Bowling Green School made history Thursday night at Columbia Academy.
The Buccaneers captured their first district title in 12 years after defeating Columbia, 32-26.
“It just shows the hard work the kids put in,” Bowling Green School coach Boomer Nunez said. “It’s an honor to be part of this. It’s the first one in 12 years, so the kids will have their name on this for it being that long of a period of time.”
Bowling Green trailed 18-6 at halftime, but scored 19 unanswered points in the third quarter before adding a touchdown at the start of the fourth to take a 32-18 lead. Columbia scored with about five minutes left to close the gap, but could get no closer in the 32-26 final.
Nunez credited the leaders on the team.
“They scored on the first possession and I thought we were in for a long night again, but we went right down the field and scored, so it was 6-6 with about eight minutes to go in the first,” he said. “It stayed 6-6 for a while. They drove the ball on us in the second quarter and went up 12-6. The very next possession, they had a strip sack and returned it for a touchdown.
“That was kind of deflating. You could tell the wind got taken out of our sails, but the leaders on the team picked the guys up. It’s fun to watch your leaders take over in a tough time and bring the guys back. I’ve got to give credit to my seniors. I didn’t say a word at halftime. They went in at halftime and talked to the team before I got there and got them believing they could win. They gave the halftime speech.”
Nunez said that the Buccaneers ran for more than 400 yards and had more than 500 yards of total offense.
He said that Larry Dillon ran for about 250 yards and that Johntae McDowell had about 150. Nunez said that those two players accounted for all of the Bucs’ touchdowns.
Bowling Green finished the regular season with an 8-2 record that includes a forfeit win over Adams County Christian School. The Buccaneers went 2-0 in District 4AAA play.
The Bucs will now wait for the playoff brackets to be released, to see who their first-round opponent will be.