Lamar and Bowie are an even 5-5 against one another since October of 2015, but not for long. The Vikings will look to defend their home field on Thursday against the Volunteers at 7:00 p.m. The two teams might be coming in a bit winded given these two teams combined for 887 yards in their previous games.
Lamar will bounce into Thursday's game after beating Arlington, who they had gone 2-7 against in their nine prior meetings. The Vikings took down the Colts 35-21 on Thursday. Things were looking grim for the Vikings in the first quarter (they were down by 21) but they stormed back to get the matchup.
Tayrone Thomas
| 10/23/25 vs Arlington | 219 |
| 09/26/25 @ Haltom | 217 |
| 09/18/25 vs Martin | 200 |
| 10/17/25 @ Sam Houston | 96 |
| 09/04/25 vs Sachse | 89 |
| + 3 more games |
Lamar can attribute much of their success to Jayden Shaw, who rushed for 108 yards and a pair of TDs on only seven carries, and Tayrone Thomas, who rushed for 219 yards and one touchdown while picking up 9.1 yards per carry. Thomas is becoming a predictor of the Vikings' success: when he posts at least 100 rushing yards the team is 2-1 (and 2-3 when he doesn't).
They were just one part of a punishing run game: Lamar was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 366 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2024.
Another reason for the win was Lamar's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for three sacks. The team can thank three different players for their defensive prowess: Adrian Davis, Mareco Harris, and Braylon Williams, who each picked up one sack apiece. Davis was another major factor on D, picking up a sack and making ten total tackles (3.0 for loss).
Meanwhile, Bowie entered their tilt with Haltom on Thursday with four consecutive wins but they'll enter their next game with five. They walked away with a 30-20 win over the Buffalos. Given the Volunteers' advantage in MaxPreps' Texas football rankings (they are ranked 130th, while the Buffalos are ranked 282nd) , the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Bowie had a senior duo take command as Keidric Osunde-Brown picked up 141 receiving yards and one score and Jayden Bibbs threw for 256 yards while completing 73.7% of his passes.
The victory got Lamar back to even at 4-4. As for Bowie, their win bumped their record up to 6-2.
The upcoming contest will be a clash of competing strengths. Lamar has deployed a run-first offense that has averaged 216.2 rushing yards a game. Meanwhile, Bowie has preferred to attack from the air: they average 333 passing yards per game. So which strategy will prevail on Thursday? There's only one way to find out.
Lamar took a serious blow against Bowie when the teams last played back in November of 2024, falling 49-21. Thankfully for the Vikings, Darrion Bowers (who rushed for 244 yards and four TDs while picking up 9.4 yards per carry, and also picked up 74 receiving yards and one touchdown) won't be suiting up this time. Will that be enough to change the final result? There's only one way to find out.
