Sandy Anderberg

Ryan McCleskey, Preston Elam, and Noab Elam have stayed solid in the Broncos’ 2018 football season and have been a part of the team’s success the last four years.

McCleskey racked up yard after yard on the ground as the Broncos’ running back and P. Elam was impressive from his wide receiver position on offense and his skills in the secondary on defense. The duo was named to the All-District 3-2A Div II Football Team. N. Elam was rewarded for his outstanding academic talent and was named to the All-State Academic Team.

The overall MVP was awarded to Keegan Kelp from Gruver. The offensive MVP was Creed Spivey from Gruver and the defensive MVP was Iuden Romero from Stratford.

Broncos named to the Second All-District Team were offensive lineman Ryan Ward, defensive end Jamal Butler, defensive tackle Caton Grahn, and linebacker Dalton Benson.

Grahn was also named to the 2A Golden Spread Team. The Golden Spread team consists of those football athletes who has shown leadership and solid play on the field. Grahn has been a staple on both sides of the ball, but was named to the team as a defensive lineman. He was responsible for 139 tackles in the season and three fumble recoveries. He also caused two fumbles in the season. Grahn has been instrumental in the Broncos’ success in the last four years.

The Clarendon Broncos put together a great 2018 season and finished as Area Champs. The Gruver Greyhounds were able to stop the Broncos’ momentum that they had built up in post-season play and grab the win away from them at 49-14 last Friday night in Borger.

Things looked good in the first quarter that ended scoreless for both teams. After Senior Ryan McCleskey got in for the Broncos’ first score of the night on a nine-yard run, the Greyhounds answered with three scores in the second quarter to put the Broncos behind by 16 points.

McCleskey scored the other Bronco touchdown on a 34-yard run with Zane Sneathen catching the bonus from quarterback Noab Elam. Gruver closed the door for the Broncos in the third quarter earning the right to move on in the playoffs.

Second year head coach and Athletic Director Clint Conkin was pleased with the determination exhibited in all of his players.

“These boys had another great year,” he said. “I am extremely proud of every one of them.”

McCleskey, who has been solid in the backfield all year, finished the game with 112 yards on 27 carries. Preston Elam added 38 more yards on the ground with nine carries. N. Elam carried once for two yards. Defensively, the Broncos played hard and gave it their all. But Gruver was able to take advantage of them at the right times.

“On defense, we had several guys flying around making tackles,” Conkin said. “Again, so proud of this group of young men.”

The Broncos finished the year as Area Champions and were 8-3 for the year.

Coming off a big win over Vega, the Broncos turned up the heat in the Area round against Iraan in Post last Friday night to extend their post-season play.

The Broncos were named as the underdog, but they knew they were the better team as they defeated the Braves 28-14. Clarendon was the fourth seed going in and brought down Iraan who was seeded number one.

The Braves had only one previous loss and finished at 10-2 on the year and the Broncos are 8-3 overall and are the current 2A DIV II Area Champions. They will have another go at the Gruver Greyhounds on Friday, November 30, at Borger at 7:00 p.m. in a Regional contest.

“Our guys played a great game Friday,” head coach Clint Conkin said. “Our defense played awesome.”

Clarendon was able to force the Braves to turn the ball over several times and were able to capitalize on their opponent’s mistakes. The Broncos earned one of their touchdowns from the defense as Isaac Dunham picked an interception and ran it in from 62 yards out for the second six of the game.

Caton Grahn led off the scoring for the Broncos in the second quarter on a 25-yard run. After Grahn and Dunham’s TD’s, Preston Elam caught a 16-yard from quarterback Noab Elam for the third score of the second quarter. Nate Lee grabbed a pass from N. Elam for the two-point conversion. The Broncos led 20-7 at the break.

After a scoreless third period, P. Elam scrambled 45 yards for the last Bronco score and Ryan McCleskey added the bonus. The Broncos racked up some pretty impressive stats with three defensive players finishing with double digit tackles. Grahn had 14, and P. Elam and Jamal Butler had 11 each. P. Elam also caused a fumble and Butler had one QB sack, one interception, and one fumble recovery. Zane Sneathen had eight tackles, one sack, one caused fumble, and one fumble recovery, while Gavin Nazario played solid with eight tackles and one sack. Dalton Benson had seven tackles and Dunham had five tackles and one interception.

“Our offense had 250 yards rushing and 30 yards passing,” Conkin said. “Ryan (McCleskey) had 169 yards on 27 carries and one two-point conversion.”

Adding to the offense was P. Elam with six carries for 68 yards and Grahn with 25 yards. N. Elam was three for ten passing for 25 yards that included two strikes to P. Elam.

The Clarendon Broncos were able to get ahold of the Ralls Jackrabbits early Friday night and take care of business with an unstoppable ground game. The Broncos defeated Ralls for the Bi-District Champions 38-13.

Clarendon scored six in the first quarter of play and added eight points in the second. But the Broncos exploded in the third quarter and racked up 18 points. With the game well in hand, the Broncos were able to get the easy win.

