Bowie defense proves too much for Cove in 42-28 loss for Dawgs

 By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press
AUSTIN - The aggressive, attacking style of the Bowie defense averaged more than seven sacks in their first two games this season while holding their opponents to just seven points per contest.
That aggression continued Friday night as the Bulldogs of Bowie allowed just 348 total yards in their 42-28 win over the Copperas Cove Bulldawgs in the preseason finale for both teams at Burger Stadium in Austin. Most of the Bulldawgs’ second-half yardage came late in the contest.
“The next step is for us to control ourselves, and move on,” said Copperas Cove head coach Jason Hammett. “Bowie played a few guys for a little bit the third quarter when they played some subs and then after that they decided that they better quit doing that so they put their ones back on and we were able to still stop the ones and move the ball a little bit and so it was good on that part but, we’ve got a bunch of kids that, that
I believe, just keep getting better.” Cove won the second half, outscoring Bowie 21-7, but the 28-point deficit in the first half was too much to
overcome.
“There are definitely great defenses in our district, said Hammett . “But I’ve not seen somebody with the attacking style these guys do. They run a ton of man coverage which forces you into certain throws and certain runs, and they attack well. I mean, their inside linebackers were the best we’ve seen all year and probably as good as anybody we saw last year as well.
“So, it does prepare us. Our o-line has had trouble with protection early. We also had some problems in the run game and we settled a lot of that too.
“We’ll see some great defenses coming, Ellison’s got a good one and Temple’s always got good defense.”
Trailing 42-7, the Bulldawgs began to get some things to start working offensively.
After the defense forced a fumble at the Bowie 39, the Bulldawgs scored their first touchdown of the second half on a three-yard run by Brooks-Smith with 2:50 left in the third quarter.
The Dawgs added another score after forcing a punt with 1:05 left in the period. A six-yard touchdown run by Roberts capped a seven-play drive with
10:47 left in the game.
Another defensive stand by Cove on 4th and 1 from the Bulldawgs’ 34 set up Cove’s final score on a 17-yard pass to freshman Trishtin Glass with 2:48 left.
The Bulldawgs finished with 348 total yards on 73 plays to Bowie’s 458 yards on 51 plays. Cove was 9 for 17 (52.9 percent) on third down conversion attempts and 1 for 3 on fourth down.
Bowie was 5 for 9 (55.6%) on third down and 0 for 1 on fourth.
Junior Craig Brown led the Bulldawgs with 74 yards on 14 carries while senior Malcom Roberts added 35 yards and two scores on eight carries. Richey added six carries for 31 yards, and Brooks-Smith had eight carries for 27 yards and a touchdown.
Richey was 15 for 37 passing for 181 yards and a touchdown with Glass leading the receivers with four catches for 46 yards and a touchdown followed by Pearce with five catches for 45 yards, Roberts with 1 catch for 40 yards, and Nelson with three catches for 37 yards.
Pontius led the Copperas Cove tacklers with 5.5 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for a loss. Chandler Gastelo added 4.5 tackles and Xavier taclibon had 4.0 tackles.
Kenyon was 14 for 18 for 287 yards and three touchdowns to lead Bowie. He led a potent Bowie offense with three touchdowns through the air to three different receivers and the Bulldogs added two more scores on the ground.
Peters led the Bowie receivers with six catches for 175 yards and a touchdown followed by Barnes with three grabs for 48 yards and a score. Foradory added two catches for 13 yards and a score.
Camacho led the Bowie rushing attack with 15 carries for 109 yards and a touchdown while Barnes added three carries for 36 yards and a touchdown.
Kyle Knudson led the Bulldogs' defense with 6.5 tackles, including four tackles for losses. Dower Powell added seven tackles and Will Welch had five.
Knudson and the Bowie defense held the Cove running game to 167 yards on 36 plays for 4.6 yards per carry to mitigate one of the Bulldawgs’ strengths.
The Bowie Bulldogs outpaced the Cove Dawgs with 338 total yards of offense and four scores on 27 plays while the Bulldawgs managed just 138 yards and one score on 39 plays in the first half and they added another score on a special teams play on their way to a 35-7 lead at the half.
