Broncos first-half blast ends Nighthawk season

A series of drive-killing first half turnovers by Tekoa/Oakesdale Friday night at Ritzville marked out an early end to the state playoff bid by the Nighthawks. The host Lind/Ritzville/Sprague Broncos rang up conversion points off the turnovers on the way to dominating the first three quarters of the game.

The Broncos galloped to a 42-14 home win to advance to the quarter-finals of the 2B playoffs.

Nighthawk running back Clay Shelton gains yards early in the playoff round at Ritzvile with Keanu Niezwaag of the Broncos in hot pursuit.

“We couldn’t hold on to the ball,” said TOR Coach Kaleb Madison. “You just can’t make mistakes like that against a good team.”

LRS capitalized on three fumbles, an interception and a blocked punt to put 35 points on the board before intermission. One fumble came out of the hands of Craig Nelson, the Nighthawks’ tailback, at the one yard line and ended up in the end zone where the Broncs recovered the ball for a touchback.

Instead of a score, the ‘hawks had to go on defense against the hosts at the 20-yards line.

That setback came after an opening TD run by Clay Shelton down the LRS side of the field was erased by an out-of-bounds call.

“We moved the ball pretty well, but then we’d cough it up,” said Madison.

LRS running back Connor O’Neill, who took a toll on Colfax in the second half, was the beneficiary of the TOR turnovers, cashing in on touchdown runs of five, 36 and one yards.

“That kid did a real good job running on us all night,” said Madison.

The Broncs D found the board in the second quarter when a swing pass thrown by backup TOR quarterback Micah Pittsley was picked by defensive lineman Tyler Frederick, who then had nothing but 34 yards of grass between him and a score.

Frederick’s mid-field pick in the scrimmage line zone was also a repeat of a feat booked at Colfax.

Pittsley took over under center last week, filling in for injured Ryan Maley who had started all season.

Trailing 0-35, the ‘hawks tried on on-side kick to open the second half, and the Broncos took the ball on the 48. Two plays later QB Dylan Hartz broke out a 50-yard run to put it at 42-0.

TOR late in the third quarter advanced to the six yard line with a big pass from Pittsley to Shelton, but they couldn’t get it into the end zone. The bid ended at the one yard line at the start of the last quarter.

TOR tagged the Broncos for two scores late in the game, one on another Pittsley-Shelton pass combo and one on a short plunger by senior back Zane Brown.

The loss ends the Nighthawks’ season with an 8-2 record, a marked improvement over last season’s 5-4 showing. TOR’s 4-1 league record gave them a share of a three-way first place tie in the SE2B. They entered the playoff round as the league’s number three seed based on a pre-season tiebreaker draw.

“We set the bar pretty high this year. Now we know where we expect to be and just have to get back here,” said Madison.

The ‘hawks will bring back a solid core next year, led by running backs Nelson, Shelton and Steven Maley and quarterback Ryan Maley.

“I can’t wait till next year to see what these guys can put together,” said Madison.

Seven seniors will graduate from this year’s squad, including the core of the TOR trench squad, Josh Roe, Jesse Johnson and Ty Mundt. Big tight end/defensive end Max Mueller also graduates as will receivers Brock Shelton and Zane Brown. Pittsley also departs as a senior.

“There’s some guys here ready to fill those big shoes; guys that have been chomping at the bit to get into the game and pushing our seniors all year,” he said.

LRS advances to the state semi-final this Saturday against DeSales, the lone team in the SE run to defeat the Nighthawks.