SPORTS
Bowie wins homecoming 42-18
The Bowie Jackrabbits made it a happy homecoming as they took care of Henrietta.
A push in the fourth quarter from the Jackrabbits busted open a close game into a blowout, winning 42-18 thanks in large part to winning the turnover battle.
The first quarter was scoreless as both teams battled for field position as the offenses were struggling to get going. Both were moving the ball in spurts, but in different ways.
Bowie ran the ball with Ty Harris and Devin Melton while the Bearcats threw the ball with short, quick passes.
The Jackrabbits were more effective, but their most successful drive stalled at Henrietta’s 32-yard line right before the game moved into the second quarter where it picked up for both teams.
Bowie’s Colton Covington intercepted a pass and returned it to the Bearcats five-yard line. Harris scored on a short run a few plays later to give the Jackrabbits a 7-0 lead.
Bowie was able to get another drive deep in Henrietta’s territory, covering a fake punt and turning the Bearcat’s over on downs at Henrietta’s own 30-yard line.
Unfortunately, the Jackrabbits could not take advantage as a jump ball pass to the end zone was intercepted by Baron Brown. Bowie’s defense again did not allow the Bearcats to go anywhere and forced a punt. Harris collected the ball at around midfield and returned it down the Jackrabbits’ sideline for a touchdown, making the score 14-0.
Henrietta bounced back with a special team’s play of its own as Reece Essler returned the kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was no good, but it cut the score to 14-6.
Bowie’s next drive went far, but again stalled out deep in Henrietta’s territory on the 14-yard line. The Bearcats were moving the ball well towards midfield and with the recent momentum shift, it was not out of reason to think they were looking like they might tie the score up before halftime came.
The Jackrabbit’s Ryder Richey came through to put an end to that thinking, intercepting a tipped pass and returning it to Henrietta’s 38-yard line. Bowie again took advantage of the defenses turnover as Devin Melton punched the ball in from four yards out to put the Jackrabbits up 21-6.
With less than a minute to play it looked like Bowie was going to head into halftime with good momentum.
Unfortunately, the Bearcats quick pass offense was perfectly suited to move down the field in a short time. The Jackrabbits were worried about giving up the deep ball so were giving a generous cushion. Henrietta took advantage with quick pass after quick pass with receiver able to get out of bounds almost every time.
The Bearcats got into Bowie’s territory before quarterback Braden Bell found Carson Cody. He ran through and around some defenders to score from 34 yards out. The extra point was no good, but Henrietta had cut the lead to 21-12 heading into halftime while giving the Jackrabbits a quick reminder this game was far from over.
The third quarter saw Bowie keep its lead, but not do much else as both offenses struggled to move the ball after halftime adjustments.
The Bearcats got a boost from their special teams again midway through the quarter with a blocked punt that was recovered at the Jackrabbits 17-yard line. From there, Henrietta’s Essler scored on a nine-yard run. Extra points again eluded the Bearcats, but the score was cut 21-18 and the momentum surely on Henrietta’s side.
After a Bowie punt, the Bearcats looked like they were heading in for another touchdown drive to take their first lead of the game. Down at the Jackrabbits 12-yard line, Melton grabbed the Jackrabbits third interception of the game. He took the ball from his own five-yard line all the way to Henrietta’s 12-yard line. Unfortunately, the ball fumbled and the Bearcats recovered.
While Henrietta was no longer on the doorstep to taking the lead, it still felt like the Bearcats had the momentum as the game moved into the fourth quarter. Thankfully, Bowie’s defense had more plays up its sleeves.
Due to miscommunication on a route, Jackrabbits’ cornerback Alan Miranda found the ball thrown directly to him where he intercepted the pass at Henrietta’s own 24-yard line.
After struggling to move the ball all of the third quarter, this short field was almost squandered away as Bowie’s offense had to convert on a fourth and short to keep the drive going. From there, Harris was able to score from one-yard out and put the Jackrabbits back up by two scores 28-18.
The Bearcats drove into Bowie’s territory, but again the Jackrabbits defense bend-but-don’t break act came through again, turning Henrietta on downs at Bowie’s 22-yard line. One play later, Harris again came through with his fourth touchdown on the night, running 78 yards for the score.
With the Jackrabbits lead at 35-18 with five minutes to play, all of the tension of the game seemed to leave as Bowie firmly grabbed hold of the momentum.
After forcing a punt, the Jackrabbits tried a 29-yard field goal that missed. The Bearcats did not move the ball and turned the ball over on downs at their own 15-yard line.
Bowie took advantage, scoring one last time in the final minute as quarterback Colby Miller scored from five-yards out to put the finishing touches on the game as the Jackrabbits won 42-18.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
The Nocona Indians were able to beat Saint Jo at home on Thursday night in a tight contest.
The Indians won 55-48 against the Panthers in a game where both teams played hard, but made plenty of early season mistakes.
Nocona came into the game following a low-scoring win against Bells earlier in the week 35-30. For a young Indians team that only has a few players with varsity experience this year, every early season win builds confidence.
For Saint Jo, the Panthers were still without several returning starters since football is still going on. Despite that, new Coach Jacob Nocktonick is trying to build what he can with his group of basketball first players that include several key players even when the football team is integrated.
Despite Saint Jo being the smaller school, overall it had the height advantage in the front line since Nocona features only one player, Kasch Johnson, who is built like a post player. That is nothing new for the Indians, who featured a short team the previous year as Coach Brody Wilson emphasizes full-court pressure on defense and pushing the ball in transition in his system that makes up for a lack of height and size.
Initially Nocona’s pace and energy, grabbing several offensive rebounds, got it the lead 9-3. Eventually, the Panthers adjusted and trailed only 12-11 after the first quarter.
