Broncos win league championship

RITZVILLE – The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague/Washtucna Broncos won the Northeast 2B league football title Friday, Oct. 22, after crusing the Asotin Panthers, 47-0.

"This is a great win for the kids" Coach Greg Whitmore said. "This was the league championship win for us. We own all the tiebreakers.

"We could be tied with Davenport, but we don't want to share."

The scoring started early as Brody Boness scored on a 67-yard run, just 57 seconds into the game.

At the 9:11 mark of the first quarter, Chase Galbreath added another touchdown on a 15-yard run.

Two minutes later, Galbreath connected with Seth Miller on a 43-yard pass and the Broncos were on top, 21-0.

With just 1:01 to go in the first quarter, J.T. Kelly intercepted an Asotin pass and returned it 24yards for a touchdown.

The point after would fail, as Galbreath missed his first kick in 10 tries.

Lind-Ritzville was up, 27-0, at the end of the first quarter.

The scoring pace would slow in the second quarter.

Nick Labes intercepted another Asotin pass.

But lost yardage, fumbles and an inability to convert on a 4th and 14 opportunity would keep the Broncos out of the endzone most of the quarter.

But with just 1:01 to go in the half, Boness took a pitch from Galbreath around the left side and ran 55 yards for the final score of the first half.

Lind-Ritzville took a 34-0 lead into halftime.

Asked if the team was a little flat after the first quarter, Whitmore said, "Yes, maybe a little.

"The challenge is to keep them going. We want them to be happy, but don't be satisfied."

The second half would become something of a defensive battle, with Gabe Smith, Colby Tracy and Shawn Steinberger making a lot of tackles on the defensive line.

At the 9:08 mark, Asotin appeared to be stopped, but a pass interference penalty on the Broncos kept the drive alive.

The teams would exchange punts, the first punt for Lind-Ritzville in more than two games.

Finally, with 58 seconds to go in the third quarter, Boness scored his third touchdown of the game on a 29-yard run.

Lind-Ritzville was up 41-0 and the remainder of the game would be played with a running clock.

In the 4th quarter, Asotin would fumble and Travisd Redburn would make the recovery for the Broncos.

With younger players in the game, freshman quarterback Zack Klein would connect with freshman Carson Kubik on a 10-yard touchdown pass. After a delay-of-game penalty, the 2-point try failed.

Lind-Ritzville led Asotin, 41-0.

"We had some penalties," Whitmore said after the game. "There are some things we need to clean up."

On Friday, Oct. 29, the Broncos (7-0) close out the regular season at Colfax against the (5-3) Bulldogs.

"Colfax is good" Whitmore said. "Their coach and I are great friends. They lost a lot of kids along the way to COVID or whatever."

Colfax is coming off a road 42-19 win over Reardan.

While the Broncos have clinched a post-season berth, the Bulldogs need a win to get it.

"It's a must win for them," Whitmore said. "We just have to play hard."

Kickoff in Colfax is set for 7 p.m.