Bolivar Better Than Bobcats

Bolivar Central overcame a poor first half to beat McNairy Central 22-20 in Selmer on Homecoming Night for the Bobcats.

Bolivar gave up two short-field touchdowns on drives of 15 and 12 yards for McNairy and trailed 13-0 at the half. Bolivar thought they had cut the lead at the end of the half, but a mysterious call by the officials denied the Tigers a touchdown on the last play of the half.

It seemed to fuel the Tigers in the third quarter, as Bolivar scored three times in the first seven minutes, on two touchdowns and a safety to take a lead into the fourth quarter.

Bolivar lengthened their lead to 22-13 with 6:12 remaining on a Carson Howell 42-yard run, Howell’s second touchdown run of the night to go with his passing touchdown to Jayden Kessler earlier in the quarter.

McNairy scored with 4:55 remaining to cut the lead to 22-20, but Bolivar ran out the clock to end the game.

“The call at the end of the first half had us pretty fired up,” said Bolivar Head Coach Hayden Williams. “We came out strong.”

Howell threw for 151 yards on 11-31 passing with a touchdown and an interception, while running for 153 yards on 27 carries. Howell also intercepted two passes and was named both the Vaughan Oil and Farm Bureau Player of the Game. Photo by Brandy Maxwell.