SPORTS
Football Roundup
Saint Jo vs Gold-Burg
The Saint Jo Panthers got some measure of revenge from last year by beating fellow Montague County team Gold-Burg on Friday.
The Panthers won the low-scoring game 26-22 against a Bears team that made them earn everything.
Saint Jo was coming into the game following a one-sided but disappointing win against Fort Worth THESA in week one.
Gold-Burg was trying to find answers after being on the receiving end of a one-sided beat down against Perrin-Whitt in week one.
The Bears broke their more than a decade long losing streak against the Panthers last year on Saint Jo’s homecoming. The Panthers were hoping not just to win, but to dominate.
Unfortunately for Saint Jo, it did not start the game off on a good note. The very first play saw the Panthers fumble the ball away to Gold-Burg, recovered by Caleb Epperson.
The Bears moved the ball, but eventually Saint Jo got the ball back when Damon Byrd intercepted a pass on the Panther’s own 15-yard line.
Saint Jo’s offense moved the ball down, but Gold-Burg looked like it might get a stop. Facing fourth and goal from the 10-yard line, the Panther’s Devin Stewart looked to pass, but eventually scrambled in for a touchdown run. Saint Jo went up 6-0.
At the start of the second quarter, the Panther defense forced another turnover, again from Byrd who intercepted another pass.
This time the Bear’s defense, with the help of some penalties against Saint Jo, forced the Panthers backwards. Eventually Gold-Burg forced a turnover on downs and got the ball back on Saint Jo’s own 18-yard line.
The Bears took advantage as Levi Hellinger found big Eli Freeland for a five-yard touchdown pass. The good extra point put Gold-Burg up 8-6.
The Panthers swiftly answered back.
Within 30 seconds they had moved all the way down the field before Wyatt Lucas scored on a short run to give Saint Jo back the lead, this time up 12-8.
Gold-Burg tried to answer, but the offense looked like it was going to stall. On fourth down the Bears tried to throw it deep, but was intercepted again, this time by Saint Jo’s Wade Lucas.
With 42 seconds left and the Panthers deep in their own territory, Gold-Burg was trying to keep it a one-score game heading into halftime. Then the Bears did the one thing they did not want to happen.
Saint Jo saw Stewart connect with Wade Lucas on a 49-yard touchdown pass with 13 seconds left. The Panthers went into halftime up 18-8.
Gold-Burg still believed it could come back. Unfortunately for the Bears, their first drive of the second half saw them turn the ball over. Saint Jo’s Mathew Sampson got the sack, forced a fumble and recovered the fumble for the Panthers around midfield.
Another score for the Panthers would have been a devastating mental blow for Gold-Burg. Fortunately for the Bears, their defense came through big.
Gold-Burg forced a fumble which was scooped up by Jayton Epperson who returned it 59 yards for a touchdown. The extra point cut the lead down to 18-16 and gave the Bears new life.
Neither team scored in either of its next two drives.
Saint Jo tried to answer, moving the ball down the field. Then Gold-Burg’s defense forced another turnover as Keelyn Case intercepted a pass in the end zone.
The Bears were driving down into the Panthers territory when Saint Jo’s defense forced another turnover as Jayden Curry recovered a fumble at his team’s 19 yard line.
Shortly after at the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Panthers gave the ball back when an errant toss on a run play missed its mark and Gold-Burg’s Zander Crawford recovered it at Saint Jo’s 22 yard line.
The Panther defense held up and forced a turnover on downs after allowing the Bears to move the ball only seven yards to their 15-yard line.
Saint Jo finally got some breathing room again in the second half when its offense moved down the field and scored, with Stewart scrambling for a 10-yard touchdown. Crucially, the team using its third kicker of the night, finally made an extra point to put the team up two scores instead of just one.
The Panthers were up 26-16 with three minutes left to play.
Gold-Burg tried to quickly move the ball, but it was slow going. Eventually, the Bears cut the lead back to one score when Jayton Epperson scored on a five-yard run.
