The huge showdown in the HDL saw Bishop score a pair of touchdowns in the second half to pushed the Broncs out of the league title chase.
The first half of the game the two teams battled to keep a lead. The back-and-forth contest saw the Broncos of Bishop grab the early lead at 7-0. The first quarter ended with Kern Valley trailing 7-0. Early on in the second, The Broncs drive pushed them into the end zone to knot the score at 7-7. Bishop responded and score again to retake the lead. A missed extra-point made the score 13-7 in favor of Bishop. Kern Valley had an answer as they crossed the goal line once more to tie it at 13-13. After the PAT from the Broncs, they had their first lead of the game. The two teams went into the break with Kern Valley holding the one-point edge at 14-13.
Scoring for the Broncs in the first half were Zane Carver on a one-yard plunge. Carver would also connect with Aiden Madden on a 20-yrad scoring toss for the two touchdowns. Tristan Beckham booted both PAT’s for Kern Valley’s scoring on the night. That would be all the scoring for the Broncs.
In the second half, the Broncs could not muster any scoring offense. Kern Valley drove themselves into scoring opportunities multiple times in the second half. They could not break through the Bishop defense. The Kern Valley defense tried to match their opponents, but the Broncos crossed the goal line twice in the second half to dash the HDL title hopes of the Broncs. The final score favored Bishop 27-14.
The Broncos offense totaled 296 yards in this game. They threw for 114 yards and rushed for 182 yards. Kern Valley was limited to 174 yards of offense. They had 132 yards passing and the one score, but managed only 42 yards in the ground game and the one TD.
Carver completed 13 passes in 33 attempts for the 132 yards. He was picked off once by Bishop. Daniel Hinkey grabbed two passes for 60 yards to lead the Broncs. Carson Parks hauled in three catches for 30 yards, while Madden had three receptions for 27 yards. This included the 20-yard touchdown. Bryce Smoot caught two for 11 yards, while Deegan Lee completed the passing game with three receptions for five yards. The rushing leader for Kern Valley was Parks with nine carried for 21 yards. Carver had 11 rushed that went for 20 yards. Lee had one touch for five yards, while Smoot carried once for a minus four yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Broncs were led by Hinkey with a team high 21 tackles. He was credited with 12 solo tackles. Tavin Watts brought down 11 Bishop ball carriers, including seven that were solo tackles. Blake Baughman collected nine tackles. Seven were recorded as solo. Joely Galvan followed with six tackles, while Lee was credited with five solo tackles. Drake Posney had four tackles and loosed the ball from a Bishop ball carrier. Jeffrey Clark had three solo tackles, while Smoot and Jacob Arbraugh had a pair of tackles apiece. Ivan Mondragon had one tackles and pounced on the loose ball caused by his teammate. Parks, Andrew Miller, Mickey Pearman, Tyler Lewis, and Michael Porter each had one tackle in the game. Madden picked off the Bishop quarterback and returned it 41 yards.
The Broncs head coach Scott Tedrow commenting on the game said, “Another tough loss for us. We played tough for four quarters, but their size eventually wore us down in the second half. We took a 14-13 lead in to halftime, but just couldn’t capitalize on multiple trips to the red zone in the second half. Defensively, we held Bishop to 114 yds passing, but their run game pounded away at our defense all night rushing for 182 yds on 33 carries.”
With this game in the books, the Kern Valley team has to regroup as the battle for second place is on tap. The Broncs will entertain the Boron Bobcats on Friday. The winner of this game will have sole possession of second place in the HDL. This night it will also be a time to honor the seniors on the Kern Valley team as it is Senior Night.
Broncs varsity football team falls short of HDL title