Saint Jo got the lead early in the second quarter. Post Trent Gaston took advantage of his size advantage, especially when the Indians had Johnson out, and led 17-12. Both teams had trouble scoring in a rough second quarter as open perimeter shots just were not going in and shots at the rim were tough to convert.
The Panthers led 23-20 heading into halftime.
Both teams had better offensive success pushing the ball when it could in the second half.
Saint Jo broke Nocona’s press and punished the Indians with quick baskets. Nocona ran whenever it could and seemed to put up an array of perimeter shots and drives, getting offensive rebounds it seemed at will to keep the pressure up and infuriate the Panthers coach.
The Indians got a big push from Landon Fatheree in the second half. After scoring eight points in the first half to lead the team, he scored 10 of his team’s 14 points in the third quarter.
Nocona got the lead back, but only led 34-33 heading into the final period.
The Indians had a comfortable lead up 44-36 when Saint Jo’s Gaston fouled out with 4:56 left in the game. Still, the Panthers did not give up and a minute later had whittled Nocona’s lead down to one basket 44-41 with 3:45.
The game stayed a one-possession game for the next two minutes as Saint Jo had several chances to tie or take the lead not go through.
Nocona made its free throws down the stretch to win with a little more comfort, with the final score being 55-48.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. To see more pictures, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870682&T=1
Nocona senior Meg Meekins signed her official letter of intent to play college basketball at Lubbock Christian University on Wednesday. Meekins, the daughter of Brandi and Lance, is a four-year starter on the volleyball and basketball court. She has earned several accolades like being named to the All State Teams for TGCA, TABC, Associated Press and was selected to the All Tournament Team at the UIL State Basketball Tournament in San Antonio last year.“The coaching staff and the community of the LCU program and just knowing you have a staff that coaches you, but also looks over you just like Coach (Kyle) Spitzer did here was a huge part in the recruiting process,” Meekins said. She plans to pursue a degree in either physical or occupational therapy.
For more pictures, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870680&T=1
The Bowie Lady Rabbits got more than they bargained for when they traveled to Bellevue on Tuesday night.
The Lady Rabbits escaped with the win 44-40, taking the lead with less than a minute to go after trailing whole game.
Bowie came into the game confident. The larger 3A school was supposed to play Windthorst, but had to reschedule because the Lady Trojans volleyball team was playing in the state tournament.
Finding a last minute replacement, the Lady Rabbits thought they would have an easy game playing the 1A program down the road. Little did they know.
Bellevue had a couple of players out with injury to limit its depth a bit and a new coach in Celsey Hoffman, but the Lady Eagles were coming off of nearly beating a Nocona team the previous week. While the Lady Indians were missing four starters who were still in volleyball, it still showed this was not a 1A team to take lightly.
Bellevue came out fast showing tough defensive pressure despite giving up size at nearly every position. Within a few minutes the Lady Eagles had used that pressure to force turnovers and convert those steals into transition opportunities.
Also, the energy showed in other areas as Bellevue seemed to grab every loose ball and fought for offensive rebounds despite lacking in height compared to Bowie.
After a little more than four minutes into the game the Lady Eagles led 15-0. The Lady Rabbits had barely been able to set up their offense or attempt a shot against the pressure.
Bowie Coach Matthew Miller had to reset his shell-shocked team during multiple timeouts. The young ballhandlers was reminded how the team was going to break the press defense so it could set up its offense.
Bellevue led 19-4 after the first quarter, led by Mary Grace Broussard and Brittany Gill who each scored six points.
The Lady Rabbits settled down and made some good progress in the second quarter. Their defense switched between man-to-man and 1-3-1 to keep the Lady Eagles off balance. With them taking care of the ball better, there were less chances for Bellevue in transition and the Lady Eagles offense struggled to consistently find ways to score against Bowie’s length.
The Lady Rabbits offense found some success as well. Five different players made at least one basket and the team made two 3-pointers.
While the game was physical from the start, now that Bowie knew what type of game it was in the team responded back. It was not pretty and only enough fouls were called to make the game watchable, but individual foul trouble affected Bellevue harder than the Lady Rabbits in the second quarter.
The Lady Eagles still led heading into halftime, but Bowie had gotten it down to single digits trailing 25-19.
The third quarter was more even between the two teams as both had trouble consistently scoring baskets. Bellevue made three baskets and a couple of free throws to keep ahead.
The Lady Rabbits got a big lift from Lanie Moore, who knocked in all three of her 3-pointers in the quarter, scoring nine of the team’s 12 points.
Bowie still trailed, but had cut the lead down to one point earlier in the quarter and one basket 34-31 heading into the fourth quarter.
Bellevue grew the lead to 38-32 early in the final period. The Lady Rabbits struggled to get anything going offensively and trailed 40-34 midway through the quarter.
Bowie’s Kendall Fallis made a 3-pointer in transition to cut the lead to one basket 40-37.
The score stayed there for the next several minutes even as the Lady Eagles had two starters, Karis Denson and Mattie Broussard, foul out of the game.
With a little more than a minute left, the Lady Rabbits drew up and out of bounds play that got Laney Segura an open shot in the corner. Despite not having made a basket all game, she sunk the 3-pointer to tie the game at 40-40 with a minute still to play.
Bowie had been in a pressure defense for the second half of the fourth quarter to prevent Bellevue from passively running clock. Still in the defense, the team next stole the in-bounds pass and Railey Martin made the undefended layup to give the Lady Rabbits their first lead of the game 42-40 with 48 seconds left.
The Lady Eagles could not tie the score on their next offensive possession. Bowie would made two more free throws to make the final 44-40.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures from the game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6870678&T=1
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