The Bowie Jackrabbits did not play their best on Friday’s senior night, losing to a bruising Paradise team.
The Panthers won a one-sided game 41-3 with little trouble from the Jackrabbits who were fresh off their first district win.
Bowie started the game on the right note. The Jackrabbits sprang a surprise onside kick to open the game and Nathan Curry jumped on it for Bowie.
Unfortunately the Jackrabbit offense could not do much with it. Paradise’s defense forced a turnover on downs at its own 30-yard line.
The Panther’s offense featured a man in motion most plays that were either handed the ball on jet sweeps or plays functioned off of the defenses reaction to that motion.
Paradise moved the ball down the field with some initial big run plays. Once on the goal line though, Bowie’s defense held up. Lineman Coleton Price came up with the stop on fourth and goal to give the Jackrabbits back the ball.
Nothing else of note happened as the quarter ended with the game still scoreless heading to the second quarter.
The Panthers were the first team to score almost midway through the quarter. Quarterback Trey Valentine started keeping the ball on runs up the middle to account for Bowie’s defense anticipating the jet sweeps. He scored on an 18-yard run to put Paradise up 7-0.
The Jackrabbits offense stalled around midfield, turning the ball over on downs. The Panthers again drove the ball down the field and into Bowie’s goal line. This time Paradise scored from the one-yard line as Valentine scored on a run. The extra point made the score 14-0.
With a little less than 1:26 left to play in the half and several time outs, the Jackrabbits had time to respond. Quarterback Colby Miller connected on a few passes as the offense had its most successful drive of the game.
Moving the ball inside Paradise’s 20-yard line, Bowie elected to kick the 30-yard field goal. Kicker Alan Miranda drilled the kick despite the Panther’s attempt to ice him with a time out.
The field goal cut the lead to 14-3 heading into halftime.
With the Jackrabbits receiving the ball to start the second half and fresh off their most successful offensive drive, there was hope they could come back.
Unfortunately, Bowie’s first drive of the third quarter did not go anywhere.
The Panthers got the ball and immediately completed the biggest pass play of the game as Valentine hit Jaeten Reynolds on a 50-yard touchdown pass. The extra point was no good, but Paradise’s lead upped to three scores 20-3.
The Jackrabbits offense again failed to move the ball much as any negative plays proved too costly to overcome for an offense that featured few big plays during the game.
The Panthers got the ball back and scored on another big play, this time with running back Joe Gonzalez scoring on a 27-yard run. The touchdown put Paradise up 27-3 heading into the fourth quarter.
It was the same story in the fourth quarter. Bowie’s offense failed to move the ball much in the few drives it had though it avoided turnovers.
Paradise scored on two more drives with runs from Gonzalez as Paradise’s lead continued to grow. The finals score was 41-3.
The Jackrabbits next travel to Whitesboro to play at 7:30 p.m., on Oct. 23.

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