, this time by Jepperson. The offense moved down into the red zone again and Hellinger found Jepperson again for a seven-yard touchdown pass to make it 32-6.
The Falcons then went on a long offensive drive that sucked up more than four minutes. While they did not end up scoring because Gold-Burg’s defense forced another turnover, taking up so much time proved to be costly since the Bears were trying to end the game by halftime.
Paul Jones intercepted a pass at Gold-Burg’s 10-yard line. Facing fourth down, Jones then got loose for a 67-yard touchdown run to put the Bears up 40-6 with less than a minute to go before halftime.
Gold-Burg would need to score twice to end the game due to the mercy rule being 45 points. The Bears got the first part of the equation to work when Crawford recovered the ensuing onside kick.
Unfortunately, Gold-Burg turned the ball over on a fumbled snap exchange between center and quarterback. Even with the Bears getting the ball right back when Epperson intercepted a deep pass, Gold-Burg was ran out of time.
The Bears went into halftime up 40-6.
The Falcons came out and showed right away they were not just going to lay down and let Gold-Burg end the game early. Fannindel scored on a 21-yard touchdown run from its fast running back on an outside run to make it 40-12.
The Falcons then followed it up by recovering a fumble during the ensuing kickoff to get the ball back. Then Fannindel found this little swing pass to its running back that seemed to exploit the Bears defense multiple times in the second half. The first time it went 20-yards for a touchdown to make it 40-18 midway through the third quarter.
Despite being up multiple scores, the Gold-Burg team was frustrated. A game that seemed to be on the cusp of ending early now was farther away as the team made mistake after mistake.
The Bears got back on track when they scored quickly as Epperson ran for 36-yard touchdown to make the score 48-18. Gold-Burg’s defense then came up with a goal line stand, forcing the Falcons to turn it over on downs at the one-yard line.
The Bears then drove the length of the field before getting Hayden Chambers to score on seven-yard run. Gold-Burg led 56-18 and were one score away from ending the game early heading into the fourth quarter.
Fannindel would not give up though. It again exploited the swing pass to its running back who went 37-yards up the sideline for a touchdown to cut the lead to 56-25.
Despite another setback, the Bears answered back and scored on a 15-yard run from Jones to make it 62-25. Needing a stop on defense, Gold-Burg got more than that. A bad snap from the Falcons led to Jones scooping the ball up and scoring for the game’s final touchdown.
The good extra point from Jorge Morales were the two points that ended the game. The Bears won 70-25 with 6:19 left to play in the fourth quarter.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870232&T=1
SPORTS
Bowie track runs at Peaster in final meet before district

The Bowie track team competed in its final meet before district last week on March 27 at Peaster.
The boy’s team finished fourth overall while the girl’s team got seventh place.
The boy’s team had three athletes who won their events.
Russell Anderson won the 400 meter race, Braden Rhyne won the triple jump and Tyler Richey won the pole vault events.
Some other highlights for the team included Cody West getting second in the shot put, the 4×400 relay team getting second place, Richey getting fourth in the 110 meter hurdles, Rhyne getting third in the 300 meter hurdles and Jorge De Leon getting fourth in both the discus and shot put.
Brayden Willett got second place in the 3200 meters, third place in the 1600 meters and fourth place in the 800 meter race.
The Lady Rabbit highlights included Dallie Monroe getting fourth in the shot put, Laney Segura getting fifth in the 800 meters and Olivia Richey getting sixth in the 100 meters.
The 4×200 relay got fifth place and the 4×100 relay got sixth place to earn points.
Bowie competes in the district rack meet this week at Iowa Park. The running finals are scheduled for 5 p.m. on April 4.
Results for all Bowie varsity athletes who finished sixth or better are in the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Montague County has nine named all-region basketball players

Nocona’s Meg Meekins (above) not only earned all-region honors, she also earned all-state honors and was named the Texas Girls Coaches Association 1A-4A Player of the Year.
Other Montague County basketball athletes who were named to all-region teams including Rayder Mann from Bowie and Reagan Phipps from Nocona. From Saint Jo, Payzlie Cervantes, Taylor Patrick and Barrett Johnson were named to the all-region team. From Forestburg, Jesus Sanchez, Brenna Briles and Kyler Willett were named to the all-region team.
For pictures of all nine athletes, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
SPORTS
Baseball Roundup

