By Paul Keane
The Wayne County News

The Bowling Green Buccaneers improved their record to 2-0 Friday night, defeating Wayne Academy in a non-district game at T.F. Giles Field in Waynesboro, Miss.
The Jaguars held the Buccaneers and potent runners Jordan Barnes and Cameron Cowart in check most of the night until the final 12 minutes. That’s when Cowart scored on an 87-yard run with 9:43 left, and then Barnes added a 1-yard score with 2:10 remaining to give the visiting team a 20-13 lead.
The Jaguars took the ensuing kickoff and quickly drove downfield, marching from their own 37 down to the Bowling Green 17-yard line. Three incompletions and a run for no gain, though, allowed the Buccaneers to take over at the 17 and then run the clock out.
On Wayne Academy’s second possession of the night, the Jaguars drove down to the Bucs 21-yard line before a fumble ended the scoring threat. Another long drive that extended into the second quarter ended with a punt from the Bowling Green 39-yard line.
After Brayden Doss recovered a fumble two plays after the punt, the Jaguars again drove methodically downfield, reaching the Bowling Green 12-yard line before a pair of penalties and two incompletions ended the drive on downs.
Bowling Green took over at its own 22-yard line and needed only five plays before Barnes scored on a 30-yard run. The Hayden Thompson extra point made it 7-0 with 4:28 left before halftime.
The Jaguars answered that score with a six-play, 75-yard drive that took only 1:57 off the clock before Zach Hutchison scored on a 17-yard run. The Grayson Livingston extra point knotted things up at 7-7 with 2:32 remaining. The teams entered the halftime locker room tied at 7-7.
The Jaguars’ defense stiffened again early in the third quarter as Bowling Green forced a punt to start the second half, then marched down to the WA 17-yard line. A sack on third down led to a fourth-and-23 from the 28-yard line, and a pass play fell 1 yard short of the first down marker.
It took the Jaguars only three plays to score after taking over on downs, with Hutchison scoring on a 74-yard run to give WA a 13-7 lead with 6:01 left in the quarter.
The Jaguars forced a punt and then drove down to Bowling Green 13-yard line with 9:58 left before the drive stalled. A 30-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left, allowing the Buccaneers to take over. On first down, Cowart got loose and raced 87 yards for a score. The two-point conversion failed, and things were knotted up again, this time at 13-all with 9:43 remaining in the game.
The Jaguars were forced to punt on the ensuing series, and Bowling Green went on a clock-eating, 83-yard, 11-play drive that was capped off when Barnes bulled his way in from a yard out on a keeper. The Thompson extra point made it 20-13 with 2:10 left.
Hutchison returned the ensuing kickoff 19 yards to the WA 37, and then he hit Livingston with a 30-yard pass on first down. Two plays later, the Jaguars were at the Bowling Green 17-yard line before the Bucs’ secondary was able to make plays on three passes and the front line was able to stop Hutchison for no gain.
For the night, the Buccaneers rushed for 201 yards and passed for another 140.
Bowling Green returns home this Friday, to host Adams County Christian Academy, as the Bucs for 3-0.