With the score 26-22 with 41 seconds left and too few timeout remaining for Gold-Burg, it all came down to the onside kick. Saint Jo recovered it with little drama kneeled the ball to run out the clock to win.
Nocona
The Nocona Indians improved a little bit, but the result still wasn’t good in their loss at Electra on Friday night.
The Tigers won 28-0 as the Indians are still struggling to make things work offensively while on defense they are trying to do too much.
Nocona was coming into the game following a tough lopsided loss to Lindsay in week one. Electra had won a low-scoring game against Santo in week one.
The first quarter saw the Indian defense hold despite the offense turning the ball over on their first possession. The Nocona defense eventually forced a turnover on downs at their own 14 yard line late in the quarter to keep the game tied at 0-0 heading into the second quarter.
Eventually, the Tiger offense started to get rolling and hit on some big plays. Electra scored twice in the second quarter and looked to be trying to score once more before halftime. The Indians Jose Gomez intercepted a pass to give Nocona the ball back to keep the score 14-0 at halftime.
The second half saw the Tigers score two more times on long touchdown plays. Nocona’s offense could not answer and fumbled the ball away in the third quarter.
Electra won 28-0.
Forestburg
The Forestburg Longhorns lost a tough game at Wichita Christian on Friday night.
The Stars won by mercy-rule 58-8 in the third quarter in a game where the Longhorns actually hung with them a bit in the first half.
Forestburg was coming off a one-sided with against Savoy in week one. Wichita Christian was as well against San Jacinto Christian Academy.
The first quarter saw neither team able to score until the final minute. Then the Stars struck first on a long touchdown run. Seconds later on defense, Wichita Christian then intercepted a pass and returned it for a touchdown.
The Stars then did it again on the next drive to start the second quarter to go up 22-0 after a little more than a minute of game action.
The Longhorns settled down and drove the ball down the field before quarterback Sanchez connected with Kyler Willett on a 30-yard touchdown pass.
It cut the lead to 22-8. Forestburg had another chance before halftime to score and possibly cut the lead further down, but could not come through.
Coach Greg Roller thought his team had played well despite the score in the first half and felt they had a good chance to come back.
Unfortunately, the Longhorns did not play well in the third quarter.
The Stars scored four offensive touchdowns and returned a fumble for a touchdown to pull away and win 58-8.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News. For pictures from the Gold-Burg vs Saint Jo game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6868626&T=1
Sometimes the world proves itself to be small in certain ways, where running into someone from your past in towns hundreds of miles away is par the course.
I played football at Midlothian High School back in 2008, at the back of the depth chart as was the case my whole football journey since a lack of physical ability and shaky self-confidence did not pair well together.
Starting the second half of my freshman year, after the football season, the school district hired a new head football coach named Robby Clark.
Sixteen years later, I finally had the guts to go up to Coach Clark at the district track meet since I had been seeing him at Henrietta sporting events since the beginning of the school year, when I read his wife, Jaime Clark, was hired as Henrietta’s new superintendent. Funny enough, she also taught me pre-calculus the second half of my senior year.
Midlothian was a huge growing school at the time and the football program had more than 150 kids in it, so I was not sure if he’d remember me, but he said he did and we caught up. It probably helped in part by being in the same senior class as a player that would eventually go on to the NFL, quarterback Bryce Petty.
Seeing him recently at a 7-on-7 event at Bowie and hearing him coaching up kids like he did half my lifetime ago, got me thinking about things.
My memory is good, but the fact I can remember several distinct things about the offense we ran nearly 20 years ago shows how important it was to me during that time.
We ran a spread offense out of the shotgun formation almost every play, a sort of precursor to the pass-happy way football has been heading since then. We went through three different centers because we had trouble finding one wouldn’t at least once a game snap the ball over our pretty tall quarterback’s head.
The year before my senior year, when we had a better running back and an offensive line that was both huge and experienced, it brought the beauty out of an offense that, despite appearances with three and four receivers lined up every play, was built around being balanced both running and passing the ball.
