Youth sports
Soccer
The South Bowie Sharks 12U girls county soccer club opened its season against Marlboro with a 1-1 tie. Throughout the game the Sharks controlled the tempo with great passing and numerous scoring chances. Midway through the second half, Sarah Martin scored the first goal of the game on one of her several breakaways after weaving through the Marlboro defense. Martin combined with Brenna Baker, Emily Carroll, Yvonne Peels and Jordan Lee for several attacks on the Marlboro goal throughout the game.
Marlboro was able to convert a breakaway chance into a goal with five minutes to go to tie the game. Mandy Haney did a standout job as keeper. The strong Shark defense of Cecilia Branche and Inari Martin was anchored by Carroll. Kenya DeFoe, Kiara and Brielle Ganthier, Kiara McFadden, Jalean Parungao and Jade Rouse provided strong support for the team in a well played match.
The St. Pius X boys varsity soccer team won its second consecutive game, 8-2, against St. Matthias to begin the season 2-0. The Pius boys have scored 17 goals compared to their competitors' three tallies.
Pius scored its first goal against St. Matthias midway into the first half when Ryan Bliss connected on a hard blast from the left side as a result of a nice feed from Mason Frymark. Minutes later Andrew Klotz hit the back of the net with an unassisted goal up the middle to put Pius further on top, 2-0.
As the first half was winding down Nick McCrea split the defense, dribbled through a trio of St. Matthias defenders and then tapped in the third and final Pius goal of the half. The strong and unforgiving Pius defense was led by Kevin McGowan, Mike McCoy, Joshua Franklin and Jonathan Rafterry Lee, all of whom supported goalie Nathan Ewing in his halftime shutout.
In the second half St. Matthias ended the Pius shutout bid with a goal to get within 3-1. The hungry Pius squad then rattled off goals from Klotz and Bliss, each of whom tallied their second goals of the game. Christian Cooke assisted on the Bliss score before netting his own goal from the right side to end the Pius scoring barrage. Pius led, 6-1, at that point.
Midway through the second half St. Matthias scored its second goal to get within 6-2, but that is where the rubber met the proverbial road for Pius, who responded again with a goal, this time off a rebound in front of the St. Matthias net from a Kiki Lopez shot that originated from a Dominic Hayes cross. McCrea slid to gain control of the ball and then booted it in for his second goal of the game.
Frymark finished up the Pius scoring with a pretty goal in front of the St. Matthias net off a pass from McCrea. Conner Bliss was solid in goal for Pius in the second half. Arron Brust, Rusty Wissman, Nigel Giggets and Matt Kaercher were each part of the unrelenting Pius offensive attack.
Softball
Strong pitching from Leslie Lopez, Katie Martin and Kaitlyn Young led to a 12-0 shutout of the Crofton Pink by the Bowie Boys and Girls Club Lady Bulldogs.
Solid hitting and fielding from Amanda Clore, Jessica Blazer, Maciyah Washington, Kelsey Adams, Taylor Thompson-Howell, Yvonne Romero, Carli Trice, Colleen Blasko, Gabby Cipriano, Shar Mullins and Jamie Sullivan helped the girls improve to 2-0 on the season.
The 12U Bowie Lady Bulldogs softball team played Crofton and won, 8-4. Taylor Delaney had a single at the plate in addition to her two innings on the mound with two strikeouts. Joan Briggs and Tiarra Delaney each had two singles. Lindsey Love, JaBria Washington, Jalyn Whitlock and Sruthi Pala each hit one single. Krista Flores had a double and Rebecca Robertson hit a home run. Other key players who contributed to the win were Alexis Brock, Sammi Beitzel and Elizabeth Beal. Allie DeGrouchy pitched three innings and had nine strikeouts while Brittney Lowe pitched one inning and had one strikeout. A crucial part of the game was when the Delaney sisters - Tiarra and Taylor - each made a skilled play in the bottom of the fourth inning to record the final pair of outs, which also ended anymore scoring chances for Crofton.
