SPORTS
Football Roundup
Nocona
The Nocona Indians started off the season at home on Friday night against proven area team Boyd.
The Yellowjackets took it to the Indians 52-0 in a game where nothing seemed to go right for Nocona.
Boyd’s ground game overpowered the Indians as it led 26-0 at halftime. The Indians success on offense could not be maintained for most of the night as any big plays would be negated by one of several snapping errors that cost big yards.
Nocona’s defense did bough its neck up in stopping the run in the second half, but the Yellowjackets scored on three big pass plays in the second half that led to the final score.
Coach Rick Weaver said he and his coaching staff are going to work to simplify things for their players so mental mistakes will hopefully be less frequent this week.
Nocona next plays Venus, a team that also is looking for its first win after losing at Burkburnett. The Indians will kick-off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday at Venus.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers took care of business as it opened the season Friday night at Fannindel.
The Panthers took it to the Falcons 48-0 in a show of domination from the opening kick-off.
The talented and deep Saint Jo team ran only 16 offensive plays on the night while the defense pitched a shutout as it ganged up to stop Fannindel’s fleet footed running back Dayton Dunbar.
The Panthers offense was led on the ground by sophomore Logan Brawner, who scored every time he touched the ball and finished with 124 yards and four touchdowns.
Saint Jo is set to travel again this Friday, but will stay within the county as it takes on Gold-Burg. Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
Forestburg
The Forestburg Longhorns started off its season at home against the fast team from Lone Star North out of Gainesville.
The Longhorns fell by mercy rule 60-6 as they just could not match up with Lone Star’s overall team speed.
Forestburg lost steamrolling running back Zach Bradley in the first quarter to an injury after he picked up a team leading 86 yards on only four carries. James Stokes did his best to make some plays on offense as he hauled in a big 42 yard catch and returned three kicks for 49 yards, both leading the team.
Traveling to Wichita Christian next, Coach Trey Cumby anticipates Forestburg will not face a faster team than it just played.
The Stars offense is more balanced than Lone Star North, so Cumby hopes the defense will do well in coverage after concentrating on stopping the run in the first week.
The game kicks-off at 7 p.m. on Friday at Wichita Christian.
Gold-Burg
The Gold-Burg Bears faced a huge test as it opened the season on the road Friday against private school Notre Dame out of Wichita Falls.
The Bears almost pulled a come from behind win last year, but this season the game was done at halftime as the Knights won 76-6.
Will Hodges scored the only touchdown for Gold-Burg as he finished with 30 yards rushing. Kani Grace led the team with 47 yards rushing, with most of it coming on the biggest play from scrimmage for the Bears. Cornerback Jack Henry led the team with six tackle and was praised by Coach Leo Murguia.
The opponent does not get much easier as the Bears host county team Saint Jo. The Panthers are coming off a win against Gold-Burg’s district opponent Fannindel in which they won 48-0.
The game is scheduled to kick-off at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
To read the full stories and see pictures from Nocona and Forestburg, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
Eldon Van Hooser is leaving Forestburg better than he found it.
The head boy’s basketball coach is retiring after more than 30 years, spending the last five at Forestburg.
Van Hooser did not come to this decision because of a lack of fire or feeling tired after decades in the profession. He had to for family reasons.
“My wife has MS (multiple sclerosis) and it’s a disease where you have trouble standing and walking and she needs help,” Van Hooser said. “I am able to so I am going to step away from teaching and coaching to be there for her.”
Van Hooser was hired in 2019. Along with being the boy’s basketball coach, he also was the football team’s defensive coordinator.
There were some lean years for Forestburg on the boy’s athletic side, with numbers being low and the available athletes being mostly underclassmen.
For two years, the Longhorns’ boy’s basketball team won few games and one of those seasons saw the team field five players on the high school team.
“One of those years we had COVID-19 and the other we had five kids,” Van Hooser said. “It was very rough. After that we worked with the kids and we had a good freshman group coming up. Next year they are going to be seniors.”
That group has helped to turn the program around. Last year the young Longhorns team contested for a playoff spot and just barely missed it finishing fifth in the district.
This season, that same group took a leap and finished second in district with a record of 7-5.
Despite losing its last two regular season games in dramatic fashion heading into the playoffs, the team stepped up in the bi-district game.
Playing against an athletic Newcastle team, Forestburg led for most of the game.
Unfortunately, the previous game against Bellevue saw the Longhorn team blow the lead late in the fourth quarter against a hard pressing style team and they were suffering the same fate against the Bobcats down the stretch.
Fortunately, Forestburg held on just enough to win 53-46. It was the first boy’s basketball playoff win in nine years for Forestburg.
“It was huge for our program,” Van Hooser said. “This new year we will have new goals. The new coach will have some goals of his own, but I set some for the team and think that we have come a long way.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie sports banquets was on Monday night. Olivia Gill and Tucker Jones were named Jackrabbit and Lady Rabbit of the year. Pick up the mid-week paper for all of the sports team awards and pictures.
The 72nd Chisholm Trail Rodeo was a big success on Friday and Saturday nights at Nocona.
The rodeo had big crowds and saw some good competition from both local and far reaching talent.
Winners in the events included Zach Hibler in bareback riding, Lindsey Muggli in barrel racing, Ashley Goforth in breakaway roping, Leanardo Lima in bull riding, Cody McCartney in calf roping, Thomas Moellering in ranch bronc riding, Wacey Hathcock in saddle bronc riding, Renato Finazzi in steer wrestling, Rowdy Jones and Rance Doyal in team roping.
To see full results and more pictures, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
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