VANDALIA — The Bowling Green Bobcats secured a home playoff game with a resounding 45-7 win over the Van-Far/Community R-VI Indians on Friday night.
The win, combined with a 21-7 loss by Macon to Centralia, means the Bobcats move up to the fourth seed in the MSHSAA Class 2 District 6 tournament and will host the fifth-seeded Tigers this Friday in a battle of teams with four wins each.
The match-up between Van-Far and Bowling Green was featured as the Eagle 102 Game of the Week. The game is archived on the KJFM website.
The Bobcats made sure to strike early against the Indians, turning the opening possession into six points in under two minutes as a Deonta Fleming reception set up a three-yard Charlie Bowen touchdown for a 6-0 lead.
Bowling Green took a penalty on the ensuing kick-off and the Indians took the option for a re-kick. The Bobcats had a new plan, attempting and recovering an onside kick to steal possession and set the stage for another score.
This time the Bobcats took less than a minute and a half to cross the goal line as Bowen collected his second touchdown with 8:31 remaining in the first quarter for a 13-0 advantage.
Bowling Green wasn’t done scoring in the first. The Bobcats got the ball back and with 5:03 to play in the quarter. Quarterback Nick Breakfield connected with Fleming for a 19-yard score and a 19-0 lead after the opening 12 minutes.
The two hooked up again to start the second quarter for a 58-yard strike when Fleming adjusted to a short Breakfield pass to beat double coverage, then sprinted across the field for a 26-0 lead.
The two sides stiffened up the defense and the final 10 minutes of the first half went scoreless although Van-Far threatened in the closing seconds, using lineman Dayton Sanders as a fullback to try to overpower the Bowling Green defense at the goal line.
The throwback to the 1985 Chicago Bears was unsuccessful as the Bobcats stacked up on Sanders to protect the first half shutout.
The first six minutes of the third quarter were also scoreless until Bowling Green broke through with a six-yard scoring run from Gavin Deters to increase the advantage to 33-0. Breakfield connected with George Niemeyer for a 15-yard scoring pass to initiate the running clock with a 39-0 lead.
Van-Far got on the board in the fourth quarter when Bryson Lay scored a nine-yard touchdown on a run to the left for the Indians.
The score could’ve cost the Bobcats their home playoff game, but Bowling Green was able to add a late tally on a 49-yard run by Marcus Starks to restore their margin of victory.
Bowling Green edged Macon 32.5 to 32.22 in district seeding points to earn the home field advantage for this Friday.
Both teams have a 4-5 record this season.
Van-Far/Community R-VI finished the season 1-8 and is the eight seed in the same district and will have to travel to top-seeded Clark County this Friday to open district play in Class 2 District 6.
The Clopton-Elsberry IndianHawks fell to Montgomery County on Friday, 42-24. The loss brought their record to 2-7 for the year. The IndianHawks are seeded seventh in the Class 2 District 6 tournament and will travel to second-seeded Monroe City on Friday.
In other Friday night football action to end the regular season, the Louisiana Bulldogs travelled to Scotland County, falling 60-6. The Bulldogs finished the season 1-7 and are seeded eighth in the Class 1 District 6 tournament. Louisiana is slated to face top-seeded Brentwood on the road this Friday.
Find district brackets and more information at www.kjfmeagle102.net.