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Broncos slow start costly

Ray DiMonda,
correspondant
Posted 12/31/69

MIDDLEBURG - The Middleburg Bronco defense held the visiting Bradford Tornados scoreless from the middle of the third quarter to the end of the game as well as only allowing the Tornados one …

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Broncos slow start costly


Posted

MIDDLEBURG - The Middleburg Bronco defense held the visiting Bradford Tornados scoreless from the middle of the third quarter to the end of the game as well as only allowing the Tornados one successful extra point after attempt all game. But the dynamic Bronco defense in the second half would not be enough to overcome three unanswered Tornado scores early with the Broncos offense only finding the endzone a single time as the Tornados rolled over the Broncos 32-7 keeping the Broncos still in search of the first victory.

It was the mounting mistakes that the Broncos just could not overcome. A blocked punt, a bad punt snap that the punter had a knee down when he reached for the ball, a dropped punt catch that resulted in a turnover, and some untimely penalties.

The Bronco defense was flying around all night but had an issue with the Bradford big plays. The standout of the evening must go to Austin “Cowboy” Cruce who was in on just about all the inside plays all evening.

“At halftime, we came together, talked about all our mishaps, figured out what we needed to do, and just worked off of that,” said Cruce. “We just had to tighten up. We realized all we were doing was making too many little mistakes."

Bradford showed early they had no one to kick the ball. All point-after attempts were two-point attempts. Kickoffs were skipping short kicks with a best of maybe 20 yards.

The Broncos offense started rocky with an interception on the first drive, then recovered nicely. The Broncos could move the ball all night off the arm of Carson Stewart. Stewart had some very good plays that turned into good yards. On the ground, it was Jaydan “Jaybo” Jenkins who led the Broncos with his misdirection and fast hitting of any holes in the line. When it was time to power through, it was Kendric O'neal who punched in the lone Bronco score from inside the red zone. Kaleb Robison effortlessly kicked the extra point for the Bronco score.

“It was a 12-7 game when we were going to get the ball back at midfield,” said Broncos head Coach Ryan Wolfe. “We muffed a punt, turned the ball back over, and it kind of snowballed out of our hands for a couple of drives there. By the time we regrouped, it was too late.”

On going forward, Wolfe said “We just got to stay the course. I know that things are going to be fine. We went down this road last year. Our first four games are as hard as they come. We don’t need to change anything. We know what we’re doing works. The system doesn’t change. The only thing that changes is the opponent. We have to fix us. It’s growing pains you face when you are developing a good program.” 0-2.