Sandy Anderberg

The Broncos put their perfect record on the line Friday night against Hale Center and came through with flying colors in a 51-26 win over the Owls on the road.

Several players turned in big plays in the contest as the Broncos posted 418 overall yards.
Jordan Herndon played huge for the Broncos as the running back posted 150 yards on the ground for three touchdowns and grabbed two passes from Brock Hatley for 14 yards and another TD.

Hatley made some noise from his quarterback spot going 10 of 15 passing for 142 yards. He threw strikes to Herndon and Jmaury Davis. Hatley also hit Lamarcus Penigar twice for 58 yards, and Davis was on the receiving end of five catches for 47 yards. Koyt Tucek had one catch for eight yards, and Lyric Smith had a catch for 18 yards. Davis and Penigar went 6/79 and 8/46 respectively on the ground for the Broncos.

The Bronco defense lit up the field as well and collectively had 55 tackles in the game. Davis had 17 tackles, and Hatley finished with 15 tackles and on QB sack. Rhett Caison was on fire with 14 tackles and one caused fumble, while Jordan Evans racked up 11 tackles and two sacks. Tucek posted 9 tackles and two sacks in the game.

The Broncos will face off at home against the Quanah Indians Friday night at home in Bronco Stadium beginning at 7:00 p.m.

The Clarendon Broncos put on a show in front of a huge Homecoming crowd last Friday night earning a 49-7 win over Bovina. Jumping out to an early lead, the Broncos flexed their muscles all night long and took advantage of Bovina’s penalties early on.

The Broncos’ running game has been a stable for the Broncos as they had 229 yards on the ground and 332 yards of offense. Running back Jordan Herndon was a workhorse for the Broncos as he racked up 140 rushing on nine carries for three touchdowns. Senior quarterback Brock Hatley was seven of 13 passing for 103 total yards finding the endzone three times.

Jmaury Davis carried the ball nine times for 25 yards, Hatley went 34 yards on four carries, and freshman Anthony Brown ran with the ball three times for 14 yards. Lyric Smith carried three times for nine yards, Harrison Howard carried once for five, and Rhett Caison went two yards on one carry.

Hatley connected with Koyt Tucek for two catches, 21 yards, and one touchdown; and Lamarcus Penigar had one catch for 20 yards. Easton Frausto had one catch for three yards, while Davis came up with 32 yards passing on two catches and one TD. Smith had a 27-yard catch and one touchdown.

Defensively, the Broncos held Bovina all night long, barely letting them across the 50-yard line. Hatley and Jordan Evans each had 10 tackles, and Tucek had seven tackles and two sacks. Herndon made good on seven tackles and a fumble recovery, and Jared Musick hustled seven tackles. Caison also had seven tackles and Davis posted five tackles, one sack, and one fumble recovery. Penigar finished the game with five tackles, two interceptions, one caused fumble and one fumble recovery.

The Broncos will gear up this week for a road trip to Hale Center on Friday, September 18, beginning at 7 p.m.

The Lady Broncos have rebounded solidly this year after a short season last year and made the playoffs after missing a couple of years. They went up against a good Forsan team and were defeated in the best of three series.

The ladies played hard in the first game on Thursday but struggled to get hits late in the game falling 2-19. Forsan put up a run in each of the first two innings, before the Lady Broncos were able to touch Homeplate. One of the scores came when senior Aubrey Jaramillo grounded out but made the path home easy for the runner. The third inning was disastrous for the Lady Broncos as Forsan knocked down 15 runs to pull away.

Madi Smith was on the mound and took the loss. She allowed seven hits and struck out two. Jentrye Bellar stayed strong at the plate going three for three. Clarendon finished the game with two runs, five hits, and seven errors.

The Lady Broncos regrouped after the first loss to face off against Forsan in game two. They had their bats going in the game but fell short to cause a game three. They were defeated 6-11 to end their season.

Defensively, the Lady Broncos were sharp and ready in the opening two innings but allowed Forsan nine runs over the next two innings while remaining scoreless until the sixth.

Once again, Bellar had her bat going and had a big hit to get things rolling in the sixth. Bellar went deep in the seventh to post a home run. But it was not enough for the ladies as they took the loss racking up 12 hits and only three errors.

