The atmosphere at Jackrabbit Stadium, and perhaps the entire town of Bowie, was already electric on homecoming night. However in the end, it was the fans from Henrietta who left energized, as their Bearcats rallied back from a 19-point deficit in the third to claim the 46-40 win in overtime.
“We talked at halftime about what we had to do and the way we had to get there,” said Henrietta head coach Byron West. “And they did that, they took every measure to get there, and put the points on the board when we needed to.”
The first quarter began with an offensive frenzy, with both teams methodically and quickly driving down the field for their scores. Bowie opened the scoring at the 8:02 mark in the first, as quarterback Matthew Wallace punched it in from two yards out, followed by a pass to Dillon Swaim for a successful two point conversion.
Henrietta answered back as Zack West, the other competition in this quarterback duel, tallied a four yard touchdown of his own. It was then a one point game until a spectacular play, Wallace handing the ball off to Peyton Price, who then heaved it to Joey Crawford for the 61 yard score at 3:34, followed by another successful two point conversion.
A pair of rushing scores by Wallace and a three yard pass to Rylan Dorman pulled Bowie further ahead in the second, however a two yard rush by Mason Marchman and a 32 yard passing touchdown from West kept Henrietta within 11 at the half.
The third quarter began with an 18 yard passing touchdown from Wallace to Price, and yet another successful two point conversion gave the Jackrabbits the 40-21 lead with 6:34 left in third. It was at this point however that Henrietta’s comeback began. The Bearcats grinded out every yard, wearing out the Bowie defense through the rest of the game, beginning with a Marchman four yard run in the third.
Weston Dowell booted a 28 yard field goal with 6:03 to go in the game to move Henrietta to within eight, which ultimately set the stage for the game tying drive. Starting in their own territory with 5:03 left on the clock, the Bearcats marched down the field, but came upon resistance when inching closer to the red zone. But on fourth down, West heaved the ball down the middle in coverage to Jayson Nixon, who came down with the 18 yard touchdown. West then ran down the right side for the two point conversion, tying the game at 40-all with just 12 seconds remaining.
Bowie was unable to get much going for them in overtime, turning the ball over on downs to the Bearcats. The extra football ended about as fast as it began, as West, previously shaken up late in the game, darted down the right side for the 25 yard game winner.
Both quarterbacks were phenomenal in the contest: Wallace finished with 117 yards passing and a touchdown on eight completions, and though he ran for only 34 yards, the senior signal caller reached paydirt three times on the ground. West ran for 124 yards and two touchdowns, and got the win for his team despite a pair of fumbles. West was deadly efficient in the air, completing 16 passes for 215 yards and a pair of scores.
Elsewhere, Marchman rushed for 68 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Nixon and Brandon Lee each caught four passes for 51 and 72 yards respectively, both with a touchdown. Joey Crawford turned in a solid performance for the Jackrabbits, hauling in four passes for 124 yards and a touchdown.
Bowie (1-2) hit the road next week to take on the Holliday Eagles, still currently undefeated. Henrietta (3-0) is also on the road next week, traveling to Boyd for a contest with the 2-1 Yellowjackets.
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