Broncos fall at home to Northwest Christian
IAN BIVONA | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 1 month AGO
Lind-Ritzville/Sprague freshman Joey Duff (12) forces a fumble in the first quarter against Northwest Christian.
IAN BIVONA/COLUMBIA BASIN HERALD
Lind-Ritzville/Sprague junior Brody Boness (25) carries the ball against Northwest Christian on Friday.
Lind-Ritzville/Sprague senior Gabe Smith (7) and junior Brock Tracy (70) go in for a tackle against Northwest Christian.
Northwest Christian quarterback Titus Spuler runs into the end zone for the first touchdown of the game on Friday night.
Ian Bivona serves as the Columbia Basin Herald’s sports reporter and is a graduate of Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama. He enjoys the behind-the-scenes stories that lead up to the wins and losses of the various sports teams in the Basin. Football is his favorite sport, though he likes them all, and his favorite team is the Jets. He lives in Soap Lake with his cat, Honey. | October 2, 2023 1:00 AM
RITZVILLE — In a battle of 4-0 teams, Northwest Christian (Colbert) left Jimmie Snider Field in Ritzville with a 30-0 win over the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos on Friday night.
Northwest Christian led 14-0 at the half, and the Broncos turned the ball over on downs twice in Crusader territory in the second half.
“We’ve got to execute,” LRS head coach Brendan Bermea said. “It’s about us and doing our job, and we did not do a good enough job as coaches to make sure we could handle what they saw. That’s on us.”
After the Broncos and Crusaders remained tied through the first 20 minutes on Friday night, when Northwest Christian quarterback Titus Spuler ran into the left corner of the end zone from 12 yards out, putting the Crusaders up 7-0 with 2:34 remaining in the first half. The Broncos began to put a strong drive together after a 61-yard kickoff return by freshman Joey Duff, but LRS quarterback Travis Redburn threw an interception with the Broncos on the Crusaders’ 10-yard line.
Spuler dropped back to pass on the next play, hitting Crusader receiver Asher West on a deep post for a 72-yard touchdown, putting Northwest Christian up 14-0 with just 42 seconds before the half.
After LRS’ first drive of the game, the Broncos struggled to move the ball throughout the first half. LRS gained 75 yards of offense on their final five drives of the first half, 31 of which came on a reception by Duff at the end of the first quarter.
“We need to get better in every phase of the game,” Bermea said. “We’re not solid in anything, and we need to work more.”
Down by two scores, LRS opened the second half with an onside kick attempt, which was recovered by Northwest Christian. With a short field, the Crusaders drove down the field and added another touchdown, going up 20-0 after the extra point was blocked by the Bronco special teams unit. A promising Bronco drive, where junior running back Brody Boness had runs of 26 and 24 yards, stalled after a holding penalty and an 8-yard sack, eventually turning the ball over on downs after a fourth-and-29.
Northwest Christian added a field goal and another touchdown in the fourth quarter, as the Broncos couldn’t convert on fourth down on their two final drives. LRS eventually fell 30-0 for their first loss of the season.
The Broncos were held to 214 yards of offense in Friday’s loss, turning the ball over three times and failing to convert on fourth down four times.
“We didn’t execute — tried some things, didn’t get it done,” Bermea said. “We didn’t capitalize.”
LRS, now 4-1, travels to Jenkins (Chewelah) at 7 p.m. Friday.
“We still have some things we need to fix,” Bermea said.
Box score
NWC: 0-14-6-10 30
LRS: 0-0-0-0 0
Local scores
ACH 48, Mary Walker 30
Cashmere 41, Ephrata 6
Northwest Christian 30, LRS 0
Moses Lake 35, Wenatchee 14
MLCA/CCS 52, Tekoa-Rosalia 20
Othello 42, Grandview 0
Quincy 34, Cascade (Leavenworth) 0
Royal 45, Wahluke 0
Soap Lake 28, Oroville 0
River View 54, Warden 8
