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The Bulldogs (9-6) advance to play Parkdale in the quarterfinals at 2 p.m. on Tuesday at Parkdale High. The two teams met earlier in the season with the Panthers coming away with a 3-2 victory.

Bowie, the defending Class 4A state champion, was forced to play a first-round game after an injury- and illness-plagued regular season. But the Bulldogs got the scoring started early in the first half on Friday when Joshua LeMaster deflected Joshua Phillips' free kick past the Flowers' goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead.

Adesuyi Adewale added to Bowie's lead when he took a pass from Graham and snuck it past the goalie for a 2-0 lead at the break.

"I am pleased with what I saw [Friday] because I wasn't happy with the way we practiced before the game," said Bowie coach Richard Kirkland. "But the guys shook that off and really pulled through."

Graham, the 2008 Gazette-Star Player of the Year, scored the first of his two goals in the second half when he took a centering pass from Patrick Thornton and buried it into the back of the net. He then added a penalty kick with less than 7 minutes remaining to close the scoring.

Flowers coach Winston Miller wasn't happy with the final score, but was happy with the way his team fought despite having low numbers. Miller said several Flowers players missed the game because of the flu.

"They caught an early goal and got some momentum," Miller said. "We were trying to come back from that, but we just didn't have the people to do it."