By Spencer Spilman

The Hays Rebels traveled to Burger Stadium in Austin Friday to face off against the Bowie Bulldogs. 

But the Rebels, who trailed all night, attempted to fight back to no avail as the Bulldogs won 38-17.

Bowie came out on the first drive and moved the ball with ease. The drive took just over three minutes and was capped off with a 13 yard touchdown pass from quarterback Brandon Ramos to wide receiver Cash Cavitt.

Hays fumbled on their first offensive possession, which led to a Bowie field goal. The Rebels fell down 10-0 early in the game. 

After a Hays fumble and punt, Bowie worked another long drive, which was finished off with a another Ramos touchdown pass. Ramos’ second touchdown pass was thrown to Sam Portillo to give Bowie a 17-0 lead.

Hays answered the touchdown on its next drive. Quarterback Cody Reiley, who filled in for Tyler Conley after he exited the game due to injury, came in and converted a fourth and 21 on a pass to Cade Powell. Powell pounded the next play in for a touchdown to cut the Bulldog lead to 17-7.

But Bowie responded by scoring a touchdown with just 18 seconds left in the first half. Ramos, who tossed four total touchdowns, threw his third touchdown pass to Josh Wainwright to increase Bowie’s lead to 24-7 at halftime. 

The Rebels started the second half with a fake punt from the Bulldogs. That led to a Jax Kell field goal to bring Hays within two touchdowns. 

Bowie retaliated with Ramos throwing his fourth score of the game several drives later. His fourth touchdown went to a fourth different receiver in Caden Donahue. Bowie’s lead expanded to 31-10 early in the fourth quarter. 

Hays worked to respond with a quick drive. Rebel quarterback Issaac Castilleja came in and kept a drive going with a 41 yard pass to wide receiver Dustin Bruno. On the ensuing play, Cody Gandy punched in a one yard touchdown run to bring the Rebels within 14 points again. 

But the Rebels struggled to keep pace, as the Bulldog offense proved difficult to halt. Bowie returned by scoring a touchdown on ten plays. Nine of those plays came on the ground, including the touchdown run from Desmond Young, who did most of the work during the drive. 

The Bulldogs took a 38-17 lead and never looked back. 

Hays had one more long drive at the end of the game to try and close the gap but came up short. 

Hays returns home to face off with Akins on Friday in the regular season finale at Shelton Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.