Instead of a traditional tight end, we employed an H-back, who could line up both in the backfield at fullback or line out wide like a receiver.
Despite having a quarterback who would go on to set records at Baylor and be drafted by the New York Jets, we found out my senior year when the running game struggled, the whole offense did as a result.
That experience proved to me how some team-focused activities, even ones that include having a superstar teammate, need everyone else to truly shine the way they are designed.
Football offenses shape entire teams. Some coaches are as defined by their systems as they are at every other aspect of coaching. It can be the identity of a team or program if one sticks for several years, but that is a luxury of either huge high schools, colleges and NFL teams.
At certain levels of high school, the best coaches try to be malleable enough to change with their available talent, not trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
Almost every football coach was once a player at the high school level. Those who are more interested in offense usually played on that side of the ball more before becoming coaches and their experiences there can shape them into the coaches they later become.
Bowie’s head football coach Tyler Price is a Jackrabbit alumnus, playing for Bowie 2007-2010. He played every offensive skilled position during that time, quarterback, running back and wide receiver, while playing in coach Brad Keck and later Josh Castles offenses. Both coaches operated out of the spread offense (shotgun formation with three to four receivers) but did things differently.
“Under Coach Keck, we really established the run with zone read plays and it forced teams to tie extra men to the box,” Price said. “When teams did this we would throw the ball to Cyler Matlock who was the area’s best receiver at the time. Under Coach Castles, we were true spread offense and threw the ball around a little more. A lot of quick passing game stuff with the idea of getting the ball to receivers in space. Both offenses really liked to run with the quarterback.”
When he was later a quarterback, he relished using his head as well as athleticism on plays where he would have to make a read on either to hand the ball off or keep it on a run.
That experience helped shape him as a coach.
“I think giving your quarterback a read on every play is so beneficial in every offense,” Price said. “I want our players to have fun playing the game. This offense allows that. The great thing about the spread offense is that it allows a lot of flexibility on how you want to attack each week.”
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
The Jim Bowie Days Celebration starts this weekend and lasts all next week, with several events taking place at Bowie’s Rodeo Arena.
The week kicks off on June 21 at Amon Carter Lake with the bass fishing tournament starting at 6 a.m. As of Tuesday, the lake is still closed due to water levels being too high from the abundance of rain, but look for updated information on if the tournament will take place at the Bowie News social media pages.
Also on June 21, Bowie’s Top of Lake is hosting a two-man golf scramble starting at 8 a.m. The cost to sign-up is $150 per team. You can call 940-531-1489 for more information.
Rodeo events start on June 22 with the Open 4D Barrel Racing event. Pre entries have been open since June 1 and will stay open until it is done.
This year the event will have two sections. Section one starts 2 p.m. Section two will start later at 7:30 p.m. Both section winners will have prizes of $3,500 awarded to the top riders.
For more information call either Blake Myers (254-977-2395) or Kellin Ann (254-223-1224).
The youth rodeo is set to start at 7 p.m. on June 24 and June 25.
The first night the activities are poles, barrels and goats.
The age brackets will be broken up into six and under, 7-10, 11-14 and 15-19.
No leadline category is available and the cost for entry is $35.
The second night activities will be breakaway roping, tie-down roping, ribbon roping and team roping. The age categories will be 13 and under and 14-19. Entry fee is $45.
All around buckles for one boy and one girl will be given for the person who earns most points on both nights.
Mutton bustin’ will be both nights before activities start, limited to 15 contestants per night for kids aged 4-6.
The books will open on June 23 from 6-9 p.m. Call Tennile Green at 940-577-9740 to sign-up.
To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekly edition of the Bowie News.
Bowie had six players play in the Maskat Shrine Oil Bowl football all-star game. For pictures from not just the football game, but the basketball and volleyball games as well that feature athletes from Bowie, Nocona and Saint Jo, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6875584&T=1
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