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers lost a close game at home against Perrin-Whitt on March 28.
The Pirates won 8-3, only taking the lead in the seventh inning after the Panthers had come back to tie up the game.
Saint Jo was coming into the game after a close one-run loss in extra innings against Perrin-Whitt earlier last week.
The second game started with two scoreless innings before the Pirates got on the board in the third inning. A line drive into left field resulted in a fielding error that allowed one run to score. A double followed that drove in another run as Perrin-Whitt went up 2-0.
The Pirates added to the lead in the fourth inning, driving in a run on a single to extend its lead to 3-0.
Saint Jo answered back in the same inning. Charlie Evans drove in one run with a single. Later in the inning, with a runners on second on third base, the Perrin-Whitt pitcher balked twice, an illegal pitching motion, that allowed both runners to advance to home plate. The Panthers had tied the score at 3-3.
After a scoreless fifth and sixth inning, the Pirates had the pressure on in the seventh inning.
With the bases loaded, a hit batter and later a walk scored two runs for Perrin-Whitt. Then a bases clearing double scored three more runs to break the game open in the final inning.
Saint Jo tried to answer in its final at-bats, getting two singles and drawing a walk but could not get enough things going to score.
The Pirates won 8-3.
Evans led the team with one RBI and two hits as the team finished with five hits and drew six walks.
Sam Martin allowed eight runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out six and walking three batters in 6.2 innings of work. The defense committed three fielding errors overall.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians had a tough start to district last week, losing both games in their series against Lindsay.
The Knights won 11-4 and 7-3 against the Indians last week as Nocona hopes to get back into the playoffs.
Nocona was coming off a string of good wins the previous week against smaller schools, but knew Lindsay would be tough.
The first game saw Lindsay continually score runs in the first four innings, building a 9-0 lead before the Indians could get on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning with two runs.
Nocona added two more runs in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 9-4 and get some momentum heading into the final two innings.
After a scoreless sixth inning, the Knights scored two runs in the seventh inning to extend their lead and eventually win 11-4.
Miller Jentry led the team with two RBIs while RJ Walker also drove in two runs. The team had only two hits, but drew nine walks in the game.
Brody Langford allowed six runs (two earned) on five hits while striking out three in three innings pitches. Landon Fatheree allowed five runs (two earned) on seven hits while striking out one and walking four. The defense committed five fielding errors.
Nocona knew it could play better and tried to in the second game later in the week while playing on the road at Lindsay.
The Knights again took the early lead, scoring in three of the first four innings and going up 6-0. The Indians scored two runs in the fifth inning and one in the top of the sixth inning to initially cut the lead to 6-3. Lindsay answered with one run in the bottom of the sixth inning and held on to win 7-3.
Walker Murphey led the team with two RBIs after hit a double. Kutter Cabrera drove in the other run for Nocona. The Indians finished with three hits and drew only two walks, making the most of their limited opportunities.
Walker got the start on the mound and allowed seven runs (two earned) on eight hits while striking out six batters and walking two in six innings of work. The defense committed six fielding errors overall.
Bellevue
The Bellevue Eagles started district last week playing a series against fellow 1A team Bryson.
Unfortunately, the Cowboys won both games handily 11-1 and 10-1.
Bellevue was coming off a tough week where it hung tough playing 2A teams Nocona and Chico, not getting wins but competing well against the more experienced and bigger schools.
Unfortunately against Bryson in the first game, a few bad defensive innings threw away a good start to the game. Bryce Ramsey drew a leadoff walk in the first inning and stole his way around to second base, third base before eventually coming home on a steal.
Bellevue led 1-0 after the first inning.
That was the highlight as the Cowboys scored four runs in both the third and fourth inning to take control of the game. Bryson eventually added three more in the sixth inning.
The Eagles needed to score at least one run to avoid getting run-ruled and play the seventh inning, but could not do it. The Cowboys won 11-1.
Walker Strahan, Ryan Jones and Ramsey each had one hit to lead the team. With the Eagles drawing only one walk, it was a tough day swinging the bats for Bellevue.
Defensively, the Eagles allowed 12 hits and walked four batters, though avoided committing any fielding errors.
The second game on the road was not much better.
Bryson built up a 6-0 lead before Bellevue scored in the fifth inning. Cam Blaylock scored on the base paths to cut the lead to 6-1. The Cowboys responded in the same inning scoring four runs to go up 10-1.
The game cuts off on the Game Changer app from there.
Ramsey led the team with three hits in the game and Strahan was behind him with two hits as the team finished with six total and drew one walk.
Defensively, Bryson had nine hits and drew eight walks, but Bellevue did not commit any fielding errors.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
-
NEWS2 years ago
2 hurt, 1 jailed after shooting incident north of Nocona
-
NEWS1 year ago
Suspect indicted, jailed in Tia Hutson murder
-
NEWS2 years ago
SO investigating possible murder/suicide
-
NEWS2 years ago
Wreck takes the life of BHS teen, 16
-
NEWS2 years ago
Murder unsolved – 1 year later Tia Hutson’s family angry, frustrated with no arrest
-
NEWS2 years ago
Sheriff’s office called out to infant’s death
-
NEWS2 years ago
Bowie Police face three-hour standoff after possible domestic fight
-
NEWS2 years ago
Driver stopped by a man running into the street, robbed at knifepoint