Bowie
The Bowie Lady Rabbits played their best match of the district schedule on Friday against Iowa Park, but unfortunately the team lost in the fifth set.
The Lady Hawks won 3-2, coming back from a 2-1 deficit against a Lady Rabbits team desperately needing something good to happen for them.
Bowie came into the match looking for its first district win and playing for pride now that a playoff berth is not possible. Iowa Park needed to a win to keep it in the playoff hunt.
The Lady Rabbits played well in a competitive first set and was able to close it out to win 25-22 and take an early lead.
Unfortunately, that did not carry over to set two. The Lady Hawks got an early lead and Bowie just never recovered. Iowa Park won easily 25-12 to tie the match at 1-1.
In the third set it was the Lady Rabbits that got the early lead, but the Lady Hawks were able to hover around and even tie the score up at 15-15 midway through.
Bowie was able to close out the set well, winning 25-20 to take a 2-1 lead and being one set away from its first district victory.
Unfortunately, set four was not the set. Iowa Park had the lead from the beginning, but the Lady Rabbits were doing a good job of staying within reach of two or three points.
Down 16-14, the Lady Hawks opened up the lead and went on to finish the set on a 9-3 run to win the set 25-18. With the score tied at 2-2, it was heading into the fifth set.
Usually the fifth set is its own thing, independent of anything that came before it.
With the stakes being at its highest and with the set ending at 15 instead of 25, everything is much more heightened and things like momentum are not always a factor in the set.
Unfortunately, the momentum from the end of set four did carry over for the Lady Hawks into set five.
While the opening five points were back and forth as Iowa Park led only 3-2, after that it was all the Lady Hawks.
Iowa Park won 12 of the final 13 points as it won the set 15-3 and the match 3-2.

Nocona
The Nocona Lady Indians took care of Petrolia at home on Saturday afternoon quickly.
The Lady Indians won in straight sets 3-0 against the Lady Pirates.
Nocona was coming off its first district loss in the last three seasons at Windthorst and needed a pick-me-up match.
It proved to be one as the Lady Indians won sets in rapid succession 25-10, 25-11 and 25-12.
Raylea Bowles led the team with nine kills. Meg Meekins had a team high 13 assists and nine digs while adding six kills.

Saint Jo vs Bellevue
The Saint Jo Lady Panthers wrapped up the first round of district play with a quick win at Bellevue on Friday.
The Lady Panthers won in straight sets 3-0 against the inexperienced Lady Eagles.
Saint Jo came in undefeated in district had yet to drop a set even. Bellevue was 1-2 and hoping it could maybe catch the confident Lady Panthers napping.
Unfortunately for the Lady Eagles, Saint Jo was focused from beginning to end, making quick work of Bellevue with set scores 25-11, 25-10 and 25-5.

Prairie Valley vs Forestburg
The Prairie Valley Lady Bulldogs won at Forestburg on Friday night to wrap up the first round of district play.
The Lady Bulldogs won 3-1 against the Lady Horns.
Prairie Valley came into the match confident it could secure second place in district against a Forestburg team that had worked through adversity but also had a district record of 2-1.
The Lady Bulldogs came in and won the first set 25-13 to take a lead. Thinking the match would be easy, instead the Lady Horns came back and won the closest set of the match 25-21 to tie the score up at 1-1.
The loss seemed to wake Prairie Valley back up and the Lady Bulldogs went on to win the next two sets 25-16 and 25-15 to secure the victory.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News. For pictures from the Bowie game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6869807&T=1

Gold-Burg
The Gold-Burg Bears easily won their fourth straight game with a home win against Throckmorton on Friday.
The Bears won 78-19, winning by mercy rule at halftime against the Greyhounds.
Gold-Burg came into the game confident on a three game win streak while Throckmorton had yet to win a game and had a young team overall.
The Bears got on the board first when Levi Hellinger found Eli Freeland for a 25-yard touchdown pass. Surprisingly, the Greyhounds answered back, capping their first drive with a short run to cut the lead to 8-6.
That would be the only kind of pushback Gold-Burg would allow as the Bears woke up and started to dominate.
Keelyn Case scored on a 20-yard run to extend Gold-Burg’s lead to 16-6. The defense got a quick stop and Caleb Epperson then got loose for a 35-yard touchdown run.
The Bears then recovered the onside kick and then scored when Hellinger found Case for a short touchdown pass. Following another stop on defense, Paul Jones scored on a 65-yard run.
Still in the first quarter, Gold-Burg’s Epperson recovered a fumble at midfield to force a turnover. Jones again found a lane and scored one play later on a 39-yard run.
The Bears led 46-6 heading into the second quarter.
Gold-Burg kept the foot pedal on the gas. Hayden Chambers recovered a fumble on defense on the first play of the new quarter. A few plays later saw Case score on a 15-yard run.
The next drive the defense not just recovered its third straight fumble of the game, but Barrett Allen recovered it in the end zone for a touchdown.
Even as Gold-Burg started to pull starters from the game with the win wrapped up, the Bears just could not stop making plays.
Jones recovered a fumble on defense for Gold-Burg’s fourth forced turnover of the game.
Backup quarterback Payton Epperson then found Case open for a 25-yard touchdown strike that had the whole sideline fired up.
Eventually, with so many young and inexperienced bench players in the game and when Throckmorton finally got a handle on the ball, the Greyhounds scored on a long run to answer back. At that time it cut the Bears lead down to 70-12 with 5:38 still left before halftime.
Gold-Burg’s offense got one more highlight on the night when Payton Epperson unleashed a 43-yard bomb to Allen for a touchdown, again delighting the whole sideline for connecting on another unexpectedly perfect throw.
Throckmorton was able to score one more time on a 22-yard run before the Bears kneeled the ball to end the game at halftime.
Gold-Burg won 78-19.

