JV Broncos stay undefeated with early effort

Bronco stadium was alive with shouts of accolade for the Bronco junior varsity Thursday night as they corralled the Vega Longhorns 30-12.

According to coach Brad Elam, the game, which was welcomed at home, took on appearances of their first game against Seymour.

“(This was our) first home game in a while and I think we put on a pretty good show,” Elam said. “It’s good to be able to play a JV game. (It was) a very similar game to the game we had in Seymour.”

Elam noted that the Broncos jumped on the Longhorns early but then faced some difficulties. Romello Smith started things off with a 50-yard run for the first score and Caleb Cobb added the two-points after. The next possession, Isaiah Grays recovered a fumble and Cobb found the end zone a few plays after that. Quarterback Bryce Hatley found Dillon Nickell open in the end zone for the conversion for a 16-0 lead. According to Elam, that is where the Broncos stalled.

“We would slow down after that and it was a close game at half at 16-6,” Elam said. “But Smith started the second half recovering a Vega fumble and returning it 20 yards for the score. Hatley ran in the two points to increase the lead.”

Vega got on the board next to cut the lead but the Broncos came back. Cobb finished off the scoring on a 20-yardrun with great blocks from Cedrick McCampbell and Ray Jaramillo. The Bronco defense shined as well.

“Defensively, we had another great game,” Elam said. “Hatley and Zach Watson had interceptions, plus the two fumble recoveries and Smith had three sacks. Lee Buckhaultz played well in the secondary and the defensive front pressured the quarterback all game.”

Offensively, the Broncos swayed back and forth.

“We looked good at times and struggled at times, but getting better, ” Elam said. “We jumped off sides five times, but we are trying to work on a longer snap count so that should be cleaned up in the next few weeks. We probably left at least three more scores on the field when we failed to score inside their 30 (yard line). Little things are keeping us from putting up a 50-spot, but we will correct those and continue to improve.”

The Broncos will get the chance to keep their record clean when they play Wheeler at home, September 13, immediately following the junior high games, which begin at 5:00 p.m.