Lockwood barely had time to get through the door before he had to prepare for his first PBR ride since 2020 and his first-ever appearance in a PBR Teams game.

A night earlier, the Cowboys had cycled through more riders than they ever had during a single game. Jess Lockwood and Trey Kimzey had been shaken up, leaving Carolina needing another rider as it prepared to face the New York Mavericks on Sunday.

Jess told the team he was willing to ride, but Carolina opted to give him additional time before undergoing concussion testing and instead placed the late call to his younger brother.

“I told them to put me in last night, and they made the decision to fly him in instead, which was probably the better decision,” Jess said. “I felt good. I was going to have to concussion test today regardless, so, being that they didn’t put me in, they just figured they would rest me up and concussion test at Florida.”

That sent Jake into motion.

He had little time to slow down, much less process the significance of the moment.

“Not really,” Jake said when asked whether he had been able to think about the day. “I got to the airport about 1:30 last night and flew out about six this morning. It was a full day of chaos, running around. But as soon as we got here, it was just take care of business and ride bulls.”

Carolina’s business was already going well by the time Jake’s name appeared in the fourth frame.

Powered by brothers Thiago Salgado and Adriano Salgado, the Cowboys had built an insurmountable advantage over New York. Thiago opened the game with 88.4 points aboard Rhino USA Mouse Trap before Adriano immediately followed with 88.65 points against Show Me The Money.

After Clay Guiton was bucked off by Cupcake in the third, Adriano stood behind the chutes yelling, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Fight was exactly what Jake had spent the previous 12 hours doing.

He fought the schedule. He fought the delayed airlines. He fought the lack of sleep. He fought Oklahoma City traffic from the passenger seat of a minivan.

Now, he had Holy Shift.

Jake had at least been able to do a little homework during the journey. The bull had come from someone he knew back home, and Carolina Cowboys assistant general manager and World Champion Cooper Davis sent him several videos Saturday night.

“Just a really good jump, kicking around to the left,” Jake said. “I knew the matchup would fit me if I did stuff right.”

As the chute clock clicked down, Jess stood beside his brother and held Jake’s vest behind the chute.

Then Jake nodded.

Holy Shift burst from the gate awkwardly before turning through a difficult opening corner. Jake stayed centered through the hardest portion of the out, and from Jess’ vantage point, the result was already decided.

“When Jake made it through all that, I knew he had him rode after that. That bull is just really nice most of the time. After he made it through the hard stuff and he had him beat, game over.”

Along the fence, Tiffany held up her iPad and recorded every jump while providing a running commentary at a volume that did not require the device’s microphone.

When the eight-second whistle sounded and the video board flashed a qualified ride, she erupted.

Jake had done more than simply arrive in time.

He had made a statement.

The judges awarded him 90.4 points, completing Carolina’s 267.45-0 shutout victory against New York and giving the Cowboys their third win of the season.

It was Jake’s first PBR ride score since 2020. It was his first PBR Teams ride. And it landed just one-tenth of a point below his career-best 90.5-point mark.

He is already knocking on the door.

“Anytime you can get a good 90-point ride like that, it’s confidence-boosting,” Jake said. “But to do it on my first one, my first team event, it’s super exciting, and I’m looking forward to the rest of it.”

Jess had a simpler review of his brother’s travel strategy.

“Whatever he did today, let’s just replicate that each time,” he joked.

The celebration briefly turned to concern when Holy Shift came down near Jake during the dismount and sent him hard to the dirt. Jess immediately jumped down from the chutes and began walking into the arena to meet him.

Jake was taken to sports medicine to be evaluated for a possible concussion, though he said the impact mostly knocked the wind out of him.

“I went to get off, and he kind of went straight,” Jake said. “It caught me off guard, flipped me upside down and flopped me on the ground a little bit. But I’m feeling good.”

Walking back from sports medicine, he remained more interested in the ride than the landing.

“As tight as you can,” Jake said of the grip he had on the bull. “And that son of a gun was as tight as you could get.”

Quote lightly translated from its original Montana accent and edited to maintain a PG rating.

Jake’s late arrival had created plenty of nerves inside Carolina’s locker room, even if Davis might not have admitted it before the game.

After the win, the truth came out.

“I was worried,” Davis said. “I’m not going to lie, because you never know with the airlines. You know how they get canceled or delayed. We had Isaiah waiting on him, and we just kept tracking that flight and seeing where we were at with it.”

The Cowboys had been knocked into the dirt themselves one night earlier, but Davis was proud of the way they responded.

“I was proud of the way the team bounced back today. It kind of made them mad, so Thiago and then Adriano right off the bat got the momentum rolling. Even when Clay came down, Jake kept coming with it, and Keyshawn Whitehorse gave it everything he had on Buck Nasty.”

For Davis, Jake’s debut represented more than a single score.

“He really fired,” Davis said. “I think it’s going to be good for Jake. I think it’s going to be a confidence builder, and I think he’s going to have a lot more confidence as we match him from here on.”

Jess agreed.

“Jerome gave him the late call last night and needed him to come in, and that’s what we need him to do,” Jess said. “Come in and be 90, like we know he’s capable of. He showed right there why he’s on this team and why he’s one of the best riders on the team.”

Then, almost as quickly as he had arrived, Jake was preparing to leave.

He and Jess were scheduled to fly home to Montana around 7 p.m. Sunday. By the time Jake reached the airport, he had spent approximately six hours in Oklahoma.

Six hours. One minivan sprint. One national anthem entrance. One 90.4-point ride.

Not bad for a quick trip, with a career milestone as the cherry on top.

The victory moved the Carolina Cowboys to 3-2 and fifth in the PBR Teams standings as they continue building toward their home event, Cowboy Days, Sept. 18-20 at First Horizon Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media