Broncos beat Colfax

RITZVILLE — The Lind-Ritzville Broncos brought the heat Friday night in their season opener against Colfax, running away with a 35-12 victory.

“We have a lot to work on but we're very happy to start the season with a win,” said junior running back Brock Kinch.

Despite the big victory, the beginning of the game saw Colfax and Lind-Ritzville neck and neck. Lind-Ritzville started the game, pushing little by little toward the end zone before an interception by Colfax about two and a half minutes into the game foiled the Broncos' progress. Colfax made several pushes before making a touchdown with six and a half minutes left in the game. The two-point conversion failed however for Colfax when their quarterback was sacked but gave them a 6-0 lead over Lind-Ritzville.

Kinch leveled the playing field with a touchdown three minutes later but took a one-point lead with a successful extra kick by senior quarterback Chase Galbreath.

The Broncos were leading 7-6 when Colfax’s JJ Bodey made an 89-yard kickoff return touchdown. Again, Colfax’s two-point conversion failed but left them 12-7 over the Broncos going into the second quarter.

Starting the second quarter, the Broncos had made significant progress since the touchdown by Colfax. In fact, the Broncos started off the second quarter at the four-yard line on a fourth down. The Broncos had come back from the quarter break with a renewed focus and made a five-yard touchdown pass from Galbreath to sophomore Brody Boness in only six seconds. Again the Broncos made the extra kick, putting them back in the lead 14-12.

That renewed focus, it seemed, was the switch for the Broncos from keeping up with Colfax to playing their game. The Broncos started to upset Colfax with several pushes that resulted in lost yardage for Colfax. One was a nine-yard setback after Colfax’s quarterback was sacked.

Lind-Ritzville went on to make two more touchdowns before the end of the half and shut down Colfax.

Leading 28-12, the Broncos continued to dominate the second half of the game, completely shutting Colfax out of the end zone. The final touchdown of the game for the Broncos came in the third quarter in a seven-yard touchdown run by Boness.

The Broncos ended the game with the possession and the win, 35-12.

“It’s really interesting to get to work with these guys and see some of the positive results makes me pretty happy,” said head coach Brendan Bermea.

Bermea said the defense had some key stops, the offense had great pushes and he felt the team overall represented the community very well.

This is Bermea’s first year with the Broncos, which may have had fans and players a little curious about the season ahead.

“He has great energy and we just vibe off that,” said Kinch.

Boness admitted the team was nervous at first coming into the season with a new coach but said they knew that previous coach Greg Whitmore wouldn’t have left them with a coach he didn’t trust to take care of them.

“We have full confidence in our new coach,” Boness said.

Despite the big win, Bermea, Kinch, Boness and Galbreath all gave kudos to Colfax and said there is still improvement to be made by the Broncos.

“We have some room to grow and that's also great too,” said Bermea.

Bermea explained that he thinks the biggest thing the team needs is to get more efficient in what they do in order to maximize their opportunities on the field.

“We’re happy but we’re not satisfied ‘cause we’re going to keep working, practicing and getting better ‘cause we know this isn't our toughest challenge,” said Boness.

The Broncos next take on Liberty this Friday at 7 p.m. in Spangle.

Rebecca Pettingill may be reached at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com.

Box Scores:

Lind-Ritzville - 7-21-7-0 - 35

Colfax - 12-0-0-0 - 12

Game highlights:

• Sophomore Brody Boness had 17 carries for 131 yards and two touchdowns
• Junior Brock Kinch had 7 carries for 45 yards and one touchdown
• Senior Chase Galbreath had 11 out of 18 completed passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns.