SPORTS
Will four-day weeks affect athletics?
This school year will be the first in Montague County where all of the public schools will be going on some sort of four-day week.
While some schools, like Prairie Valley, have been doing it the last two school years, others like Bowie, Nocona, Forestburg and Saint Jo will be making the adjustment this year.
Changes are coming and those affect everything to do with school, including athletics. Practices can still be scheduled at normal times, but with the kids already not in school, are there going to be any unforeseen consequences.
At Bowie, Athletic Director Tyler Price sees having Fridays off as potential gain for his football players since they will potentially have more time to spend with coaches in preparation for game day.
“I actually think the four-day week will be great for us,” Price said. “On Fridays, the JV football teams will come up and watch film/lift at 9 a.m. The varsity guys will report at 1:40 p.m. We will have a game day walk-through, guest speaker and meal. It gives us some more time with our guys potentially and gives us some opportunities maybe we haven’t had in the past.”
At Gold-Burg, girl’s Coach Cheryl Cromleigh has seen how her program handled the first year last year and saw some advantages and disadvantages.
“As far as athletics goes it has been a bit of a challenge due to the fact we are nine plus miles for most of our athletes,” Cromleigh said. “So many of our kids don’t have transportation and must ride the bus to school so we are at a disadvantage at times. Academically, I think we have to spend more time re-teaching. I do enjoy the three-day weekends when I do get one which isn’t often. I do think we will know soon the effects since we did this last year.”
The school in the county with the most perspective is Prairie Valley, entering its third school year with its four-day school week. Athletic Director Seth Stephens has been there through it all and has nothing but positive things to say from the change.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers had a tough start to their season earlier in the week, playing three matches on Monday and Tuesday.
The Lady Panthers went 1-2, playing teams both its own size and much bigger in order to challenge themselves.
With Saint Jo featuring an experienced senior core with big aspirations this season, it is important for Coach Kelly Skidmore the team is properly tested during its pre-district schedule.
The Lady Panthers started with playing a team its own size, Perrin-Whitt, on Monday. Saint Jo took care of business, winning in straight sets with score being 25-17, 25-7 and 25-16.
On Tuesday things were a bit tougher. Playing against the newly opened Wichita Falls Memorial school, which is classified as 5A, the Lady Panthers did not do as well.
Saint Jo competed well, but lost in straight sets with score being 25-21, 25-16 and 25-18 in favor of the Lady Mavericks.
The Lady Panthers then got another big test playing 2A Lindsay, which is a traditional regional power. Saint Jo struggled more in the match as the Lady Knights won 25-18, 25-10 and 25-15.
Nocona
The Nocona Lady Indians got a tough lesson in their opening game of the season at Henrietta on Tuesday.
The Lady Cats came back to win in five sets 3-2, as the Lady Indians fell despite being up 2-1 at one point.
Nocona comes into the season with high expectations after a season advancing to the regional final. Despite graduating some key starters, a good experienced core still remains to keep the expectations to the moon.
Playing a tough 3A Henrietta program that is a fixture in the playoffs on the road is one way to challenge the team early.
The Lady Indians won the first set of the match by the narrowest of margins 25-23. The Lady Cats bounced back to tie the match after winning set two 25-19.
Nocona took the lead as the third set was another that came down to the wire at the end. The Lady Indians pulled it off, winning 26-24 to go up 2-1.
Unfortunately, Henrietta went on a tear in the final two sets. The Lady Cats won the fourth set 25-12 to force a fifth and final set. Henrietta pulled away there as well, winning 15-8 to win the match 3-2.
Forestburg
The Forestburg Lady Horns lost at Chico on Tuesday to start off their season.
The Lady Dragons won in straight sets 3-0 against the Lady Horns.
Forestburg is hoping to build off its playoff win last season even though it graduated several key front court players. There is still some core members from that team and a good young core that is hoping it can take that result and run with it.
Playing against a 2A Chico team to start the season, the Lady Horns are not where they want to be yet. The Lady Dragons won with set scores 25-16, 25-6 and 25-15.
Missing scores
I am missing scores from Bellevue and Gold-Burg coaches from games played earlier in the week.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.
The Bowie Lady Rabbits opened their season with a dominant win against Bryson at home on Tuesday night.
The Lady Rabbits won in straight sets 3-0 against the Cowgirls as Bowie starts to work through its biggest early season challenge, figuring out its rotation.
The Lady Rabbits come into this season with only three varsity returners on its roster as the rest of the team gets up to speed.
New players at key positions like setter and libero as well as finding out certain players roles and what combinations of players go with each other are all still being figured out.
The good news is despite all of those things still needing to be solved, Bowie still took it to a 1A team like it is supposed to do.
Bryson has had great recent success as a solid playoff team up until struggling last year.
The Lady Rabbits jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first set, but let their guard down a bit to allow the Cowgirls to come back and tie it 15-15.
Bowie rebounded and closed the first set on a 10-2 run to win 25-17.
The second set saw the Lady Rabbits lead most of the way again, leading 18-12.
Bryson won five straight points to cut the lead to one point 18-17, but that stretch was as close as the team got to turning things around. Bowie went 7-4 the rest of the way to win the second set 25-21 to go up 2-0.
The third set saw the Lady Rabbits again go out to a big lead at the start and mid-game, up 19-11.
This time, there would be no comeback attempt from the Cowgirls as Bowie shut the door to win the set easily 25-14 and the match 3-0.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News. For more pictures, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6865262&T=1
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