Bailey Bruce took the loss for Clarendon allowing 12 hits and 11 runs over six innings. Bellar, Ashlynn Crawford, and Bruce had multiple hits with Bellar leading the way with three hits in four at bats.

The Lady Broncos have not seen post-season play for a season or two, but they took care of business last week and shut out Memphis 16-0 to win the Bi-District trophy.

The ladies will continue in the playoffs with the Area round on Thurs., May 6, in Littlefield against Forsan. The first game will begin at 5 p.m. and the second game will follow. If a Game Three is needed it will be played at 5 p.m. on Fri., May 7, in Littlefield.

In the Memphis game, the ladies came on full-force and put up five quick runs in the first inning.

“We jumped on them early,” head coach Brad Elam said. “Five of the first six girls scored.”

After coming off a big first inning, the Lady Broncos stronger in the second and posted 11 huge runs on the scoreboard. Jentrye Bellar and Kaylin Hicks each knocked down a triple and Jayde Gribble joined in with a double in the game. Bellar, Hicks, and Madi Smith all put points on the board.
Smith was on the mound for the Lady Broncos and has proved herself over and over.

“Madi held Memphis hitless and pitched three perfect innings striking out six,” Elam said.

Clarendon’s Lady Broncos took off out of the gate in the opening innings of their game with Fritch last week and led by three out of the third. But Fritch was able to regroup in the fourth inning scoring three runs and holding the ladies at bay.

Early in the second inning, Ashlynn Crawford hit a triple that scored one run. She was joined by Jade Benson and Kaylin Hicks who both drove in runs in that inning. The Lady Broncos racked up 10 hits in the game and held Fritch to only five.

Madi Smith got the win for the ladies and pitched the entire seven innings with nine strikeouts. Despite allowing eight runs on five hits, Smith stayed strong until the finish.

Along with Benson, Crawford and Jentrye Bellar led the Clarendon offense with three hits in three at bats. The Lady Broncos made short work around the diamond as well racking up more than six stolen bases with Smith leading the way with two.

Later in the week, the Lady Broncos stomped West Texas High 20-8. It was a great team effort, but sophomore Jayde Gribble hit lights out at the plate. Gribble only posted two hits, but the bases were almost full each time, which allowed her 6 RBIs on the day. The ladies had eight total hits and only one error in the win.

Jentrye Bellar got things rolling in the starting inning when she singled that sent one run in of the 12 that they would score when the inning was finished. From there the ladies were able to coast and play fundamental softball behind the pitching of Madi Smith who got the win and struck out 10 batters.
Gribble and Bellar’s bats were not the only ones working against WT as Senior Jade Benson had several hits as well.

The Lady Broncos will travel to Sunray on April 10 and play at 4:00 and then April 13 they travel to Shamrock and play at 4:30 p.m.

The Bronco baseball team outlasted the Valley Patriots at home last week and put together a great team effort in their 13-3 win. Junior Brock Hatley got the win pitching four innings while only allowing three hits and two runs with three strike outs.

Jared Musick came in for relief and threw two innings. Koyt Tucek set up the Broncos’ offensive run early in the game with a single that grounded out, but scored one run. After going scoreless in the next inning, the Broncos posted six more runs by the bottom of the fifth before adding six more in the final inning.

Clarendon’s scoring frenzy came from hits by Jodee Pigg, Tucek, Easton Frausto, and Musick for RBI’s. The Broncos racked up 10 stolen bases in the game with three of them coming from Jordan Herndon.

The Broncos will travel to Kress March 26 and play at 4:00 p.m. with JV to follow. The JV will play at River Road on March 27 at noon.

Lady Bronco softball results were not available at press time.

Whether or not you are a basketball fan, you have to be a Bronco fan after witnessing history being made on the Alamodome hardcourt in San Antonio last Saturday.

The State Championship was the first for a team sport in Clarendon and Coach Boston Hudson, at 25, might possibly be the youngest coach to win a State Championship.

“The guys did what I asked. They bought in (to our plan), and I think we did it the right way,” first year head basketball coach Hudson said about the Broncos’ 2A State basketball win.

All season, the Broncos had a goal to reach; the State Tournament and a Championship. Their goal came to fruition last Saturday morning as the strong and determined team took to the court. With fans in the ‘Dome, at the Mulkey Theater, and at home, the Broncos flexed their muscles and made their dream a reality by defeating a good Grapeland team 64-60.

