Broncos advance to state playoffs

RITZVILLE – The Broncos boys football team is headed to the state Class 2B playoffs.

The Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos beat the Manson Trojans, 41-0, in a rare Saturday afternoon, Nov. 6, football game at Jimmie Snider Field.

Manson – with promising freshman quarterback Vince Strecker – was fresh off its tiebreaker win over Tonasket last Tuesday night .

But the Trojans were no match for the Broncos in the District 6/ 7 crossover play-in game, which would send one team to the playoffs and end the season for the other.

"This is the first loser-out game most of these kids have ever played" Broncos Coach Greg Whitmore said.

Lind-Ritzville scored first on a 1-yard dive play by Brody Boness with 6:53 to go in the first quarter.

The point-after failed and the Broncos were up 6-0.

With just 21 seconds to go in the first quarter, Broncos quarterback Chase Galbreath found Brock Kinch for a 29-yard touchdown pass.

Galbreath would score the 2-point conversion on a pitch-back play and the Broncos led, 14-0.

At the 7:58 mark of the second quarter, the Broncos would fumble the ball at the Manson 20-yard line; Hervin Chavez of the Trojans would recover.

On the next play, Strecker was intercepted by J.T. Kelly and the Broncos had the ball back at the Manson 22-yard line on the exchange of turnovers.

At the 7:09 mark, Galbreath threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Nick Labes.

The kick was good and Lind-Ritzville led 21-0.

The Trojans went on a long drive, consuming almost 5 minutes of game time, but ultimately turned the ball over on downs at the Broncos 38-yard line.

After a couple of long runs by Kinch,

Boness scored on a 2-yard run. The kick was good and Lind-Ritzville led 28-0 at the half.

To start the second half Manson tried an onside kick, which was initially fielded and then fumbled by the Broncos.

Manson had the ball at the Lind-Ritzville 36-yard line, but could not move the ball against the Broncos defense and had to punt the ball away.

With 4:15 to go in the third quarter, Galbreath connected with Hayden Melcher on a 15-yard touchdown pass. The kick failed, and the Broncos led, 34-0, at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Manson went on another long drive, using more than 4 minutes of game clock, but the drive would stall and the Trojans turned the ball over on downs at the Lind-Ritzville 35-yard line.

The scoring would end with 2:19 to go in the game when Galbreath threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Melcher. The point-after kick was good.

The game ended with a running clock and another shutout for the Broncos defense.

"The kids know not to be satisfied," Whitmore said. "You like to win pretty, but they can't all be that way."

The Broncos are seeded No. 4 in the state Class 2B playoffs and have a first round bye.

They will host either Onalaska or River View (Finley) on Nov. 19 or 20.

Northeast 2B rival Davenport also won a District 6/7 play-in crossover game last week.

The Gorillas topped the Lake Roosevelt Raiders, 24-13, to get the No. 8 seed into the tournament.

Davenport will host Toledo in the first round of the state playoffs on Nov. 12 or 13..

Other top seeds in the playoffs are No. 1-seed Kalama, No. 2 Napavine and No. 3 Okanogan.

"From now on it's just win and advance" Whitmore said.