The Jackrabbits struggled to stop the Bronco offense all night. Senior Ryan McCleskey had an explosive game on the ground with 308 total yards rushing on 25 carries. McCleskey rushed for five touchdowns to help put the game away.

“I want to give credit to our offensive line for the blocking up front all night,” head coach Clint Conkin said.

The Broncos racked up 317 yards rushing and 20 yards passing on the night. Preston had nine yards and one TD, and one catch for 20 yards from Noab Elam.

Defensively, the Broncos held Ralls to 248 total yards.

“On defense we held Ralls to 189 yards on the ground and 59 yards in the air,” Conkin said. “We had several guys making plays on defense.”

Three Broncos finished with double figures tackles. P. Elam led the way with 18, Dalton Benson had 17, and Caton Grahn had 15. Jamal Butler had seven tackles, Robert McGuire racked up four and one quarterback sack, and McCleskey had two and one sack.

“Several other guys were in on tackles as well,” Conkin said.

The Broncos will play Iraan for the Area Championship Friday, November 23, in Post. Game time is 4:00 p.m. For game updates, follow facebook.com/TheEnterprise.

Making it to the State Cross-Country Meet for the second year in a row was big for Clarendon High School junior runner Kenny Overstreet. He has worked hard all season to accomplish his goal of making it back to State and it paid off.

However, an injury at the meet took Overstreet out of contention as he finished 140th with a time of 20:25.02.

Cross-country coach Kalen Grahn was more than pleased with Overstreet’s season.

“Kenny is past the thrill of going to state, he expects to go and expects to place,” Grahn said. “It was heartbreaking to watch him struggle through the pain and disappointment. His injury during the race ended his hope for a medal.”

Despite the disappointment, the drive and determination to get back next year remains strong.

“This set back will only make him more determined,” Grahn said. “I am very proud of Kenny for having the character and mental strength to push through and finish. I could not have been any prouder of him, than if he had won the state championship.”

Overstreet’s time in the first mile was 5:46. At the two-mile mark he was at 12:35, and he set a pace of 6:33/mile.

The 8th ranked Broncos are taking their stellar season into post-season play and are getting it going right with a big 25-1 run-rule win over Boys Ranch last Tuesday.

The Broncos will play one game against Abernathy on Friday, May 11, at 10:00 a.m. in Lockney in the Area round.

Boys Ranch’s only bright spot in the game was in their first at bat when pitcher Kade Hunsaker walked the first two batters and was hit with a single that scored their one and only run.

After trailing in the first inning, the Broncos turned up the heat like they have been doing all year and quickly put eight runs on the board to take a commanding lead. Four big hits from Preston Elam and great defense in the field gave the Broncos the advantage they are used to, which allowed them to close the game in five innings. Hunsaker earned the win by allowing one hit and run while striking out five in his three innings on the mound. Josh Cobb and Noab Elam helped in the fourth and fifth to seal the deal. As a team, the Broncos posted 23 hits in the game.

P. Elam racked up several hits going four for four with a single and double in the first, and a single and in-the-park homerun in the third inning.

The eight runs the Broncos recorded in the first came from a single by Payton Havens, a single by Nathan Shadle, a double by P. Elam, and a single by Hunsaker. They also capitalized on a huge third inning by scoring 11 runs. Andy Davis, Shadle, Payton Hicks, Cobb, Havens, and Hunsaker all had RBI’s in the game.

“(I am) very proud of these young men,” coach Brad Elam said. “They played a great game under very windy conditions. Pitching of Hunsaker, Cobb, and Noab Elam only gave up two hits while striking out nine. Hitters were fantastic, and Preston Elam crushed the ball all game. Every starter had a hit. It was a great way to start off the playoffs.”

The Bronco baseball team is playing the best baseball in the District and ended their regular season by blowing out the Wellington Skyrockets at 15-0 at home. They finished with a perfect district season with 12 wins.

According to coach Brad Elam, Nathan Shadle pitched his best game of the year against Wellington.

“He was one hit away from pitching a perfect game,” Elam said. “He faced the minimum amount of batters in his five innings and struck out seven and walked no one.”

Defensively, the Broncos shined and their hitting was back on track.

“Joshua Cobb, Payton Havens, Andy Davis, Collin Butler, and Noab Elam each had two hits,” Elam said. “Kade Hunsaker and Davis had two RBI and Havens knocked in three.”

Hunsaker also scored three runs and Cobb, Preston Elam, N. Elam, and Shadle each scored two runs.

“Good way to end the regular season,” Elam said.

The Broncos took on Bushland on Saturday and lost 1-11.

“Thought we competed very well against a very good team,” Elam said. “We were able to jump on them early after a double by Josh Cobb and a single and RBI by Preston Elam. Bats kind of went quiet after that.”

The Bronco defense played fairly solid according to Elam and turned a big double play. Hunsaker got the call on the mound and had a great game striking out four in the three innings he pitched. He also only gave up three hits and two runs.

“We just had a bad fifth inning,” Elam said. “Really proud of how we showed up focused and how we competed.”

The Broncos started post-season play against Boys Ranch for the bi-district title as the Enterprise went to press Tuesday evening. We’ll have details of that victory next week.

“Fantastic.”

That is the word Clarendon baseball coach Brad Elam used when he described how the Broncos’ pitchers led the way to the championship in the Childress Tournament over the weekend. The Broncos took on four tough teams and brought home the gold.

They went up against Floydada in the first round and breezed to an 11-1 win. The Whirlwinds only managed one run, which they scored in the first inning on a Bronco error.

Eastin Goodpasture got the Broncos on the board in the second inning with a double for one run and Josh Cobb was able to knock in another. The Broncos added four runs in the fourth when Noab Elam, Kade Hunsaker, and Payton Havens all contributing. As a team, the Broncos had nine hits and Havens led the way with three. Elam had three stolen bases in the game as the team posted nine.

Hunsaker was on the plate for the Broncos and got the win. He had one hit and struck out seven in five innings.
The Broncos easily shut out district foe Wellington 13-0 in the second round. They then went up against 4A Borger and eased by them 4-3. The Broncos took on the host team, who are 3A, in the championship game and handled them at 4-2 to get the win.

“(I am) really proud of how the boys battled these bigger schools,” Elam said. “We were able to close them out with the winning runs at the plate. Our pitching staff was fantastic the entire tournament, all throwing complete games. Kade Hunsaker, Nathan Shadle, Josh Cobb, and Andy Davis. We only gave up six runs in four games. Pitching was great, defense was great, and we had some timely hitting.”

The Broncos will play Claude on Friday, March 9, at home beginning at 4:00 p.m. They will travel to San Jacinto on March 15. On March 16, they will play Kress at home beginning at 1:00 p.m.

The Lady Broncos are looking to the future while keeping their focus on the present as they weed out team after team in the District race. Their latest win came on the road Friday night against the Quanah Lady Indians. They defeated them 48-31.

The ladies got off to a good start in the first half and put up 30 points compared to only 15 for Quanah.  They began to struggle offensively, but stayed focus on the defensive side and held the Lady Indians to only five points.  The Lady Broncos rebounded in the final period to get the win.

Ryann Starnes and McKayla Cartwright were tough inside with double digits, and Trevela Dronzek put double figures on the board as well.  Coach MollyWeatherred was pleased with the win, but felt the team struggled somewhat.

“Offensively, we could not get anything going,” she said.  “We had a hard time getting shots to fall late in the game.  I thought we played hard and got defensive stops when we had to.”

Scoring:  Starnes 11, Cartwright 10, Dronzek 10, Jentry Shadle 7, Anna Ceniceros 7, and Deborah Howard 3.

At home on last Tuesday night, the ladies made short work of Memphis defeating them76-28.  They posted seven three-pointers in the win and made 15 out of 25 free throws.

The Lady Broncos promptly jumped on the Lady Cyclones defensively causing several early turnovers, which they converted to take a huge 27-point lead after two.  They never weakened in their attack on defense, which allowed them to execute the way they wanted to offensively.  Inside workhorse Cartwright put in 13 points and Shadle, D. Howard, and Starnes each pumped in 12 to secure the win.

“We really came out strong at the beginning,” Weatherred said.  “We got our hands on a lot of balls early, which lead to some layups.  I think that sparked our momentum and set the tone for the entire game.  We shot the ball great from the outside and really rebounded well.”

Also scoring:  Lydia Howard 7, Dronzek 6, Marqueda Gaines 6, Ceniceros 4, and Audrey Shelton 4.

The ladies finish their district schedule at Wellington on Friday, February 3.

Outstanding basketball was exhibited by the Lady Broncos in their 50-38 win over state-ranked Wellington at home Tuesday night.

Defeating the 10th ranked team was huge for the Lady Broncos and gave them the edge going into the second half of district play.

Clarendon finished the first half 4-0 (17-4) and will end regular season play in less than two weeks.  They will face off against Wellington again on February 3.

Wellington was stunned at the aggressive play by the Lady Broncos.

Defensively, Clarendon was spot on, which allowed them to execute offensively.

It was a close game throughout, and the Lady Broncos trailed by five at the break but came back to take a two-point lead after three.

The final period was the backbreaker for the Lady Rockets as the Lady Broncos poured on the pressure and took a commanding lead with just minutes left.

Wellington committed several last minute desperation fouls to try to stop the Lady Broncos, but they were unsuccessful in their attempts.

Clarendon made 13/18 free throws in the game and had three players finish in double figures.

Coach Molly Weatherred was very pleased with the team effort by the ladies.

“I really felt that the girls played extremely hard Tuesday night,” Weatherred said.

“They did a great job handling the press and keeping their composure throughout the entire game. We had a lot of girls step up and make big plays.

“I thought Trevela Dronzek did a great job attacking the basket and hitting shots early in the game, and Ryann Starnes hit four big shots in the fourth quarter when we were struggling to score. Jentry Shadle and Deborah Howard stepped up and made their free throws when we needed them.”

The ladies will play at Quanah Friday, January 27, and take on Wheeler at home Tuesday, January 31 beginning at 6:30 p.m.