Bronco Express Rolls On
By Ray Glasscock
Again last week, the Broncos dominated a weaker opponent with class as they defeated Harper by a score of 49 to 14. It is hard (possibly impossible) to find a weakness in this year’s Broncos. Except for a rare turnover, the Broncos’ starters scored on every opportunity with six Broncos scoring points. The average length of the scoring drives was two minutes and three seconds. The average scoring drive lasted four plays, the longest drive was nine plays, and two drives were of the one play variety.
The Bronco defense was just as impressive as the offense. Harper managed two first downs in the first half with one rushing yard and 32 yards of passing! In the first half, Reagan Randle, Harper’s fine quarterback, was held to one yard rushing on nine carries. Harper’s leading rusher for the game managed 22 yards on six carries.
On the third play of the game, Clayton Parks completed a 65 yard pass to Word Hudson who was forced out of bounds at the Longhorn seven yard line. Zach Badeaux started in motion from his flanker position, took the handoff from Parks, and ran to his left. Edward Garza took out the defensive back allowing Badeaux to score. Kade Wimberley kicked the PAT and the Broncos led 7 to 0 with 10:33 left in the first quarter.
As usual, the Bronco defense, led by Kyle Patlan, Damon Evans, and Sam Powers forced a three and out. Imoni Cross fielded the punt and started up the left sideline. He was stripped of the ball, but it bounced right to Jorge Villanueva who continued the return to the Longhorn 17 yard line. Dallas Payne accepted the handoff from Parks running to his right. When he was hemmed in, he cut back to his left and scored. The kick just barely missed to the right, and the score was 13 to 0 with 8:31 left in quarter one.
The Longhorns managed one first down on a completed pass. The drive ended when Davis Jimenez intercepted at midfield. Cross caught a 12 yard pass on fourth down to keep the drive alive. Cadesman Pope caught a short pass and turned it into a 33 gain to Harper’s four yard line. After three plays, the Broncos had been backed up to 12 yard line. Parks lofted a pass to Hudson who made his patented, leaping catch for the touchdown. Parks then rolled to his right and threw to Hudson for the two point PAT. With 3:08 left in the first quarter, the Broncos led 21 to 0.
Harper’s next drive lasted four plays and ended when Powers recovered a fumble at Harper’s 39 yard line. Garza scored on the first play on a run through the Harper defenders. Harper managed to block the PAT, and the scoreboard read Harper 0 – Visitor 27 with 1:56 on the scoreboard clock.
After another three and out, Cross fielded the punt at the 50 yard line and raced for an apparent touchdown. However, it was called back for a block in the back. This drive ended when Randle intercepted a Parks’ pass and returned it 30 yards to the Bronco 40 yard line. Four plays later, Payne intercepted Randle.
Hudson hauled in a 35 yard pass to the Longhorn 29 yard line. Pope’s catch and run set up a first and goal. Parks hit Badeaux over the middle for a nine yard touchdown. Wimberley boomed the PAT through the uprights for the 34th point with 8:54 left in the second quarter.
The last Bronco scoring drive of the first half lasted eight plays, covered 59 yards and ended with another touchdown pass from Parks to Badeaux. The PAT snap was high and Payne leaped to catch it. The ball bounced off his hands, and Wimberley caught it. He threw a pass that was tipped by Nathan Villa and finally caught by Jesse Vaquera. At first, the officials threw a flag. After they talked about it, the play was allowed to stand as Villa must have been an eligible receiver. The score at the half was 42 to 0.
Harper received the opening kickoff. Will Dutton hustled down the field and tackled the returner at Harper’s eight yard line. Four plays later, Harper was punting from their own end zone. Erik Santana carried three times on the Broncos’ last scoring drive, making the last Bronco touchdown on a 31 yard run. Mr. W ended the scoring with his kick. With the score at 49 to 0, the majority of the starters retired to the sideline.
With a running clock, the Bronco reserves gained some valuable experience. The Harper players and fans enjoyed watching their Longhorns score two touchdowns to finish the game at 49 to 14.
Parks completed 17 out of 24 passes for three touchdowns with one interception. Hudson was the leading receiver with four catches for 112 yards and one touchdown. Badeaux was the scoring leader with three touchdowns. Garza and Santana tied for the rushing lead with 41 yards each. Pope logged six tackles with three for losses. Pope and Patlan each had a sack.
The Broncos are now 9 and 0 with one regular season game left. This week, the Coleman Bluecats come to Sonora to play for the outright district championship as both are undefeated in district play. Be sure and come to Bronco Stadium to watch this special group of seniors play their last home game as they seek to become the eighth Bronco team to finish 10 and 0.