The Kern Valley varsity Broncs huddle together after picking up the win over the Ravens this past Friday night. Submitted Photos by Allison Clark
The Broncs know now that this is what you play for. The chance to compete for a league title. The Kern Valley varsity football team has put themselves in that position.
First, they had to get past a Cal City team that was looking for their first league win. The Broncs traveled to the Ravens home field this past Friday. The two teams battled, but it was the Broncs who were able to produce more offense on this night. Kern Valley opened the scoring in the first quarter. They added the extra-point to go up 7-0. It stayed that way for the rest of the quarter.
The Broncs increased their lead in the second quarter as they crossed the goal line once again. The PAT was good and the margin was upped to 14-0. Neither team came close to scoring the rest of the first half. The teams went to the break with Broncs having the lead.
Coming out of the locker room, the Ravens were able to get on the board. They closed the gap, but Kern Valley was able to answer and score their third touchdown of the evening. The scoreboard read 21-6 as they third quarter came to an end. The defenses took over and neither team was able to score and the game went to the Broncs.
Three different Kern Valley players were able to find the end zone. Carson Parks scored from five yards out, Zane Carver plunged over the goal line from one-yard out, while Carver hooked up with Bryce Smoot on a nine-yard scoring toss. With Tristan Beckham adding all three PAT’s this gave the Broncs their 21 points. Beckham had a chance to add to the scoring, but missed a 35-yard field goal attempt.
Kern Valley’s offense totaled 318 yards in the contest. They rushed for 265 yards and threw for 53. Parks led the way on the ground with 26 rushes for 162 yards. Carver carried the ball 15 times for 102 yards, while Deegan Lee had one touch for one yard. S moot caught the one pass for the nine-yard touchdown. Lee hauled in one pass for 18 yards, while Aiden Madden grabbed one catch for 26 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Broncs were led by Jeffrey Clark. He was shared the team lead in tackles with six. Four of these were credited as solo tackles. He also picked off a Cal City pass and returned it 20 yards to set up the Broncs offense. Lee finished with six tackles, while Smoot had four tackles and an interception in the game. Drake Posney also finished with four tackles of a Ravens ball carrier. Daniel Hinkey and Joey Galvan each collected three tackles, while Blake Baughman had a pair of tackles, that included a sack of the Cal City quarterback. Tavin Watts and Ivan Mondragon recorded two tackles apiece. Jacob Abraugh was credited with one solo tackle, while Madden, Luke Brown, and Michael Porter capped off the defense with one tackle each.
With the victory under their belt, the Broncs will now turn their focus to Bishop. Both teams sport a 3-0 HDL record. They will face off this Friday in Bishop with the winner having the right path to be crowned HDL champions. The contest is set to kick off at 7 p.m.
Currently, the HDL standings after the Broncs and Bishop are as follows: Boron is 2-1, Rosamond sits at 1-2, while Cal City and Desert are holding up the rest of the league at 0-3.
