BOWIE, Texas – The Bowie Jackrabbits endured a tough non-district slate, winning only one game. Boyd’s non-district schedule was slightly more forgiving, but the Yellowjackets escaped with only a pair of wins.
Both teams looked to the 4-3A DI opener as a chance to turn their season around where it really counts; and in the end the Jackrabbits came out on top to begin their postseason push after topping Boyd 34-20 at Jackrabbit Stadium Friday night.
“We had a rough non-district, but these last two weeks, we had two good weeks of practice,” said Bowie head coach Dylan Stark. “Our goal was to start 1-0 in district, and we accomplished that. I’m real proud of the guys, they played really hard and took a step in the right direction.”
Matthew Wallace was a key contributor to the Jackrabbits win tonight, completing 12 of 19 passes for 124 yards and three touchdowns in perhaps his best passing performance of the season.
“We definitely progressed from last week,” said the senior signal-caller. “The offense got better, and we’ll progress through this next week.”
Boyd kept it a close game in the first half, bringing the score to within three heading into the locker room. After Bowie opened the scoring with a 15 yard pass from Wallace to Payton Price, ending a drive which took up the latter half of the first quarter, the Jackets responded with a 13 yard pass from Kody Risenhoover to Koby Miller from 13 yards out, but opted to kick an extra point.
Wallace and Risenhoover traded passing touchdowns again to end the first half, with the Rabbits two successful two point conversions keeping them in the lead.
The second half however belonged to Bowie, with a pair of rushing touchdowns by Jay Rogers and Bret Davis as well as Wallace’s third passing score, while the defense kept the Yellowjackets relatively stuffed. The scoring ended with Risenhoover’s third passing score, a nine yard toss to Brian Couture.
Not to be outdone, Risenhoover completed 10 passes for 132 yards and three touchdowns in the loss, while Logan Jones tallied 66 rushing yards on 11 carries. Wallace continued to be steady on the ground as well, racking up 106 yards on 19 carries. Davis and Rogers added 31 and 30 yards with their one score each, respectively. Price hauled in two of Wallace’s touchdowns to go along with 51 yards receiving on five catches, while Dawson White hauled in a pair of catches for 36 yards for Boyd, and Miller added 27 yards to his one touchdown.
“I had a lot of passing and rushing yards. We’re going to continue to do that and make me a threat,” said Wallace. “My running backs also did well, carried the ball well, they’re also a threat.”
Bowie (2-4, 1-0) hits the road next week for a contest against Breckenridge. The Buckaroos (1-5, 1-0) had their struggles in non-district as well, but also sport a win in their district opener, having defeated Paradise tonight.
“Breckenridge played a brutal non-district schedule; anyone who plays that schedule would have a hard time with it,” said Stark. “They’ve had our number the last few years, but we’re looking forward to it.”
Boyd (2-4, 0-1) will seek a turnaround next week, on the road for the second of a back-to-back road stretch in Ponder; the Lions will also seek to keep their playoff hopes alive after dropping tonight’s contest to Brock.
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