Bowie High involved in wild weekend on gridiron By JAKE LINGER Sports Editor
Julius Caesar once said, "Men willingly believe what they wish." If indeed this is the case, the Bowie High junior varsity football team believes that no matter what the opposition wishes for - they're just not scoring any points.
The junior Bulldogs defeated the DuVal Tigers, 34-0, to win their fourth game in as many tries. And each game has come by way of a shutout. In fact, the Bulldogs have outscored their opponents, 154-0, so far this season.
"We played a very good offensive game against DuVal," said JV coach Terry Hayes. "Which we do every week."
Backup quarterback Keonne Clayborne threw for three touchdowns and James Holley rushed for two in the game.
In the first quarter Clayborne found receiver Jeremiah Hendy for the first score of the day for Bowie. The second half fully belonged to the Bulldogs thanks to two scores from Holley and two touchdown passes from Clayborne, one to Brandon Johnson and the other to Neil Harps.
Though the score may suggest otherwise, Hayes said that "DuVal played tough and was very hyped in the second half." He said that fatigue did seem to set in later in the game and that is when the Bowie running game took over.
The JV team played Northwestern at 4 p.m. yesterday, but details were unavailable at press time.
Lots of offense and even a little "D" were played between the Tigers and Bulldogs varsity football teams at DuVal High. It took all of regulation and four additional overtime periods to settle the score, which ended up in DuVal's favor, 38-32.
"DuVal has a lot of talent," said first-year Bowie coach Pete Barham. "They're no slouch."
Indeed DuVal came out fighting. The Tigers built a 14-0 lead in the first quarter and Bowie had nothing to offer in return sans a few three-and-out offensive series.
But in the second quarter the Bulldogs got their act together and tied the contest at 14. Bowie running back Travis Thomas scored both of the Bulldogs' second-quarter touchdowns en route to a 98-yard performance on nine carries in regulation.
The Bulldogs got on top 21-14 in the third quarter thanks to a Mark Tomlin 20-yard pass to receiver Devin Goode. But late in the fourth DuVal scored to tie the game at 21 and send it into overtime.
"The positive for us is that the guys didn't give up," said Barham, who expressed happiness with his team playing through the opening 14-point deficit and not hanging their heads.
The Tigers struck first in the opening overtime session, but the missed extra point attempt left the door wide open for the Bulldogs. All they had to do was get into the end zone and nail the extra point. Thomas delivered for Bowie with a 5-yard scamper to get the Bulldogs within a point, but the extra point attempt failed, thus sending the game to a second overtime, but both defenses showed up and neither team was able to find pay dirt.
In the third overtime, Bowie scored on a 6-yard pass from Tomlin to Goode, but again the extra point attempt was no good. The door was now left wide open for DuVal, who did score a touchdown, but somehow also could not find a way to convert the extra point - again.
The game would reach its climax in the fourth overtime when the Bulldogs had a third-and-inches opportunity at the goal line but were called for an offsides infraction. They could not get into the end zone and DuVal put the game away on their ensuing possession with a touchdown for the 38-32 win.
"We played tough on defense until the end of the game," said Barham. "DuVal made some big plays."
The Bulldogs (2-2) will face Northwestern (1-3) Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at Bulldogs Stadium. Following that game is a date with the currently winless Parkdale Panthers, and then a four-game stretch that will make any coach cringe. The Bulldogs will finish the regular season with games against Charles H. Flowers (4-0), Eleanor Roosevelt (4-0), Suitland (4-0) and Oxon Hill (2-2).
"We've got a tough road to hoe," said Barham, who admitted that his varsity Bulldogs may need to win their remaining games to have a shot at a county 4A title.
"If we play as hard versus those four teams as we did versus DuVal, we'll be OK," said Barham. "We've got talent, we're just starting to gel."
