SPORTS
Forestburg comes up short in final minute
The Forestburg Longhorns did not have a happy homecoming, falling short in their remarkable comeback attempt against Vernon Northside.
The Indians held on to win 50-43 as the teams combined to score three touchdowns in the final minute of the game.
The Longhorns were coming into the game following their first win of the season that had Coach Greg Roller hoping they were turning a corner.
While Forestburg lost last year’s game against Vernon Northside, it was two years ago the teams were a part of an epic seven overtime game that many seniors hold up as the most memorable win in the last four seasons.
The game started off competitive with two defensive stands before the Longhorns struck first. On fourth down, Jesus Sanchez threw underneath to Jeremiah Perez who broke a few tackles on his way to a 61-yard touchdown catch and run. Forestburg led 8-0 after the first quarter ended.
The Indians scored on a pass under pressure on their next drive, but trailed 8-6 due to the missed extra point. The Longhorns upped their lead to 14-6 when Sanchez found Will Johnson open for a 15-yard touchdown.
Northside scored on its next two drives in while also stopping Forestburg on defense. The Indians led 18-14.
Then the Longhorns got a boost on special teams when Kayden Dill turned on the jets to reverse his field and scored on a 70-yard kick-off return. Forestburg led 22-18 at halftime.
In the third quarter Northside grabbed control of the game. After scoring on a 35-yard run to retake the lead, an interception on defense followed later by an 11-yard scoring run gave the Indians a 32-22 lead.
After another stop on defense right before the third quarter ended, Northside scored to begin the fourth quarter on a short pass in the red zone.
Rinse and repeat the sequence with the Indians scoring on a short run and Forestburg was down 44-22 with 6:30 left in the game.
The two teams exchanged defensive stops with the Longhorns getting the ball back with 3:06 left to play and down three touchdowns.
Forestburg broke out of the offensive rut and Sanchez found Johnson on a 24-yard touchdown pitch and catch to cut the lead to 44-30.
Northside got the ball back and ran nearly two minutes off the clock before Forestburg got the stop on defense to get the ball back.
The Longhorns then scored as Sanchez hit Perez on a 34-yard wheel route up the left sideline for a touchdown. The score cut the lead to 44-37 with 50 seconds left and Forestburg needed to recover the onside kick with no timeouts left.
The Indians not only recovered the kick, but their player took it back for a touchdown to seemingly ice the game with Northside up 50-37 with less than a minute to play.
Instead, the Longhorns somehow conjured some special team’s magic as well. Kyler Willett recovered the onside kick and the big guy was doing all he could to drag as many Indian defenders with him before he was going to go down.
In the struggle, he fumbled the ball and who picked it up but teammate Perez, who had no one in front of him as he scooped and scored. Forestburg again had cut the lead to one score and was in the same situation with 38 seconds left in the game.
Unfortunately, the magic was out for the Longhorns. Northside recovered the onside kick and kneeled the ball for the win as Forestburg lost 50-43.
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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