Broncos defeat Chargers

SPRINGDALE -Cort Ruzicka rushed for 195 yards on nine carries and two touchdowns, and quarterback Dylan Hartz carried the rock twice for 101 yards as Ritzville raced past the Chargers for a 40-13 league road win Friday.

Ruzicka busted loose for a 60-yard TD run (Norton kick) to give the Broncos a 7-0 lead. The score held up through the first quarter of action.

The Broncos high octane offense put it into overdrive in the second 12 minutes of play as Ritzville put 26 points on the board to push the score to 33-0 at the half.

Quarterback Dylan Hartz scored first in the second quarter for the Broncos on a 85-yard run (kick failed).

Tyler Greenwalt hit pay dirt for Ritzville's second TD of the quarter on a 15-yard reception from Hartz (Norton Kick).

Dustin Kommes added a 6-yard run (Norton kick), and Connor O'Neil punched it in from 2-yards out (Norton kick) to round out the first half scoring.

Ritzville scored the only TD in the third quarter of action on Rusicka's second touchdown of the game to push the Bronco lead to 40-0.

The Chargers finally got on the board in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard dash by Shane O'Malley (kick failed) to avoid the shut out, then added a second score on a 60-yard pass from Josh Anderson to Curtis Butte (PAT) to close the gap to 40-13.

The Broncos defense held the Springdale offense to just 159 yards for the game.

The win over the Chargers improves the Broncos to 3-0 in league play and 4-0 overall and cements Ritzville in first place in the 2B Northeast Conference. The Broncos are back in action Friday when the team hits the road to Davenport to take on the Gorillas.