Broncos trample Cardinals in quarterfinals - LRS preps for semifinals against Okanogan on Saturday

On Friday, Nov. 21, the LRS Broncos were able to triumph over the Waitsburg-Prescott Cardinals, 17-14, in a quarterfinals face-off. They secure their position in the semifinals where they will face the Okanogan Bulldogs.

“You’re down to the last four teams and that’s an incredible achievement,” head coach Greg Whitmore said. “Not that we love disrupting Thanksgiving plans but it means we’ve had an amazing year.”

The Broncos kicked off to the Cardinals on Friday to start the evening’s competition. After halting the opening drive by the Cardinals the Broncos took over on offense.

They were able to march the ball down the field and, with 5:34 left in the first quarter, scored the first touchdown of the game with Cort Ruzicka running 17 yards.

The extra point attempt by Matthew Leffel would go wide of the posts and the Broncos would lead 6-0.

Late in the first quarter the Cardinals struck back against the Broncos, scoring on a 16-yard pass and completing the extra point kick to secure the lead by one point.

However, in the second quarter with the quarterback in shotgun and deep in their territory the Cardinal snap went wide and tumbled into the end zone for a Bronco safety. This secured the Bronco lead 8-7 over the Cardinals going into halftime.

“We were getting down and we were making mistakes,” Whitmore said. “Luckily they were too but there was a time when we just said ‘gah we gotta get to halftime and regroup.’”

The Broncos received the kickoff from the Cardinals to open the second half of play. During their opening drive freshman Mason Brausen broke free at the line of scrimmage and ran 25 yards for a Bronco touchdown and extended the lead to 14-7.

“We knew he’d be back there with Cort a lot and Cort would help him out and have a calming effect on him and you know Mason’s gonna be a good player for us and in the end. When he got that touchdown it was great.” Whitmore said, “it was great blocking by our line and he made some good moves, which he’s capable of doing.”

With Leffel securing a field goal and three more points for the Broncos late in the third the Broncos ensured the Cardinals would have to score twice in order to take the lead.

Both teams battled for an advantage during the fourth quarter but neither were able to capitalize until the Cardinals scored on a 20-yard pass completion with 5 minutes 45 seconds left in the game.

The game concluded with the Broncos running out the clock to complete the contest.

“It’s kinda what we expected, it’d be a dog fight, two fairly evenly matched teams.” Whitmore said, “It kind of depended on who made the most mistakes.”

The Broncos again controlled the possession of the ball, keeping the Cardinal offense off the field for 29 minutes.

Ruzicka lead the Bronco offensive statistics across the board with 73 yards passing, 88 yards rushing and 36 yards receiving. Jacob Saetre also contributed 43 yards with two catches and Brausen rushed for 50 yards, averaging 3.8 yards per carry.

“Cort and Jacob made some plays. Cort obviously running the ball and throwing the ball and he’s a threat on defense.” Whitmore said, “They just make some athletic plays and they work well together and that was the key.”

On defense, the Broncos line pressured the Cardinals quarterback hard, forcing him to scramble and throw early. There were multiple times during the game where he threw the ball as he was being hit by one of the d-line and the Bronco defense prevented 12 of the 25 passing attempts from connecting with receivers.

“Between those two [Skyler Oestriech and Dallas Killian] on the edge and some pressure up the middle that quarterback didn’t really ever feel too comfortable,” Whitmore said, “and he did well for a quarterback.”

The Cardinal receivers worked hard for their team, reeling in hastily thrown passes to keep the Cardinal offense rolling and racking up 182 yards and two touchdowns during the game.

The Broncos continue play on Saturday, Nov. 29 against the Okanogan Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs took down the Davenport Gorillas in their quarterfinal game 55-18.

“Okanogan by far is the biggest test we’ll face all year and that’s what you’d expect in the semis,” Whitmore said.

The Okanogan line-up features returning players from their 1A quarterfinals run last year.

“They’re physical and they like to pound the ball. They didn’t have any yards throwing on Friday night.” Whitmore said, “So we’ve got to stop their run and it’s gonna be tough.”

The Broncos will have to be able to move the ball against a good defense as well.

“We’re gonna do exactly what we’ve been doing all year, we’re treating it like this is the best opponent we’ve ever faced.” Whitmore said, “It’s championship week and it’s winner go on to the state championship, loser goes home and our kids aren’t really ready to give that gold ball back so they’re going to give it all they can and that’s all we can ask of them.”

The Broncos will face the Bulldogs on Lion’s Field in Moses Lake. Kick off is at 4 p.m.

A win Saturday moves the Broncos into the title game in the Tacoma Dome on Dec. 5.