Perhaps it was something in the halftime water. Perhaps it was something in the air. Perhaps it was just Bowie's moment.
Whatever the case, Bowie's Bears romped to 28 second-half points to pull away from rival Jefferson on Friday night at Baty-Simmang Stadium, taking an impressive 42-24 victory in the Battle of the South Side. The Bowie front line opened gaping holes time after time, leading the way for Jose Andujo and Jesus Baray to hold a track meet. Andjuo rushed for a whopping 150 yards on just nine tries.
Baray had 110 yards on 16 attempts. The Bears simply pounded away in the second half, controlling every tick of the final 24 minutes. Jefferson appeared in control of the game early -- even though Bowie got on the scoreboard first.
Andujo scored on a tough 5-yard run. The Bears opted for the surprise measure of a fake extra point, but the pass failed. Still, Bowie was out front 6-0.
This is when the Silver Foxes seemed to assert themselves, cruising 75 yards on three plays. Alfredo Zapata, who had quite a night himself (rushing
Humberto Navarro boomed through the extra point, and Jefferson led 7-6. Jefferson scored again less than two minutes later when Robles fought his way for an 11-yard touchdown trip, breaking a pair of tackles and shrugging off a face mask penalty to reach paydirt. Jefferson led 14-6 and began another drive, marching to the Bowie 13.
But the Bears' James Martinez came up with a fumble, and this game turned so quickly that the fans almost got whiplash. Andujo took the snap from center out of the shotgun, zipped up the middle and was gone on a 74-yard touchdown run and, just like that, the game was even, 14-14. The Silver Foxes got a 24-yard field goal from Navarro to take a 17-14 lead to the intermission.
But that was when everything changed. Bowie quarterback Juan Rod-riguez scored on a quarterback sneak. Rodriguez then lofted a soft swing pass to Andujo, who found the sideline -- and was gone on a 73-yard pass-and-run.
Andujo then dashed up the middle, cut it back nicely and scored on a 20-yard run. Presto. When the third quarter ended, Bowie had added 21 points and Jefferson had not managed a single first down.
The Bears took that 35-17 cushion into the final period, and there was to be no catching them. Bowie added one more quick touchdown to open the final period and then shoved it on cruise control. Jefferson finally got is ground game going again.
Zapata ran for 16 yards, then for 16 more yards, and the Silver Foxes had a pair of first downs -- their first two of the final half -- with just over nine minutes remaining in the game. Zapata made a strong 21-yard run to set Jefferson up with a first-and-goal on the Bear 4, and Emmanuel Herrera took it in from there. But that was all there was to be on this October night for Jefferson.
From the opening seconds of the second half until the final whistle put an end to this rivalry for another year, this was a Bowie Bear night.
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