Saint Jo
The Saint Jo Panthers started out district well with a blowout win at Savoy on Friday night.
The Panthers won 50-0, winning by mercy-rule early in the third quarter against a Cardinals’ team they knew they could beat with little trouble.
Saint Jo came into the game confident coming off its biggest win of the season against an undefeated Perrin-Whitt team to improve to 6-0.
On the other hand, Savoy came into the game with a 1-5 record, having last won in the second week of the season.
The Panthers were led by Devin Stewart who completed seven passes for 107 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed for 79 yards and scored one touchdown.
Blayton Calabrese had a team high 88 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns. Wyatt Lucas rushed for 37 yards and scored one touchdown.
Lee Yeley caught a team high three passes for 49 yards and two touchdowns. Mathew Sampson caught the other touchdown pass on a 19-yard catch.

Forestburg
The Forestburg Longhorns lost a competitive game against Azle Christian on Friday night.
The Fighting Crusaders won 61-45 against a Longhorn team that is getting a little healthier but still working through inexperienced growing pains.
Forestburg came into the game 1-5, but had hope it could play a 3-2 Azle Christian team well at home.
The Crusaders got on the board on their first two drives and led 13-0. The Longhorns answered right before the end of the quarter with Tye Reid running in a touchdown from 15 yards out.
Forestburg trailed 13-8 heading into the second quarter.
The Longhorns took the lead early in the quarter with Reid scoring on a 21-yard run, going up 16-13.
Azle hit on a long touchdown pass to regain the lead before Forestburg answered back with Christian Binanti scoring on a 41-yard run to go up 24-20.
The Crusaders then scored on back-to-back drives on touchdown passes to go up 10 points. Right before halftime, Jesus Sanchez found Binanti for a 17-yard touchdown pass.
The Longhorns trailed only 34-30 at halftime.
Azle opened the third quarter by hitting on another long touchdown pass to up its lead to 10 points.
Sanchez answered when he then returned the kickoff for a touchdown to again cut the lead down to one score 40-37.
Unfortunately, Forestburg’s offense ran out of juice in the second half while the Crusaders kept it up.
Azle scored on another long pass and a short run before the quarter ended to extend its lead to 54-37.
In the fourth quarter, the Crusaders added one final score on a short run. Right before time ran out, the Longhorns saw Sanchez deliver one final big offensive play when he got loose for a 35-yard touchdown run.
It made the final 61-45.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News. For pictures from the Gold-Burg game, click here https://www.dotphoto.com/go.asp?l=bnews1&AID=6869808&T=1

The Bowie Jackrabbits lost a tough game at Ponder on Friday night that got away from them after a promising start.
The Lions ended up winning the game 36-26 in a game that was winnable for the Jackrabbits, but too many things did not go their way.
Bowie came into the game following their toughest loss of the season against Paradise. The Jackrabbits sat 3-3 on the season and were 0-2 in district.
Ponder came into the game 4-2 and were 1-1 in district, coming off a three-point loss to Vernon.
Bowie started the game well as Tyler Richey scored on a short run to put the Jackrabbits up 7-0. Following an interception from Lane Whitfield, Bowie scored early in the second quarter, with a drive again ending with Richey scoring on a short run. The Jackrabbits led 13-0.
At some time Bowie was dealt a blow when interior lineman Jorge DeLeon went down with an injury. This eventually led to Ponder being able to establish a good running game, which then fed into explosive plays in the passing game.
The Lions scored on a seven-yard pass to cut Bowie’s lead to 13-7. The Jackrabbits answered when Rayder Mann scrambled to his left and found Bradly Horton behind the defense for a 56-yard touchdown pass. Bowie’s lead extended to 20-7.
Still in the second quarter, Ponder was able to wrestle the lead away. Quarterback Tyson Price got loose on a 44-yard run. He then found another receiver for a 23-yard touchdown pass.
The Lions went into halftime up 21-20.
Bowie started the second half strong with a drive down into Ponder territory. This time, it was running back Justin Clark who found the end zone on a short run. The Jackrabbits were back in the lead up 26-21.
The Lions got the lead back in the third quarter when Price found his receiver open for a 30-yard touchdown pass. The good two-point conversion had Ponder leading 29-26 heading into the fourth quarter.
Bowie’s offense continued to be stalled by untimely penalties which did not allow the Jackrabbits to answer back in the final period.
The Lions added one more score to their lead on a short run to go up by at least two scores 36-26. Bowie had no answer as the Jackrabbits fell to 0-3 in district play.

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