Broncos take narrow win

DAVENPORT – The hometown Gorillas marched the ball up and down the field in Friday night's contest against the No. 9 ranked Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos, being stopped from scoring on just two drives.

Despite that fact, an 80-yard kickoff return touchdown by Broncos freshman running back Brody Boness gave the visitors the lead with 2:11 left and, ultimately, the win.

Davenport fell to 1-1 with a 25-24 loss at the hands of the Broncos, while Lind-Ritzville/Sprague improved to 2-0 to start the 2021 season.

"We didn't play as well as we did last week," Davenport coach Justin Young said referring to the Gorillas' 40-14 season opening win over Colfax last weekend.

"Our tackling needs to improve. Offensively, we moved the ball just fine, but you can't let a team off the hook like that, especially on a special teams play."

Davenport received the opening kickoff and promptly marched down the field, scoring first on a five-yard quarterback keeper by junior Evan Gunning.

The Broncos quickly tied the game when junior quarterback Chase Galbreath found junior wide receiver Hunter Dinkins on a short swing pass that Dinkins took down the sideline 35 yards into the end zone.

The visitors then grabbed their first lead three minutes into the second quarter when sophomore running back Hayden Melcher took a pitch from Galbreath on a run-pass option into the end zone from seven yards out.

The extra point was botched, and the Broncos led 13-7.

Davenport scored the next 14 points of the game, with senior running back Marcus Delafield running in a one-yard score 13 seconds before halftime and junior wingback Brenick Soliday taking an option sweep 10 yards into the endzone in the third quarter to give Davenport a 21-13 lead.

Lind-Ritzville quickly responded when Melcher took a screen pass 25 yards for a touchdown, but the 2-point conversion attempt failed.

The Gorillas then wound the clock down to 2:24 left with a run-heavy, time-chewing drive that resulted in Soliday nailing a 20-yard field goal to extend Davenport's lead 24-19.

That's when Boness took the kickoff 80 yards to the house to give the Broncos the lead that Davenport couldn't recover from.

"We're starting to believe and play with confidence," Broncos Coach Greg Whitmore said. "We knew going in that we would be outsized. They ran it right down our throat that third quarter, but other than that, we made them earn it and did just enough to win."

Davenport was led on the ground by Soliday, who carried 20 times for 117 yards and a touchdown. Delafield was also effective in the ground game, carrying 18 times for 89 yards and a score.

Defensively, Delafield and senior defensive tackle Willie Waters netted four solo tackles each.

On the other side, Galbreath helped LRS break into the Gorilla defense with 163 passing yards and two passing touchdowns. Melcher carried the ball eight times for 41 yards and a score while catching three passes for 34 yards and another score. Dinkins caught three passes for 80 yards and a touchdown.

Dinkins added 11 solo tackles on defense, while Boness had nine solo tackles himself.

Davenport will look to rebound next week at Northwest Christian (Colbert), while LRS will look to keep up its perfect start against lowly Kettle Falls.