Broncos advance, to face TOR at home Friday

When Tekoa-Oakesdale/Rosalia rolls into Ritzville on Friday night, the Broncos will need to be wearing their playoff game faces. TOR finished in a three-way tie in their league with Waitsburg-Prescott and DeSales. Their only loss this season was to DeSales.

Head coach Greg Whitmore was thrilled to have the district crossover game behind the team, with the Broncos rolling to a 40-7 domination of the Asotin Panthers. Ever conservative, Whitmore was quick to point out that going into this week’s game, the Broncos are 0-0, as he prefers to take each week of the playoffs one at a time as if they were a brand new season.

TOR will be a formidable opponent, coming off a 36-14 win over the Colfax Bulldogs. They come with an all-around athlete, Craig Nelson, who can be dangerous as a runningback and as a wide receiver.

“They will try to get him a lot of touches,” Whitmore said.

Nelson scored on a 72-yard run against Colfax. With several weapons, TOR proved it can score in a variety of ways in the Colfax win, passing, running and on defense, as they posted a 53-yard interception for a touchdown.

“Colfax couldn’t match up with their size,” Whitmore said. “We match up better size wise. We will have to be good tacklers, disciplined and not let their receivers behind us for the quick strike.”

So far this season the Broncos’ defense has stymied opponents and will look to do so again on Friday night.

During the Asotin game, they started early on offense, scoring on a seven-yard run by Cort Ruzicka in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Dylan Hartz scored on a seven-yard quarterback keeper.

Ruzicka followed with a one-yard touchdown.

In the third quarter, Ryan Whitmore snared an interception and scored from 16 yards out.

Bridger Smith capped the Broncos’ scoring in the fourth quarter with a 13-yard run.

Matt Leffel delivered three extra-point kicks for the Broncos.

For the game, Hartz completed 10 of 18 passes for 77 yards and one interception.

Connor O’Neill led the rushing crew with 84 yards on 15 carries. Hartz racked up 70 yards rushing on seven trips. Smith finished the night with 65 yards on four tries. Ruzicka had 27 yards on six carries.

As a team, the Broncos racked up 268 yards rushing.

Whitmore led the receivers with 37 yards on three catches. O’Neill caught a trio of passes for 21 yards, while Matt Fryberger logged 20 yards on one reception.

The Broncos’ offense is preparing for an all out assault by TOR.

“They use a three man front that will present some problems,” Whitmore said. “They have a huge nose tackle and we will probably have to double team him. They blitz a lot. But Warden and Tri-Cities Prep played the same way so we already know some of our plays will work against them.”