Iowa Park faces Bowie — playoff spot on the line

Playoffs on the line

The Iowa Park Hawks battle the Bowie Jackrabbits on Friday in the regular season finale. A spot in the playoffs is on the line. For the Hawks it is simple, win and the Hawks are the fourth seed for the playoffs with a 3-3 district record. Lose and the tiebreakers come into play as Iowa Park, Bowie and Ponder would finish with identical 2-4 records, and split on the head-to-heads with the Hawks getting a win over Ponder and Ponder beat Bowie. Ponder has the edge on point differential, and has finished the regular season.

 

Scouting the Jackrabbits

Bowie is coming off a bye. The Jackrabbits have one district win over Boyd 25-18, and a couple of close calls in a 10-9 loss to Peaster and a 36-26 loss to Ponder. In their last game out they lost 51-26 to Vernon. Bowie trailed 21-13 in the second quarter before the wheels fell off. Bowie quarterback Rayder Mann was 8-20 for 138 yards and 3 TDs in that game.

In the win over Boyd, Justin Clark led the Rabbits with 20 carries for 72 yards while Mann was 10 of 18 for 160 yards and two scores. He also ran 7 times for 48 yards. Justin Clark ran 20 times for 72 yards.

Defensively they will be in mostly an odd front. They will bring the house with seven in the box to stop the run and man up and run with the receivers.

District Standings

Standings District Differential

Paradise            7-2                        5-0        +75

Vernon                7-2                        4-1         +33

Peaster               7-2                        4-1         +31

Iowa Park          3-6                        2-3        -24

Ponder                5-5                        2-4        -14

Bowie                  4-5                        1-4         -34

Boyd                    1-8                         0-5        -68

Last week: Vernon 55, Iowa Park 13, Peaster 45, Boyd 8, Paradise 40, Ponder 16, Bowie had the bye.

Next week: Iowa Park at Bowie, Peaster at Vernon, Paradise at Boyd. Ponder has the bye.

Looking Back: Hawks vs. Rabbits

The Hawks and the Jackrabbits have met 27 times, with Iowa Park leading the series 20-7. The teams’ first meeting came in 1970, with the Hawks winning 70-0. Iowa Park did not punt in the game. Lee Dawson scored on an 80-yard pass from Steve Catlin while Jeff MCDonald, Steve Webb, Greg Frazier, Steve Watson, Richard Blair, Tony Lee, Greg Ancel, and Bobby Morgan scored rushing touchdowns.

Not all games have been blowouts, in 2022, the Hawks needed an overtime 29-yard field goal from Cannon Whittington to win 25-22. Bowie led 14-0 before Parker Allen threw to Colton Crouch for a 14-yard TD, then Evan Dietrichson’s 3-yard TD tied the game in the third quarter. Down 22-14, Allen ran in a 1-yard TD and Jansen Bernard ran in the conversion to tie it 22-22 late in the fourth.