Sports

By Tangela Copelin

Amidst much excitement Friday night, the 2010 Hedley Owls made school play-off history by beating the Happy Cowboys 52 to 30.

The Owls still have one district game left to play on Friday at 7:30 in Groom against the Tigers, but regardless of the outcome the Owls are still headed to the play-offs for the first time since Hedley began playing six-man football.

The excitement began with Chris Blackburn recovering a fumble allowing Hedley senior Reid Copelin to run  the first TD of the game. Even though the PAT by Coltin Kingston was unsuccessful, the Owls were still pumped and continued with Blackburn once again pumping up the Owls with an on-side recovery.

From there, with some tough blocking by the big boys – Austin Adams and Seth Ruthardt – senior Brandon Benton ran the ball to within a few yards, allowing Copelin to once again score with Kingston’s PAT being successful. For a third time, Blackburn jump-started the Owls with an on-side recovery. Kingston then passed the ball to senior Jacob Widener for a TD, and his PAT was successful, putting the Owls up 22 to 0 at the end of the first quarter.

From that point, the Hedley boys kept control of the game that made Owl play-off History.
Defensive stats were: Benton with 8 solo tackles and 2 assists; Blackburn 5 solos; and 4 assists; Kinston 4 solo and 3 assists; Copelin 4 solos and 2 assists; Widener 3 solo and 2 assists; Nicco Bennett 2 solos, 3 assists, and one interception; and freshman Kyle Lindsey had one solo tackle.

Offensively the team had 259 rushing yards with Blackburn having 115; Copelin 84 yards and 2 TDs; Benton 54 yards; and Kingston 6 yards. Receiving the team had 230 yards with Widener having 71 yards and 2 TD’s; Benton having 62 yards and 2 TD’s; and Copelin having 66 yards for 1 TD.

Everyone needs to come out and support the Owls this Friday, November 5, as Owls once again try to make history by beating the Groom Tigers for the district championship.

Great seasons are determined by great players and the 2010 Bronco football team continues to rack up victory after victory in their quest for a super season.  Their latest win came at home against a very physical and tough Quanah team in their District opener at 35-14.  The Broncos are at 7-1 overall and 1-0 in District play.

After a first possession score by the Indians, which has not happened all year, the Broncos settled into what has worked for them all season, and they quickly scored 28 unanswered points in the first three quarters of play.

The first score came when quarterback Johnny Gaines hit Trevor Cobb with a pass for a 37-yard touchdown.  Before the time ran out in the first period Gaines put up another six on a one-yard run and added another in the second on a 53-yard run.  Clarendon’s signal caller racked up 111 yards on 16 carries and threw eight for twelve times for 164 yards in the air.  The Broncos had 427 total yards to only 269 for Quanah.

According to Jack, the offensive line blocked well for their quarterback and several players were able to make great catches.  Bradley Watson made a lot of really good catches, Jack said. Wes Williams scored on a nine-yard run in the third, and Chris Crump took it in from 23 yards out for the last score of the game.

“We played a solid game,” head coach Gary Jack said. 

“I was pleased with the win and the performance. We made very few mistakes.

“We moved the ball well and did what we needed to do.” 
Defensively, the Broncos were on target once again and held the Indians to only 14 points. 

“This is the first time Quanah has been held to under 22 points all year,” Jack said. “Overall it was a good performance and the better team won.” 

Wes Williams recorded 15 tackles; one caused fumble and one recovered fumble in the game. 

Mike Crump had a big game for the Broncos, and Charleston Harris registered 11 tackles.

The Broncos will play Lockney at home Friday, October 30, in their last home game of the season beginning at 7:30 p.m.

