Cougars take down LRS in OT

RITZVILLE — Despite trailing by two scores early in the second quarter, the Warden Cougars were able to tie the game at 21 by the end of regulation Friday night against Lind-Ritzville/Sprague, eventually defeating the Broncos 29-21 in overtime.

“We adjusted going into the second half, and I love how the boys executed what we asked them to do,” McLean said. “They didn’t put their head down; they kept fighting all the way through. That’s how we got the result tonight.”

After sophomore Kameron Jensen tied the game at 14 on a two-yard quarterback draw for a touchdown, Warden junior Hunter Golladay recovered the ensuing onside kick attempt to set up the Cougar offense at its own 43-yard line. Five plays later, one of which was a 33-yard catch by senior Michael Gonzalez, the senior caught a 12-yard touchdown pass to give Warden its first lead of the night just before the end of the third quarter.

“My quarterback just put the ball in my hands — all credit goes to him,” Gonzalez said. “He’s the one that gets me the ball.”

LRS senior Brody Boness scored on a one-yard run on the next Bronco drive, tying the game at 21. After stopping Warden on fourth down the Broncos got the ball with four-and-a-half minutes left in the game but fumbled the ball on a handoff in Cougar territory. With neither side able to score, the game required overtime.

It only took Warden two plays to score in overtime, as senior Elijah Ruiz caught a swing pass and took it into the end zone from 10 yards out. Gonzalez scored on the two-point conversion to put Warden up 29-21.

“He gave me the ball, made a man miss and saw one (defender),” Ruiz said. “Just laid my shoulder down and popped him in the end zone.”

Facing a fourth-and-nine on their overtime possession, LRS senior Brody Boness couldn’t come down with the ball in the end zone as Warden players stormed onto the field in celebration of the win.

LRS took a 14-0 lead early in the game on a 57-yard touchdown run by Boness, who finished the game with all three of the Bronco touchdowns.

“They did a great job of making plays early,” LRS Head Coach Brendan Bermea said. “I probably could have helped them out a bit more later, we just got kind of stuck. Couldn’t get anything going. Had some tough, brutal plays go against us. We’ve just got to find a way and I’ve got to find a way to help our guys past that.”

Down early, Warden shifted its offensive focus to the quick game — from then, the Cougars moved up the field effectively with slants, quick passes to receivers in the flats and the occasional deep shot, most of which came outside the numbers.

“We knew if we were going to be effective tonight we needed to keep the ball away from the middle (of the field),” McLean said. “... We needed to spread them wide and make them feel uncomfortable. As long as we made them feel uncomfortable, we can manipulate the rest of the game.”

Warden got on the board just before halftime on a three-yard touchdown catch by Gonzalez. The score was a momentum swing, McLean said.

“That touchdown allowed me to go into the locker room and say, ‘Hey, we can do it,’” McLean said. “Just saying that we can is 90% of the battle. That touchdown was massive.”

Warden travels to play Tri-Cities Prep on Saturday at 6 p.m. The Cougars sit at 5-1 overall and 1-1 in the Eastern Washington Athletic Conference (East) standings, behind the Jaguars and Columbia (Burbank).

“We’ve just got to go into next week’s practice and give everything,” Ruiz said. “Transfer what we did today into next week’s game.”

LRS, now 3-3 overall and 2-2 in Northeast 2B games, host Northwest Christian (Colbert) on Friday at 7 p.m.

“They exposed some things that we need to keep working on, and we’re going to get back to work to try and fix them,” Bermea said.

Box score 

WRD: 0-7-14-0-8 29

LRS: 7-7-0-7-0 21

    Lind-Ritzville/Sprague senior Brody Boness (25) follows blockers on a run play in the second quarter Friday night. Boness scored three touchdowns against Warden.
  

    Warden players and coaches celebrate on the field after stopping the Bronco offense on fourth down in overtime.
  

    Lind-Ritzville/Sprague senior Zach Klein, in red, intercepts a pass in the second quarter against Warden on Friday.