The student section is screaming, the band is playing, and the cheerleaders are cheering, all pumping up the football players as they fight to keep their close-to-undefeated season going.
The 2013-2014 football team has gained more public attention than any other year at Bowie, until the loss at Lake Travis, according to senior quarterback Austin Eschenburg.
“Since we lost [against Lake Travis], we are not going to get anymore attention. It won’t be a problem anymore,” Eschenburg said.
Eschenburg continues to keep his head in the game and not focus to what other people are saying, which is going to be helpful in order for the Dawgs to continue to beat other teams in the district.
So far this season, the Dawgs have a 5-1 advantage losing one game against the Lake Travis Cavaliers. If the Dawgs work hard enough, they could possibly be in the running for the District 15-5A championship.
“Being a contender for the district title is always awesome. We just have to take one game at a time to work towards our goal,” Eschenburg said.
The Dawgs lost their only game so far this season to the five-time state championship winners, the Lake Travis Cavaliers, by a score of 41-0.
“It was just disappointing that we lost our first game,” Eschenburg.
Eschenburg will not be playing in the game against Austin High on Oct. 11 at Burger Stadium.
He separated his shoulder during the game against Lake Travis. He will play again against Akins on Oct. 25.
The student section “blacked out” Westlake, the Dawgs biggest rivals, with a “W” on Sept. 27 by a score of 21-16. This was the first time that the Dawgs have beat Westlake in two years.
“It was for JD,” Eschenburg said.
JD Hartman suffered a brain injury from a near-drowning accident in 2008. He is working towards a full recovery with the support of many.
“He hasn’t been able to talk, eat, or go to the rest room by himself since he was 11 years old. He probably would have been on the team with us now if that didn’t happen,” Eschenburg said.
JD’s dad, John Hartman, talked to the team before the game which brought the team to tears. According to Eschenburg, he brought out the heart in everyone.
Junior running back Cole Meyer dislocated his knee cap during the game and later returned to the field.
“I was running and I just got hit from the side and it made a loud noise and I knew something was wrong,” Meyer said. “It hurt really bad and the rest of the game was pretty painful but I knew I had to keep playing for my teammates and JD. He was a big inspiration for that game.”
Meyer played in the game against Lake Travis and will continue to play the rest of the season.
“We don’t change anything just because it’s Westlake or Lake Travis. It’s just another game. They have to play Bowie. That’s how we look at it. Not we have to play whoever,” Eschenburg said.
Being the huge competitor that Eschenburg is, he plays his hardest to make sure that his team is going to win, which is why his favorite moment so far this year has been the comeback the Dawgs had against Round Rock on Sept. 12 at the Dragon Stadium.
“At halftime I could tell we weren’t going to lose because of the fight and heart everybody had. And just seeing it come out on the field to get the ‘W’ was just awesome,” Eschenburg said.
One of the most influential people in the game against Round Rock was junior kicker/punter Connor Flannigan, who nailed a 40-yard game-winning field goal to break the tie against the Dragons.
“When that fourth quarter hit and the game was as close as it was, I knew the situation of me kicking a game-winning field goal was a likely possibility. I tried to mentally prepare myself on the sideline kicking and as the clock dwindled down and the score was tied, I knew that’s what I had to do,” Flannigan said.
Parents and students watched nervously from the stands, as well as on television, as Flannigan stepped up to kick the field goal of the season. Flannigan’s nerves were crazy as he stepped onto the field and kicked the ball in between the goal post.
“The nerves when I stepped on that field were unreal and like nothing I had ever experienced before. Everything happened so fast and when I saw the ball go through the uprights and everyone scream it was the best feeling in the world. After I did it, it was sheer joy and the energy of everyone on the sideline made it a very memorable experience,” Flannigan said.
Immediately after the game against Round Rock, twitter was bombarded with a flood of tweets with the hash tag #cflan to congratulate Flannigan.
According to Flannigan, staying humble and knowing that the team plays hard every down for him to perform his task is key.
“This year’s team chemistry is ridiculous. Everyone has been playing football with each other since we were eight and nine years old,” Eschenburg said. “Everyone loves everybody.              No conflicts. Everyone just plays and has fun. It’s a brother hood. You would do anything for the man beside you.”