Sports

By Sandy Anderberg

The Bronco football team did everything right last Friday night in Tulia and defeated the Hornets 44-21.

Senior running back Lyric Smith finished with 166 total yards and found the endzone twice for the Broncos. Smith had two catches from quarterback Harrison Howard for 52 yards and carried the ball 14 times for 99 yards rushing.

The Broncos scored first in with just under 10:00 left in the opening quarter and again before the Hornets put seven points on the board. Tulia would find the endzone two more times to take a 12-21 lead in the second quarter. The next four scores belonged to the Broncos as they were able to score at will in the second half as the Broncos line did their job to open the field for the runners and receivers.

Howard put up another set of good stats in his time at the QB position finishing the game with 247 total yards and was 10 of 14 passing with one interception. His longest strike was to Colton Caudle for 53 yards. Caudle had a stellar night on the field with two receiving touchdowns. Mason Sims had four catches for 41 yards, and Easton Frausto grabbed a 48-yard pass for six. Shane Hagood ran the ball 11 times from the backfield for 62 yards. His longest was a 17-yard run.
Smith took a turn under center and had one completion for 15 yards. Kyler Bell also took a turn at the QB spot.

No defensive stats were available at press time.

The Broncos will have a week to rest up before they begin their six-team district schedule on October 6 at home against the Wheeler Mustangs beginning at 7:00 p.m.

By Sandy Anderberg

Clarendon High School sophomore Madi Benson ran a great cross country race in Lubbock at Mae Simmons Park last weekend.

Benson’s time of 13:05.1 for the two-mile course put her just under 20 seconds behind the first-place finisher. According to coach Korey Conkin, Benson led the field for the first mile and a half of the race. She and fellow athlete Tandie Cummins both received a medal for their efforts in leading the Lady Bronco team to a fourth-place finish in the meet. Cummins ran 12th with a finishing time of 13:41.9.

Gracie Ellis ran 34th in the field of 141 competitors with a time of 14:19.7, and Berkley Moore ran 36th at 14:32.3. Presley Smith was 53rd with a 15:00.8, Kenidee Hayes was 58th at 15:10.9, and Kennadie Cummins ran the course in a time of 16:08.7 finishing in 93rd place.

Bronco junior Bryce Williams had a great race as well and ran a personal best on the Lubbock course with a time of 18:42.2 for 13th place and a medal. Williams was two minutes off the first-place pace in a field of 127 runners. Tanner Cavanaugh also ran and ended the race with a time of 25:33.9.

The Broncos, Lady Broncos, and junior high Lady Colts will participate in the Greenbelt Gallop on October 3 at Greenbelt Lake.

The Clarendon Broncos breezed by Smyer 64-26 in their first win of the season last Friday night before a huge Homecoming crowd. The Broncos racked up over 550 offensive yards and found the endzone 12 times.

Senior running back Lyric Smith’s highlight of the night was a 72-yard kickoff return for six from the Broncos’ 28-yard line. Smith counted for 284 yards on the night with 19 carries for 226 yards in addition to 58yards in the air. He also grabbed five tackles on the defensive side.

Quarterback Harrison Howard was 13 of 20 passing for 226 yards and four strikes. Along with Smith, Howard hit Mason Sims for a 35-yard touchdown and found Easton Frausto and Grant Haynes in the air to account for another two scores. The Bronco offensive line did a good job of opening holes in the Smyer defense to allow the Broncos to rack up 325 yards rushing.

Defensively, the Broncos stopped the Bobcats from gaining any advantage on the field moving the ball. Colton Benson led the team with 13 tackles and Frausto finished with 11. Anthony Ceniceros and Dalton Coles added 10 tackles each. Sims posted five tackles and Haynes finished with four. Heston Seay and Ranger Drenth were in on three tackles each, Kaleb Mays had two, and Hayden Moore, Braylon Rice, Michael Randall had one each.

The Broncos are looking for their second win September 22 at Tulia and preparing for their District opener against Wheeler on October 6.

The Clarendon Broncos are three weeks into the 2023 football season and made a good showing despite a 16-32 loss to the Roscoe Plowboys last Friday night in Floydada.
The Broncos were able to get the first score of the game only two minutes into the game when senior Lyric Smith grabbed a Roscoe pass and ran it back 75 yards for the touchdown. Smith ran in the two-point bonus to take the lead 8-0.

Smith, who has recovered from his injury in the Panhandle game, also grabbed four tackles from his spot on defense. Dalton Coles led the way with 17 defensive tackles, Easton Frausto finished with 12, and Anthony Ceniceros added 11 tackles, one QB sack, and forced a fumble.

Colton Caudle did a great job on offense and turned four catches into 115 yards with a long 85-yard run. Caudle’s yardage include one touchdown at the end of the first quarter to put the Broncos up after the first eight minutes. Smith posted 128 yards in the game while Mason Sims added 49 on the night.

Quarterback Harrison Howard was 15 of 26 passing which included two interceptions. The Broncos’ total offensive yards was 241, which included 228 yards passing and one TD.
Roscoe was able to fight their way back before the break to take a 16-12 lead over the Broncos. They continued to increase that lead until the final buzzer.

The Broncos are looking forward to Friday night when they host Smyer in their homecoming game. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. with the Queen Coronation at 6:30 in Bronco Stadium.

The Junior High Colts will travel to Smyer Thursday, September 14, with a game time of 5:00 p.m.

The Clarendon Bronco football team met up with two strong teams early in the season but remain positive as they head into their next matchup with Roscoe.

The Broncos lost to a good Trinity Christian team in Lubbock 0-56 last Friday night. They were unable to get anything going in the game, racking up 130 offensive yards.

Senior quarterback Harrison Howard was successful finding a receiver ten out of eighteen times, but two interceptions hindered the Broncos’ attempts to find the endzone. Howard also rushed for 31 yards and grabbed four tackles on defense.

Shane Hagood, who is just a sophomore, carried the ball 18 times for 60 yards plus five in the air and senior Easton Frausto finished with 19 total yards and three tackles on the night. Tyler Cavanaugh posted eight total yards and Bryce Williams had one catch.

Colton Caudle was a workhorse on defense with seven tackles and Jared Musick followed with six.

Grant Haynes added five tackles and Mason Sims grabbed four.

The Broncos are continuing to work hard to improve each practice in preparing for their next opponents and will travel to Floydada Friday night, September 8 to take on Roscoe at 7:00 p.m.

The Junior High Colts opened their season at home last week with a loss to Trinity Christian at 24-6 with Markael Anderson scoring the lone Colt touchdown. The Colts will host Roscoe in Bronco Stadium on Thursday, September 7, at 5:00 p.m.