Mournful Mabton falls to Broncos

Vikings attend fellow student funeral before game

RITZVILLE - More than football was on the minds of Mabton when it came time to face off against Lind-Ritzville Friday night.

The Vikings had attended the funeral of a fellow student - who had been killed in a car wreck during the week - earlier that day. While Mabton head coach D.J. Search said a week of football gave hope for the game, the day's events took its toll as Lind-Ritzville exploited the gridiron for a 45-18 win.

"We tried to make it a celebration, but it was going to be a rough day no matter what," Search said.

Rough was the beginning of it as the Broncos built a 38-0 lead at halftime and racked up 297 yards of total offense in 24 minutes. Worse, Mabton was held to 50 yards on 21 plays and four turnovers before halftime.

"We were just dragging," Search added.

After telling his team to go home with a smile, the Vikings put up 18 points in the second half behind quarterback Ryan Harris who aired the ball out for strikes of 59 and 47 yards to Pablo Sanchez and Alex Zavala and Zavala had a 66-yard run for the other score.

Harris finished the day with 137 passing yards and two touchdowns.

"He is the true leader of this team," Search said. "He dislocated the ring-finger of his throwing hand tonight and there was no chance in hell he was coming off this field."

Mabton's slow start played into the hands of the offensive explosiveness of Lind-Ritzville from the start.

Travis Dewald threw three touchdown strikes on 8 of 11 passing for 156 yards, while Nick Ashley took advantage of the running game for 125 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns.

"I thought our kids played hard and played well," Lind-Ritzville head coach Mike Lynch said. "We will see if we can do it for another week."

Ashley's presence on the field opened way for Jake Kragt, who carried the ball three times for 57 yards and a rushing touchdown and opened the game with a 28-yard touchdown reception.

"You have to defend him and because of that, we can do a whole lot of other things," Lynch said.

Lind-Ritzville's offense needed nine plays for Dewald to hook up with Kragt on a 28-yard pass for a touchdown, then only one play on its ensuing drive for Ashley to score from 56 yards out and a two touchdown lead.

After another Mabton punt, Kragt scored his final touchdown of the game on a play that started up the middle, then cut right to the sideline for a 31-yard touchdown. It was the second touchdown of the game that the Broncos were able to get to the rightside for the score.

"We have enough weapons that we can go anywhere and that seemed to be open and we just went there," Lynch added.

Ashley bullied his way up the middle for a 17-yard touchdown right before the end of the first quarter, then Dewald found Andy Wellsandt for an 11-yard touchdown pass. Lind-Ritzville's final score of the half came on a 21-yard field goal from Sam Whitman for a 38-0 lead at halftime.

After two big touchdown plays from the Vikings, Lind-Ritzville scored one last time on a deep pass from Dewald to Jon McPherson. The Broncos would hold onto a 45-18 lead after giving up one last touchdown late in the fourth quarter to move onto the quarterfinals B-11 football tournament to face Orcas Island next weekend.

With Lind-Ritzville's unbeaten record and explosive offensive tools in Ashley and Dewald, Lynch feels the season could have an extended stay for the Broncos.

"We have always believed that from day one and we have told our kids that they can play as long as they want," Lynch said.