After taking an 18-15 lead at halftime, the Bowie Bears gave up 27-unanswered points to the Burges Mustangs and fell 42-18 Oct. 25 on the road. After this loss, Bowie’s district record is now 2-2.

“I felt really good about our chances against Burges especially when we were up at halftime,” linemen Juan Camacho, 11, said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t come out with the same intensity in the second half.”

Burges started out the second half strong by scoring the first touchdown to take the lead 22-18. They then scored three more touchdowns to give them their 42-18 win, stifling Bowie’s offense all second half.

The Bears struggled in the second half by losing wide receiver Carlos Varela due to a back injury. Bowie’s defense was struggling by not stopping the Burges offense.

The Bears came out strong to begin the game when Varela intercepted the first play of the game. During the ensuing possession, quarterback Justin Diaz, 12, connected on a pass to Varela to give the Bears the early 6-0 lead.

“I had confidence in my team and on my coaches in making the right calls and throwing the ball at the right time,” running back Andrew Gallardo, 12, said.

The Mustangs answered back with a touchdown in the last minute to take the lead and make the score 7-6 in the first quarter.

To start the second quarter, Burges scored once again to make the score 15-6. The Bears did not go down without a fight as Diaz found wide receiver Julian Hernandez, 12, to score a touchdown and cut the lead to 15-12.

By the end of the second quarter, Diaz found Hernandez to score a 50-yard touchdown on 4th-and-long when he scrambled to avoid the defense and gave the Bears the lead heading into the half.

The Bears will now Face the Andress Eagles Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. at home to try and clinch a playoff position.

“I feel really good about the upcoming game against Andress especially because it’s senior night and we want to win to give the seniors a special last home game,” Camacho said.