The Broncos had only four losses this season. Their last loss came at the hands of the Canyon Eagles who are a solid 4A team with only one game before their District opener. That loss spurred on the Broncos who faced off against Gruver to begin a 12-0 run in regular season. Their post-season play was stellar as well as they worked their way through Fritch, Farwell, Floydada, Christoval, Wink, and Lipan before punching their ticket to the Championship game in San Antonio.

Early on in the Championship game, the Broncos stormed to a 18-12 lead behind a 10-3 run before ending the first quarter of play. The Broncos fell off somewhat in the second quarter but regained the momentum after the break. There were 11 lead changes in the game and four times the score was tied.

Both teams were cold from behind the arc shooting 16 three-pointers all together, but the one long ball that was all net belonged to Thompson at the third quarter buzzer from about six or seven steps behind the mark to get the Broncos to one point up.

“I thought Jordan (Herndon) was going to hold it, and I ran up there to shoot the ball and saw Jmaury (Davis) set me a screen and I shot it,” Thompson said. “We knew they were just as athletic as us. They had their #3 who played just like Jmaury, and he had a double-double at half time. Number 00 was back-to-back All-State and we knew #5 was going to be a handful.”

Thompson gave props to Jordan Herndon who took out the best players all year with his strong defense and was able to get the Grapeland player in foul trouble.

The Broncos were able to add three points to their one-point lead in the final eight minutes of play that had exaggerated ups and downs for both teams. With only 40 seconds to play, Grapeland turned the ball over, and Clarendon’s Lamarcus Peniger drove to the basket and was fouled. Peniger missed the first shot, but made the second putting the game at 60 all with 30 seconds remaining.

A player for Grapeland took the inbound ball and headed down court only to be picked by Peniger who made good on an easy layup to lead by two with 10 seconds to go.

“I was so excited on the steal, I almost jumped on the layup early,” Peniger said. “I thought I was going to get chased down, but it was exciting to make that shot and help my team.”

After a time out, Grapeland’s Johnny Lamb drove to the bucket, but Davis was there to take the charge giving his team the ball while fouling the Grapeland player out. Cayden D’Costa, who has been a bright spot on the team, then heaved the ball full court to Thompson who made the easy lay in. Grapeland had one more chance but could not convert giving the Broncos exactly what they went to San Antonio to do; come home with the gold.

The free-throw line was not a friend to either team. The Broncos only made 13 of 24 from the bonus line for 54 percent. However; the Sandies struggled to finish at 48 percent missing 15 out of 29 shots.

Seniors Donovan Thompson and Ethan Babcock have been solid all season and contributed to the Broncos’ great season at 25-4.

“I’m just so proud of them and I’m thankful for our seniors Ethan and Donovan,” Hudson said. “We will miss these guys, but what a way to go out for these two. I don’t think it could end any better than the way it did.”
Thompson would go on to win the MVP of Class 2A.

“We’re just excited and going to enjoy this and try to do it again next year,” Hudson said. “I’m going to take spring break and enjoy it and as soon as we get back start looking at things and figure out all the pieces of the puzzle for next year and try to do it all again.”

Thompson finished with 21, Davis had 13, and Sylvester Ballard helped with 12. Peniger put in eight, Herndon added six, and D’Costa finished with four. Davis had eight rebounds, Ballard grabbed seven and had two assists, Thompson had five rebounds and five assists, Peniger grabbed two offensive rebounds and had three assists, Herndon had five defensive rebounds with two assists, D’Costa had four rebounds and five assists, and Lyric Smith had one defensive rebound in the game.

The Texas Association of Basketball Coaches selected an All-Tournament team. Joining Thompson was Ballard and Davis.

This was the Broncos 5th trip to state. The Broncos previously made appearances in the final four in 1969 where they faced Friendswood; the championship game in 1970 where they took on Kennard; the final four in 2011 where they faced Tenaha; and the championship game in 2017 where they took on Muenster.

In addition to a large number of Bronco fans traveling to San Antonio, more than 200 packed the Mulkey Theatre to watch the game live on the big screen, breaking out into the Clarendon High School Song when the final buzzer sounded in San Antonio.