 

The Broncos breezed through their Homecoming game against Gruver Friday night in Bronco Stadium with a 42-6 win before a huge hometown crowd. 
The dominance by the Bronco team was undeniable, and the Greyhounds were left helpless throughout.  Clarendon racked up 356 total yards to only 97 yards for a struggling Gruver team. The Broncos accumulated 223 of those yards on the ground resulting in four touchdowns. 
Mike Crump got things rolling for the Broncos very early in the game when he scored from one yard out to give Clarendon the advantage.  Brother Chris Crump then caught two passes for touchdowns from 28 and 33 yards respectively, and Mike Crump topped off the first quarter scoring with a 14-yard run.  Mike Crump scored again in the second quarter on a four-yard run, and Wes Williams ended the scoring frenzy with a big 73-yard run that resulted in six.  Coby Braughton added all the bonus kicks for the Broncos. 
“Once again, our line did a great job for us,” head coach Gary Jack said.  “We did a lot of good things. Johnny (Gaines) threw the ball well.  Bradley Watson made some good catches for us, and Mike (Crump) and Wes (Williams) ran the ball, too.  Our defense did a good job and shut them out through three quarters.” 
The Broncos’ controlled the game, which allowed the younger players to get playing time. 
“Because of the lead we had, we were able to take our starters out in the second half and let some of the junior varsity players get in the game,” Jack said.  “And that helped us to stay fairly healthy.”
The Broncos are definitely in the hunt for post-season play and are expecting to go deep in the play offs.  They have already fought through several tough opponents and after an open date this week are hoping to continue their dominance on the field with their District opponents. 
“We had a good non-district run and went 6-1,” Jack said.  “And we’ll play Quanah in our first District game at home.  It will be the most challenging game of the District, and we’re looking forward to it.”

The Wellington Skyrockets never had a chance against the Broncos Friday night. Clarendon came full force and made a statement and set the tempo from the opening kickoff.

The Broncos’ first six points came on the second play of the game when quarterback Johnny Gaines ran it in from 62 yards out and kicked the extra point.

The Broncos’ intensity proved to be Wellington’s downfall in the 49-20 massacre.

To add insult to injury, the Broncos forced two Rocket fumbles early that resulted in scores for Clarendon. Gaines threw a 17-yard strike to Bradley Watson and Mike Crump scored from 15 yards out to put the Broncos up 20-6 in the opening quarter of play.

“That was pretty fun to do that over there,” head coach Gary Jack said.

“We had some nice breaks early and we capitalized on them. We went at them hard; and by the third quarter, they didn’t know what hit them.

“It was a sweep all the way around last week against Wellington from third grade through high school.”

The Broncos racked 365 total yards in the win and the scoring was split between five different players. Watson and Gaines teamed up for another 15-yard TD in the second quarter with Gaines adding the two-point bonus to go up 28-6 at the break.

Clarendon picked up in the second half of play just as they had left it in the opening half when Jerami Johnson caught a Gaines pass on Wellington’s 35-yard line and ran it in for another Bronco score. In the Rockets’ next series, the Broncos forced a fumble that Gaines picked up for a 60-yard touchdown, which gave Clarendon a 42-6 lead. Wes Williams scored in the final period on a 14-yard run to round out the Broncos’ scoring.

“With just 11:50 left in the game, we were up 49-6,” Jack said. “It was a pretty convincing win for us, and they were in shock. The kids did and great job and responded well. Our coaching staff did a great job, too.”
Jerami Johnson played well according to Jack. He caught a touchdown pass and had several tackles on defense.

“Johnny had his normal good game,” Jack said.

“And Bradley Watson had a big game, too, and made some great catches in traffic.”
Jack said both lines played well and everyone did a great job in the win. But Johnson will be out for a few weeks with a leg injury.

“With Jerami being out, we’ll have to juggle some people around,” Jack said.
The Broncos will end their three-game road trip next Friday night when they go to Sunray.

Jack knows it will be a tough game.

“Sunray is a tough team, but we’ll have to guard from having a letdown after such a big win. It’s been awhile since we’ve beat Sunray. It will be a good game.”
The game with Sunray will be held Friday, October 1, beginning at 7:30 p.m.
CHS Homecoming will be October 8. The Broncos will take on the Gruver Greyhounds. Kickoff will be at 7:30.