LRS Broncos’ gridiron gang advances

On Friday night, Nov. 7, the Broncos would hold off a determined Wilbur-Creston team and extend their season for another week.

After a scoreless first quarter the Broncos would take victory 23-6 against the Wildcats.

“One thing we are good at as coaches is recognizing talent and we recognized them as having a lot of talent, Wilbur is a talented football team,” Head Coach Greg Whitmore said.

“They’ve got all the tools and we knew that the first game and 49-0 we knew was not indicative of how good a team they were.”

The Broncos’ defense proved to be the deciding factor in a game that would balance on a knifes’ edge for the first three quarters of play.

The Broncos would complete a drive in the second quarter with Jacob Saetre connecting with Cort Ruzicka for a 30-yard touchdown.

Matt Leffel would secure the extra point and the broncos would lead 7-0 for six minutes until the Wildcats completed an offensive drive of their own.

The Broncos, however, would deny the two-point conversion attempt and by halftime one point would be all that separated the two teams.

It wouldn’t be until late in the third quarter that the Broncos would score again.

With 13 seconds left in the third quarter and the Broncos holding the Wildcats deep in their own territory Dallas Killian would read a Wildcat screen play perfectly, intercepting Trystan Rosman’s pass and returning it for the second Bronco touchdown, bringing the score to 13-6.

Leffel would miss his first point after kick of the season but would secure a field goal in another Bronco offensive drive to extend their lead to 16-6.

With 3:20 left in the game Whitmore would pull a switch on the Wildcats, rotating Saetre to receiver and Ruzicka to quarterback.

Ruzicka broke free on a quarterback lead play and would run 76 yards and, after the extra point kick by Leffel, bring the game to its final score of 23-6.

The Broncos would finish the game after an interception by Ruzicka by taking a knee and running out the clock.

Ruzicka came up big for the Broncos, securing two touchdowns, two interceptions, and leading the Broncos in rushing and receiving yards during the game.

“In big games like this, especially when you’re not playing well, you need your seniors to step up, some senior to make big plays.” Whitmore said, “Cort had one of those games that we’d been hoping he’d have and he played like he didn’t want this to be his last game.”

Though the Broncos averaged more yards gained per play than the Wildcats, they fell short of their opponent’s overall yardage gains again, moving the ball 189 yards compared to the Wildcats 282.

“Our kids, not that they were flat, it’s just they were getting beat in their one-on-one battles,” Whitmore said. “They [Wilbur-Creston] were winning the line of scrimmage.”

Whitmore congratulated the Wilbur-Creston team on their performance at Friday night’s game.

“I expected a game like that and they played great, they dominated the line of scrimmage and they did what they had to do.” Whitmore said, “So my hats off to them and their coaching staff.”

The Broncos have suffered to injuries this year, with Alexis Guizar seeing limited play on Friday night and Grayson Whitaker suiting up but not playing at all during the competition. Both were limited because of from knee injuries.

“He [Guizar] played more than we wanted to, he was hurt and limited and Grayson didn’t play at all.. We had to play Alexis more than we wanted to but in the end he was not as effective because he was hurt

Dane Wahl also suffered a knee injury during the Wilbur-Creston game and Whitmore said they would see how he felt during practice on Monday.

“The last couple years we’ve been real fortunate injury-wise for the most part and this year we’re not, we’re not getting luck that way.” Whitmore said,

“So what we always do, no matter how we miss a kid, whether it’s injury or other reasons, we have other kids we expect to step up and they did, so I’m proud of them that way.”

With the District 9 Crossover games complete the Broncos will prepare to host the Brewster Bears on Friday, Nov. 14, in the first round of the state level competition.

Whitmore talked about preparation for Brewster.

“Obviously every team is good at this level. They throw the ball a lot so we’re gonna need to be able to run the ball, keep their offense off the field, and then we’re gonna have to stop their big play offense.” Whitmore said, “They’ve got a terrific quarterback and some really good receivers.”

The Broncos will look to advance to the quarterfinals over the Bears at the conclusion of the game on Friday.

“All in all our kids weren’t really satisfied with that win, that’s part of the problem, they expected it to be an easier game.” Whitmore said. “We as coaches knew it wouldn’t be an easy game but in the end, during the play-offs when you’re not playing will all your compliment of players you just want to advance that’s all it is. You need to win the scoreboard”

Friday’s game against the Bears will begin at Jimmie Snider field at 6 p.m.