Football
The South Bowie Sharks 75 AAA football team defeated Greenbelt, 19-14, on the final play of the game.
It was like "Friday Night Lights," the Sharks played an excellent game both offensively and defensively. Greenbelt scored first on a pass play but missed the extra point. Matthew Phillips scored the first Sharks touchdown on a reverse that he ran 20 yards. Reggie Harris scored the extra point. South Bowie led Greenbelt 7-6 at halftime.
Harris used his speed and a few fakes to take the second-half kickoff 75 yards for a touchdown. The extra point failed. Greenbelt scored again and kicked a field goal to go up, 14-13. Harris caught an interception that he took 40 yards, however, South Bowie did not score on the possession.
South Bowie then moved the ball down the field on big runs by Harris, Brent Haymen and Derick Waring. A fumble gave Greenbelt the ball back on their 15-yard line with two minutes left in the game. South Bowie defense tightened and did not allow Greenbelt a first down, due to great play from Kalil Watson, Korey Haymen, Christian Melgar, Rickey Bryant, Isaiah Hill, Sam Garmore, Demarco Johnson, Matthew Phillips and Harris.
With :03 seconds left on the clock South Bowie got the ball back. Deron Smith threw the winning touchdown to Korey Haymen to cause an eruption of cheers and a win by the Sharks.
The Sharks play Glenarden at Lanham Sports Park Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
The BBGC Mighty Mites Team 1, have something to smile about. They traveled to play Peppermill on their home field and shut them down, 14-0. The shutout was not a first for the Mighty Mites. The Peppermill game was the third of the season for Bowie - all of which have resulted in shutout wins for the Bulldogs.
The highlights of this game revolved around how the Bowie defensive and offensive lines played. Ryan Saunders, Sean Black, Jared Byrd, Zach Dudley, Kent Edwards, Travis Hopkins, Christian Jones, C.J. Lowe, Gabe Miles, Alonzo Parke, Kevin Smith, Bradley Speed, Cameron Stuart and Ben Taylor were unstoppable. The defense totally silenced Peppermill by not letting them get more than 10 yards during any possession. The front line for Bowie totaled six sacks and were led by Dudley and Jordan Best. D. Gaskins had a great 50-yard run to set up Bowie in scoring position as he and Justin Ball rotated at quarterback. Damon and Deion Green contained the outside viciously on defense.
The Bowie win would not have been possible without running backs Sieh Bangura, Abbey Dosumnu and Brandon Bell. The three backs looked like they were on fire, and it was by way of superior blocks from the offensive line that made huge holes for Bell to run two 60-yard touchdowns for the win.
The BBGC Mighty Mite Team 2 faced a strong Forestville Falcon Mighty Mite Team 1 team at Whitemarsh Field and emerged with a 35-28 win.
The first play of the game, Justice McDougal left the Falcons in the dust with a 60-yard, around the left corner, touchdown. He was able to help the team again by scoring another touchdown later in the game. Behind the superior blocking of Alonzo Banks, Mason Moses and Amir Majors, Tyree Shields caught a quick screen pass on the second play of the game and ran through - and around - seven Falcons to score a 60-yard touchdown, his first of two for the day. All day the Bulldogs dominated the line of scrimmage behind the outstanding blocking of Jerome Lee, Amir Ellis, Zyon Foote, Kolby Mitchell, Sean McVeigh, Hayden Fisher and Kye Holmes.
Both teams exchanged touchdowns but in the end, the strong Bulldogs defense flexed its muscles to help take the win. Thanks to solid plays from defensive linemen Nathon Trask, Miles Blanc, Carrington Hagens, Brandon Seeley, Brandon Minor and Walter Byrd, the Mites are 3-0.
Tough linebacker plays were contributed by Austin Eberlein, Jordan Edmonds, Ian Partman, Darran Edmonds, Brendan Johnson and Zachary Thompson.
