The Bowie offense came alive Friday night as it exploded for 63 points to lead the Jackrabbits to their first district win against Ponder in front of their home fans.
Bowie (2-5, 1-2 in district) won 63-21 in a game that was never close as the Jackrabbits did whatever they wanted to the Lions (2-6, 0-4).
Bowie scored on their opening possession as they marched down the field with their array of running from running back Ty Harris, quarterback Payton Price and slot receiver Joey Crawford. Price scored from four yards out to give the Jackrabbits an early 7-0 lead.
Ponder did not have much success running the ball early as Bowie got the ball back and marched down the field. Price hooked up with Crawford for a 19-yard touchdown pass on a seam route to give the Jackrabbits a 14-0 lead.
The Lions were able to respond as their quarterback went straight up the middle and down the sideline for a 39-yard touchdown run. They converted the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 14-8.
Still in the first quarter, Bowie responded fast. On what was a reverse run towards the left side, Crawford instead cut up the middle and veered back towards the right sideline as he took off, cutting back inside to avoid the final defender on his way to a 54-yard touchdown run.
The good extra point from Alan Miranda put the Jackrabbits up 21-8 and it was only the end of the first quarter.
The Ponder offense was able to drive down the field with their running attack as they finished the drive with a short touchdown run to cut the lead to 21-14. Still, the Lions defense could not stop Bowie.
The Jackrabbits offense started to see some more success with their down-field passing as Price was able to find Crawford and Boo Oakley for some big gains, but it was Harris who finished off the drive with a 16-yard touchdown run to make it a two score game 28-14.
With less than two minutes to go, it seemed like that was going to be the halftime score, but with multiple time outs left, Coach Dylan Stark kept his eyes open.
Stark used two of his timeouts to give his offense the ball back. They got themselves within field goal range, but were looking for more if there was an opening.
Price found it as he threw the ball up for a jump ball to Crawford, who came down with the ball for a 14-yard touchdown catch with 11 seconds left to put Bowie up 35-14 at halftime.
If there were any illusions the second half would see a comeback from Ponder, they were dashed as Crawford took a five-yard little out route up the sideline for a 44-yard touchdown to score his fourth down of the game and put the Jackrabbits up 42-14 not two minutes into the second half.
That was followed up by Evan Kennedy forcing a fumble on the kick-off and Hunter Pullen recovering the ball to give the Bowie offense another chance. The offense did not disappoint as they drove down the field. It was bruiser Jacob Skinner who scored from two yards out to give the Jackrabbits a 49-14 lead.
Ponder’s offense did respond next drive as their running back got loose on a 36-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 49-21, but with no end in site for the Jackrabbits offense to stop their assault, there was no worry from the Bowie sideline.
On their next possession Crawford carried the ball on a jet sweep on the Lions 40-yard line towards the right sideline. He cut just inside the corner and made another subtle cut inside to avoid the crowd of defenders.
With a head full of steam, Crawford could see the end zone and his fifth touchdown of the night right in front of him. Unfortunately, Crawford was tackled and despite spinning and lunging was marked just short at the one-yard line.
Instead, it was Price who scored on the next play for his fifth touchdown of the night to put Bowie up 56-21.
The Jackrabbits defense forced Ponder’s offense to turn the ball over on downs on their next drive and as the third quarter winded down, Bowie started putting in some reserves to put on some of the brakes.
The Jackrabbit offense still scored one more time early in the fourth quarter as Hunter Pullen scored on a six-yard run to give Bowie a 63-21 lead, but after that both teams just wanted to play till the clock ran down to zero. The fourth quarter passed with no further incident to give the Jackrabbits their first district win.

To read the full story and see the full stat line, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.