Bryce Smoot, 12th Grade, Varsity Football. Photo by Isabel Anzaldo
Defensive battle results in 7-6 Homecoming win for Kern Valley
There was not much scoring in the Broncs Homecoming game played on Friday. One early TD by the opponent and a late one by Kern Valley was the total scoring on the night. The deciding factor in the game came down to a successful PAT.
The late touchdown was the for the home Broncs and when they kicked the PAT the game was safely tucked away and Kern Valley moved to 2-0 in HDL play. The bigger Roadrunners team came to town hoping to spoil the Homecoming festivities of Kern Valley.
The two teams battled all night long as the defenses took control. Each time a team gained some momentum, the opponents defense came up to stop them. The low scoring affair resulted in the offenses struggling to gain yards. Rosamond opened the scoring as they scored early in the second quarter. They tried to go for the two-point conversion. They were denied when Aiden Madden broke up the attempt. The scoreboard read 6-0 for the visiting team. They played the alternating possession game the rest of the half. The two teams went into intermission with the same 6-0 score.
Coming out of the break the defensive trend continued. Each team struggled to move the ball. The score stayed that way until the fourth quarter. The Broncs were determined to find something that worked. Kern Valley took the ball and moved it down the field. They had the Roadrunners on their toes as they were set up at the Rosamond seven-yard line. Zane Carver being pressured rolled out to his left and found Bryce Smoot for the tying score. With the scoreboard reading 6-6 the only thing left was the PAT. Kern Valley lined up for the kick. Tristan Beckham waited until the ball was placed on the tee. He calmly moved forward and it was tired and true as it sailed through the uprights giving the Broncs the one point advantage.
With time still left on the clock, the Rosamond squad tried to answer. They had two opportunities, but the Kern Valley defense stayed tough and stopped them on both occasions. The final horn sounded and the Broncs had held on for the 7-6 Homecoming victory that moved them to 2-0 in league play.
The offensive numbers were low as Kern Valley managed just 147 total yards. They would throw for only 57 and rush for the remaining 90. Carver threw the football 12 times with eight completions. His one completion was the game tying touchdown. Smoot the other end of the touchdown caught a total of six passes for 31 yards. Madden and Danile Hinkey each hauled in one pass for 13 yards. The ground game for the Broncs saw Carson Parks tote the ball 15 times for 49 yards. Carver rounded out the remaining 41 yards on 11 carries.
On the defensive side of the ball, Kern Valley saw Hinkey lead the team with 16 tackles. Eight of those were solo, including a sack of the Rosamond quarterback. Joey Galvan collected nine tackles, with five solo and a sack. Baughman was credited with seven tackles, four were solo, including a sack. Smoot and Drake Posney also finished with seven tackles. Tavin Watts followed with six tackles. Four of those were of the solo kind. He also pounced on a Roadrunners fumble. Deegan Lee collected five tackles for the Broncs. Ivan Mondragon recorded four tackles, including a pair of sacks. Jacob Arbraugh also finished with four tackles. Madden and Gauge Johnson capped the defensive stats with a pair of tackles each.
Broncs head coach Scott Tedrow had this to say about the game, “Tough, hard fought football game. They were much bigger than us, but we played tough, bend don’t break defense. We made big plays at the right times and kept them out of the endzone. Our DB’s did a great job all night and didn’t give up any big plays. Our LB corps had 36 tackles and really slowed down their explosive running attack.”
Kern Valley will hope to continue their winning ways in league action this Friday. They will make the trip to Cal City to take on the Ravens. The game is slated to kick off at 7 p.m.
