Bowling Green was strong in its spring game that featured Amite School Center and Pope John Paul II at Bowling Green on Thursday, May 10.
Bowling Green played Amite School Center and went 10 plays offensively and defensively twice, with the second stringers competing for 10 plays on each side of the ball once, followed by a goal line period.
Pope John Paul II and Amite School Center followed that same format.
Things wrapped up with Bowling Green and Pope John Paul II competing in a 12-minute quarter.
The Buccaneers were solid on both sides of the ball.
Offensively, quarterback Johntae McDowell completed 15 of his 20 passes for 357 yards and six touchdowns for the entire contest. McDowell also ran eight times for 160 yards and two more touchdowns.
Cameron Bell led the receivers with eight catches for 220 yards and five touchdowns.
Cade Knight caught two passes for 20 yards and a score.
Larry Dillon ran five times for 80 yards and a touchdown.
“We knew coming into the game that they would be ahead of the defense,” Bowling Green first-year coach Boomer Nuñez said. “We executed the game plan correctly. We didn’t have any mishaps or missed assignments, and it looked like they have been running this offense for a couple of years now.”
Defensively, the Buccaneers did not allow a touchdown.
Linebackers Jackson Dabrosaka and Brayden Magehee led the club in tackles.
Dabrosaka made nine stops and Magehee posted eight.
“I was very impressed with how we played. We preached to the guys that we want to be organized, disciplined and we wanted to execute,” Nuñez said. “We had 11 guys to the football on every play, and because of that, a lot of the small mistakes went unnoticed because of the effort to the football.”
Pope John Paul II has a pair of Bogalusa residents in quarterback George Arata and offensive lineman Bryan Mauricio.
Arata threw a 12-yard touchdown pass.
Jaguars first-year coach Charlie Cryer talked about both players. He said that Arata did a real strong job at quarterback.
“For six days of practice, he did real well. Both of my quarterbacks had a lot of questions,” Cryer said. “We didn’t throw a whole lot, because we were working on the running game. We’ll work more on the passing game over the summer in 7-on-7s.
“George had about a 15, 20 yard run. He took a big shot and got back up. He had a real good spring. I feel comfortable about him coming in as a backup quarterback and I’m comfortable with him coming into games.”
Cryer said that Mauricio also saw playing time.
“He came off the ball well. He did what he was supposed to do,” Cryer said.