SPORTS
Gold-Burg loses to Oakwood in area round
The Gold-Burg Bears lost in the area round of the playoffs on Friday night against Oakwood at Ferris High School.
The Panthers won 63-24 in a game where the Bears were trailing, but never gave up.
Gold-Burg came into the game confident and hopeful it could keep its magical season going. For only the second time in program history, the Bears had not only won the district title, but had won their bi-district playoff game the previous week.
The win the previous week against Woodson had cost a starter as Caleb Epperson could only watch from the sideline a week after suffering a serious head injury. Still, Gold-Burg thought it could overcome and set more program history by advancing past the area round.
Oakwood had a nearly identical record at 6-5 while the Bears had a 7-4 record. The Panthers were only ranked four spots higher than the Bears heading into this season so it looked like the game was going to an evenly matched thriller.
Oakwood took the first drive and slowly but surely worked its way down the field, mixing in power runs with Gavin Wilbanks before letting its most dynamic athlete, Dayden Velasquez, handle the ball in situations in pass-run plays.
Gold-Burg made the Panthers earn every yard in a nearly five minute drive, but Oakwood executed and scored on a short touchdown run to take the early lead 7-0.
Then the Panthers recovered the ensuing onside kick and it looked like things were about to turn real bad for Gold-Burg. Thankfully, the Bears’ defense again was stiff in Oakwood’s slow march towards their end zone.
This time, Gold-Burg was able to keep the Panthers out, forcing a turnover on downs at its own five-yard line.
Unfortunately, the Bears first offensive drive did not go anywhere. Backed up near its own end zone, Gold-Burg made the rare call, in six-man football, to punt the ball away.
Oakwood would then score less than a minute later on a nine-yard run to push its lead to 15-0 heading into the second quarter.
The Bears’ offense had a bit better of a time on their second drive. Gold-Burg stuck to the script this time around, running hard for short but consistent gains and even got a pass interference call to keep the chains moving.
Then the Bears set up a middle wide-receiver screen pass to Keelyn Case from Levi Hellinger for a 16-yard touchdown pass. It cut the lead to 15-8 and Gold-Burg had renewed hope.
Unfortunately, Oakwood answered back quickly. Getting away from its power running game that the Bears had defended well despite being the smaller team overall, the Panthers decided to play out of the spread more and empower Velasquez to take the reins.
He scored on his second touchdown run of the game, this one a 26-yard run, to put Oakwood back up by two scores 23-8.
Despite Gold-Burg coming off a successful drive, its offense stalled in its next drive. Not able to pick up consistent short to medium gains, the Bears were hunting for the big play more and more and came up empty, turning it over on downs at its own 32-yard line.
It looked like Gold-Burg’s defense might hold as it prevented Oakwood from moving the ball much farther, until Velasquez found a receiver open for a 25-yard touchdown pass after scrambling around. The Panthers led 31-8 heading into halftime.
Frustrations had mounted in the first half as the Bears fell further behind, with offensive execution and body language being some things coaches and players were upset about. While those stayed around until the end of the game, it did not lead to the boiling point explosion that it seemed like it might by the end of the game.
The second half saw Gold-Burg come out and lead a successful offensive drive. Paul Jones got loose on a 23-yard touchdown run to get the Bears back on the board and cut the lead to 31-15.
While Gold-Burg’s defense did a good job of making Oakwood’s offense work, it was not enough to get a stop as the Panthers eventually scored on a short touchdown pass.
The Bears’ offense could not keep the momentum going from their previous drive as again they got behind the chains and were looking for a big play to bail them out. Gold-Burg turned the ball over on downs at its own 30-yard line.
It looked like Oakwood was on its way to score again as it moved inside the Bears’ red zone area. Gold-Burg got a break when Hayden Chambers ripped the ball away from a Panther player to force turnover.
Unfortunately, the Bears were backed up near their own end zone. That came into play as Gold-Burg was tackled for a loss in the end zone for a safety.
It made the score 41-16 heading into the fourth quarter as Oakwood got the ball back.
The Panthers scored on a 13-yard touchdown pass early in the final period to extend the lead to 49-16.
Gold-Burg’s offense answered back as a pass against pressure made Oakwood pay. Jayton Epperson hit Case for a quick pass he took 33 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 49-24.
Unfortunately, that would be the final good thing that went the Bears’ way.
Oakwood would score twice more, once on a big run and another on a big pass play, while also forcing two turnovers on defense before the game was up.
Gold-Burg did just enough to avoid having the game ended due to mercy-rule. The Panthers won 63-24.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from the game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870730&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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