The Bears lost a tough game on the road as the Ysleta Indians finished off a fourth quarter rally to win 29-28 in the final seconds of the game.

“I believe we could have beat them, but we just let them up the second half. Our offense individually, we just didn’t play as a team and we just couldn’t convert”, running back Nathan Felix said, who finished the game with 21 carries for 154 yards rushing, two touchdowns and a fumble.

Leading 28-23, Bowie punted to Ysleta, looking to make one last stop but the Indians were clicking through the air by that point. Ysleta took over the ball with less than a minute left around their own 40-yard line, and quickly moved into Bears territory.

The Bowie defense stopped Ysleta and forced them into a 4th-and-10. A pass out to the left side converted the 4th down play for Ysleta, as they moved out to the 22-yard line. The very next play, Joziah Salazar threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to the left side of the endzone to take the lead 29-28 with 5.8 seconds remaining in the game.

Into the fourth quarter, both teams knew that every play was crucial in the game’s result. Bowie conducted a long drive deep into Ysleta territory, and on a risky 4th-and-8 play, William Carrasco connected with Carlos Varela in the left corner of the endzone for a 10-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 28-16.

With 7:31 remaining in the fourth quarter, Ysleta quickly answered back with a 30-yard touchdown pass to cut Bowie’s lead to 28-23. On the Bears next possession, a mishandled handoff led to a turnover recovered by the Ysleta defense in Bowie territory. As the Bears defense held them out of the red zone, Ysleta was forced to punt it back to the Bears.

The Ysleta defense held together and forced the Bears to punt the ball right back. With 59.5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, the Indians had one last drive to decide who would come out victorious.

The game started off promising for the Bears, as they took a quick 7-3 lead and 21-6 at the half.

Bowie drove the ball downfield on their opening drive, William Carrasco connected on a 41-yard touchdown pass to Carlos Varela, however an offensive penalty nullified the score and brought the Bears back into their own territory.

After a long first possession for Ysleta that resulted in a field goal to end the first quarter, the Bears quickly moved into enemy territory and capped off the drive with a 29-yard touchdown pass from William Carrasco to Julian Hernandez to take the lead 7-3 early in the second quarter.

Ysleta managed to move the ball all the way to the 2-yard line on their next drive, but Bowie’s red zone defense held them to another field goal to keep the lead at 7-6. After picking up a few first downs in their next possession, Nathan Felix broke free and took it to the house on a 42-yard touchdown run to extend their lead to 14-6.

Late in the second quarter, Felix ran in his second of the game, a 5-yard touchdown run down the middle to extend the lead to 21-6 heading into halftime.

After another drive deep into Bowie territory, Ysleta was once again stopped short of the endzone and was forced to kick a field goal. The kick was good, as Ysleta still trailed Bowie 21-9 early in the third quarter.

Ysleta forced Bowie to punt on their next possession, and after a few plays, Ysleta quarterback Joziah Salazar connected on a 66-yard touchdown pass to cut the Bears lead to 21-16 with 4:20 left in the third quarter.

“I think there are still some things we can work on together, and come back next week”, Carrasco said, who finished 5-of-10 for 73 passing yards and two passing touchdowns, along with 14 carries for 59 yards.

The Bears will turn their attention to the El Paso High Tigers as they open up district play next week on Friday, Sept. 28, 2018, in R. R. Jones Stadium at El Paso High School.