SPORTS
Jackrabbit football loses at Burkburnett
The Bowie Jackrabbits lost at Burkburnett on Friday night.
The Bulldogs won 34-21 in a game that got away from the Jackrabbits in the second half.
Burkburnett was coming off of two losses against Krum and Iowa Park.
Bowie came into the game a little rusty after having only played five minutes in its previous game against Henrietta. That game was canceled due to lightning.
Maybe that is why the Jackrabbits found themselves down 14-0 in the first quarter. Bowie responded with its own drive, finished off by Justin Clark scoring from four yards out to cut the lead to 14-6 heading into the second quarter.
The defense then came through with a stop and forced a punt. Nick Salazar then came through blocked the punt.
With a shorter field to work with and momentum on their side, the Jackrabbits went down to score again, this time with Tucker Jones scoring on a 14-yard run. The successful two-point conversion tied the score up at 14-14.
Unfortunately, Bowie was not able to keep the momentum going its way. The Bulldogs responded with a scoring on drive, continuing to have good success running the football. Burkburnett scored to make it 21-14.
The Jackrabbits had enough time for one more drive before halftime, but could not produce any points as they went into the locker room trailing by one touchdown.
Unfortunately, Bowie would not play better in the second half as the Bulldogs lead continued to grow.
Burkburnett scored the only points in the third quarter on a 13-yard run to go up 28-14.
Then in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs leading rusher Kyler Kirkland, who finished with a game high 189 yards rushing, scored his third touchdown of the game on a 59-yard run that put Burkburnett up 34-14.
The Jackrabbit offense, having to get out of their run-first approach and try to force things more than they would like, finally broke through later in the game. Quarterback Rayder Mann scored on a 17-yard run before the final whistle.
It made the final score 34-21.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.
With the baseball and softball seasons over for the area 1A schools, district awards have been released.
Listed below are those earned honors on the field and in the classroom for Saint Jo and Bellevue.
Softball
Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Utility player: Taylor Patrick; Catcher: Jordyn O’Neal
Baseball
Superlatives
Offensive MVP: Devin Stewart, Saint Jo
Newcomer of the Year: Bryce Ramsey, Bellevue
Pitcher: Trent Gaston, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Jayden Curry, Saint Jo
Second team
Pitcher: Charlie Barclay, Saint Jo
Infielder: Brycen Bancroft, Bellevue; Sam Martin, Saint Jo
Outfielder: Rylan Forrester, Saint Jo
Catcher: Charlie Evans, Saint Jo
Utility: Logan Hoover, Saint Jo
DH: Amzy Barclay, Saint Jo
Honorable mention
Cody Gaston, Saint Jo; Xander Joyner, Saint Jo
To see academic awards from Saint Jo players, pick up a copy of the weekend 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.
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