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JV Broncos Win Thriller
Not since the 2000 Olney and Blanco games .... not since the
undefeated 2000 Bronco JV team .... not since the 2001 Spearman game has this
writer witnessed a more "fired up", determined team that would settle for
nothing less than victory.
If you missed the scrappy 2007 Bronco JV team defeat the Blanco JV Panthers last
Thursday night, you missed a defensive battle and a Sonora victory.
The Broncos kicked off to start the game. The Panthers quickly ran for two
first downs. R.J. Torres, Paul Faz, and Chacho Mesa stepped up and forced the
Panthers to punt.
Quarterback Caleb Gonzales led the team down the field with a keeper, a handoff
to Jesse Guerrero, and a pass to Faz. The Panthers stopped the drive on the one
inch line when Manny Parades was tackled on fourth and goal.
Tackles by Mikey Sanchez, Jorge Gaytan, Martin Campa, and Mesa forced the
Panthers to go three and out and punt from their endzone.
Gonzales threw a throw back screen to Shane Patlan who ran for a fifteen yard
gain. A Sonora fumble, when going for a first down, gave the ball to the
Panthers.
The Panthers worked their way down the field. Gaytan ran down and sacked the
Blanco quarterback. The Panthers were trying to turn the Sonora turnover into a
score before the half ended. On the next play, Gaytan recovered a Panther
fumble.
The Broncos' last drive of the first half stalled. The Panthers took over with
time running out. Their version of the hurry up offense failed. The Panthers
made it inside the Bronco three yard line with a first and goal. The Bronco
defense stuffed them three times with the last one being at the one foot line
when time ran out. The half time score was 0 to 0.
Jesse Guererro had another long run at the start of the second half. The third
quarter was scoreless as Preston Lopez stopped another Panther drive by
recovering a Panther fumble.
The fourth quarter began with the score still scoreless. Guererro had a nice
punt return to the Panther 40 yard line. Gonzales threw a long pass to his
favorite receiver. Faz made a leaping catch at the five yard line. Then the
Bronco line all jumped off sides and the penalty pushed the Broncos back to the
nine. After the penalty, the Bronco running plays were stopped by the
Panthers. Refugio Sanchez attempted a game winning field goal, but the Panthers
managed to block it.
Faz and Gaytan sacked the Blanco QB who fumbled the ball forward. However,
Blanco recovered the fumble deep in their end of the field. The Panthers came
to the line of scrimmage with one yard to go for a first down. Campa and Mikey
Sanchez tackled the Panther running back behind the line of scrimmage.
The turning point of the game happened next. Zac Rodriguez blocked the Panther
punt and Sonora recovered inside the ten yard line with 25 seconds left to
play. On first down, a running play failed to gain any yardage. On second
down, the Broncos lost five yards on a penalty. Gonzales rolled to his right
looking for a receiver and had to scramble for a short gain. After calling
their final timeout, the Broncos came to the line with nine seconds left in the
game. Gonzales dropped back and threw a pass over the middle to Rodriguez for a
touchdown with three seconds left on the clock. The Broncos went for the two
point conversion. Faz lined up on the left side and caught a perfect slant pass
for the two point conversion. The score was 8 to 0 in favor of the Broncos.
The Panthers had one last chance. The Broncos were penalized fifteen yards for
excessive celebration after the touchdown, and they had to kick off from their
own twenty five yard line. The Panther returner was tackled as time ran out,
and the most exciting Bronco game of the season was over.
This was the Sonora JV team's final home game of the year. They travel to
Comfort this week
on Thursday. The JV's record is now seven and two.
In last week's article, I thought A.J. Ozuna wore number
20. I did not know that Jorge Gaytan had switched numbers from 70 to 20.
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