Broncos look to season opener after jamboree

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos football team got its first dose of live action on Aug. 30, as it hosted the Ritzville Jamboree.

The Broncos welcomed five other teams to Jimmie Snider Field last Friday: Davenport, Northwest Christian, Colfax, Medical Lake and Dayton-Waitsburg. Each team played four ten-play drives; two offensive drives and two defensive drives.

LRS kicked things off on offense against Medical Lake, where they found the end zone on a 40-yard touchdown run by senior Spencer Gering on their second play of the jamboree. The Broncos struggled to get much else going the rest of their opening drive, which included several incomplete pass attempts on boot legs and roll-outs by junior quarterback Drew Kelly.

The Broncos went up against Davenport in their opening defensive drive, the team they'll be facing off against in the season opener tomorrow night. The LRS defense gave up a couple of sizable plays to the Davenport offense, but appeared to hold steady other than that.

The second offensive drive of the jamboree for LRS came against Northwest Christian. The running game continued to show flashes for the Broncos, ripping off a long run to the outside early in the drive.

After a couple of screen passes to wide receivers that went for minimal gains, Kelly connected with one of his receivers on a rollout on fourth down, keeping the opening drive against NWC going. The Broncos would cash in soon after, as sophomore Sage Teal scored a touchdown on a run near the bleachers-side pylon.

Like each series during the jamboree, the Broncos started their next series at the opponent's 40 yard line. Kelly again passed for a first down, but the drive ended after LRS ran its tenth play.

"Quarterback's a tough position and Drew's kind of new to it ... but he knows it's an important position," said head coach Greg Whitmore. "I'm not going to try and ask him to do anything he's not capable of, but he's got to be accurate and he knows he has to be more accurate and I think that comes with some experience. He doesn't have to put the game on his back, but he does have to make the simple throws."

In its final defensive drive of the jamboree, against Dayton-Waitsburg, the Broncos gave up a long pass early. Dayton-Waitsburg scored on a run to the outside a couple of plays later. The LRS defense held steady the rest of the drive.

"With the jamboree, all we're trying to do is get used to game speed, because we haven't been able to practice against other varsity teams or anything like that," said Whitmore. "Usually almost every jamboree I've ever been at, it never goes as great as you want but it's never as bad as you think."

With the jamboree wrapped up, the Broncos have spent this week preparing for the first game of the season, against the Davenport Gorillas in Davenport tomorrow night, Sept. 5. The Broncos hosted the Gorillas-a non-league opponent-in the season opener last year, winning 48-24. Whitmore expects Davenport to be physical at the line of scrimmage.

The Broncos' first home game of the season is set for next Friday, Sept. 13. That game will also come against a team LRS lined up against in the jamboree, Northwest Christian. Both games are scheduled to kickoff at 7 p.m.