The Bulldogs didn’t take too long to get on the scoreboard with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Kenyon to senior Cash Peters for a 7-0 lead to open the contest. A 10-yard pass from Kenyon to Barnes and a five-yard run by Camacho set up the score.
The Bowie special teams then got in on the action after forcing a Cove three- and-out and partially blocking the punt of Cove’s Steward that was scooped up and scored by senior defensive back Jack Kimbrough for a 14-0 Bowie lead with 9:43 left in the first quarter.
After another Cove 3-and-out and punt, the Bulldogs put together an eight-play 92-yard drive capped by a 10-yard run by Camacho with 3:51 left on the clock in the first quarter.
The Bulldawgs’ offense began to find some rhythm on their next possession with a 10-play drive that pushed the Bulldawgs inside the Bowie 10, but a turnover on downs on 4th and 6 from the Bowie six ended Cove’s chances with 11:55 left in the first half.
Bowie added to their lead on the ensuing possession with a 24-yard touchdown run by Barnes to cap a four- play 93-yard drive. A 57-yard pass from Kenyon to Peters and a 12-yard run by Barnes set up the Bulldogs’ fourth score.
Another long drive by Cove of nine plays stalled out at the Bulldawgs’ 40 and forced another Cove punt. 
Pontius led the Copperas Cove tacklers with 5.5 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for a loss. Chandler Gastelo added 4.5 tackles and Xavier taclibon had 4.0 tackles.
Kenyon was 14 for 18 for 287 yards and three touchdowns to lead Bowie. He led a potent Bowie offense with three touchdowns through the air to three different receivers and the Bulldogs added two more scores on the ground.
Peters led the Bowie receivers with six catches for 175 yards and a touchdown followed by Barnes with three grabs for 48 yards and a score. Foradory added two catches for 13 yards and a score.
Camacho led the Bowie rushing attack with 15 carries for 109 yards and a touchdown while Barnes added three carries for 36 yards and a touchdown.
Kyle Knudson led the Bulldogs’ defense with 6.5 tackles, including four tackles for losses. Dower Powell added seven tackles and Will Welch had five.
Knudson and the Bowie defense held the Cove running game to 167 yards on 36 plays for 4.6 yards per carry to mitigate one of the Bulldawgs’ strengths.
The Bowie Bulldogs outpaced the Cove Dawgs with 338 total yards of offense and four scores on 27 plays while the Bulldawgs managed just 138 yards and one score on 39 plays in the first half and they added another score on a special teams play on their way to a 35-7 lead at the half.
The Bulldogs didn’t take too long to get on the scoreboard with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Kenyon to senior Cash Peters for a 7-0 lead to open the contest. A 10-yard pass from Kenyon to Barnes and a five-yard run by Camacho set up the score.
The Bowie special teams then got in on the action after forcing a Cove three- and-out and partially blocking the punt of Cove’s Steward that was scooped up and scored by senior defensive back Jack Kimbrough for a 14-0 Bowie lead with 9:43 left in the first quarter.
After another Cove 3-and-out and punt, the Bulldogs put together an eight-play 92-yard drive capped by a 10-yard run by Camacho with 3:51 left on the clock in the first quarter.

The Bulldawgs’ offense began to find some rhythm on their next possession with a 10-play drive that pushed the Bulldawgs inside the Bowie 10, but a turnover on downs on 4th and 6 from the Bowie six ended Cove’s chances with 11:55 left in the first half.
Bowie added to their lead on the ensuing possession with a 24-yard touchdown run by Barnes to cap a four- play 93-yard drive. A 57-yard pass from Kenyon to Peters and a 12-yard run by Barnes set up the Bulldogs’ fourth score.
Another long drive by Cove of nine plays stalled out at the Bulldawgs’ 40 and forced another Cove punt.

Bowie again took advantage with a five-play, 57-yard scoring drive finished by a five-yard touchdown pass from Kenyon to Foradory with 6:05 left
in the second quarter.
The Bulldawgs finally got on the scoreboard in the waning minutes of the second quarter when they put together a 16-play scoring drive that culminated with a five-yard touchdown run by Roberts.
Runs by Brown and Roberts, along with a 12-yard pass from Richey to Glass and a pair of pass interference calls helped the Bulldawgs set up the score for the 35-7 score with 1:14 left in the first half after the Steward extra point.