Broncbusters push past Highland; improve to 2-0

By Mike Pilosof

Photo by Adam Shrimplin

Highland, KS-The tension at Porter Family Stadium on Saturday was palpable. Not convinced? Just order a transcript of Tom Minnick's halftime speech.

After slogging through a first half marred by penalties and mental lapses, No. 2 Garden City found a way. Devion Hodges rushed for 99 yards, the defense forced five turnovers, and the Broncbusters improved to 2-0 with a 15-6 win over Highland.

"This wasn't pretty by any stretch," Minnick said afterwards. "Give Highland a lot of credit, but frankly, we made way too many mistakes."

Down their starting quarterback Rhett Ricedorff, who did not make the trip, the Broncbuster offense struggled to find any rhythm. In fact, their first four possessions produced just 10 total yards, one first down and included a Jack Baltz wobbly pass that was picked off by Alim Legette with less than five minutes to go in the first. The silver lining though: Highland was not much better. And that was thanks to Aaron Cheatwood's defense, which yielded just 122 total yards and nine first downs. They also recovered four fumbles.

"Our defense won us this game," Minnick explained. "There is absolutely no doubt about that."

Meantime the offense, kept giving Highland life. Following Jason Hernandez's 27-yard field goal that put Garden City up 3-0 in the second, Baltz made a costly mistake. On third-and-7 from the Highland 24, the Illinois State transfer misfired on an out route to the right sideline. Defensive back Kylin Andrus stepped in front of the underthrown pass and raced 80 yards for the go-ahead score. The play encapsulated the entire afternoon: plenty of missed opportunities for a sputtering offense still learning key concepts under first-year coordinator, Ryan Felker.

"We didn't do a great job protecting our quarterbacks today," Minnick admitted. "But they need to get the ball out quicker."

That line, which played well in a 76-24 route of Fort Scott in their season opener, gave up seven sacks in week two. And because of the protection breakdowns, Garden City was limited to just 68 yards through the first 30 minutes.

"We had to get our head on straight," Minnick stated. "The first half was not pretty."

The second half wasn't much prettier.

Hernandez pushed a 32-yard field goal wide right early in the third quarter. On their next possession, Baltz was sacked on consecutive plays, including a crushing blow delivered by Treveon Henry and Paxton Martin.  Garden City then missed another chance minutes later when Demetrius Wilson failed to reel in Matthew Purnell's bomb down the middle of the field.

"When it's all said and done, we won this game," Minnick said. "But it was ugly. And sometimes, good teams have to win ugly. You just can't do this type of stuff against really good teams, because they will make you pay for it."

Trailing 6-3 early in the final period, Darius Johnson pummeled Mustaph Yekini, ripping the ball free before recovering it at the Scotties 9. But after Hodges' touchdown run was wiped off the board because of a holding call, the Broncbusters settled for Hernandez's 32-yard field goal that tied the game with 13:54 to play.

"We made some big plays in that fourth quarter to get us out of here with a win," Minnick mentioned. "But we missed scoring plays all day."

But thanks to another incredible defensive effort, the Broncbusters eventually took the lead for good. Ken Gay was wrapped up in the end zone for a safety, Dedrick Talbert scampered four yards to paydirt later in the quarter, and Garden City beat the Scotties for the eighth straight time.

Baltz finished the afternoon 7-of-20 for 20 yards and two interceptions for Garden City, which won on the road for the 24^th time in their last 28 games. Talbert added 83 yards and a score on the ground, and Jacobi Bellazin caught three balls for 12 yards.

Darrias Pearsall, one of four quarterbacks who played vs. Garden City on Saturday, went 7-of-11 for 54 yards. Deontay Campbell recorded a game-best seven catches for 76 yards.

Next up: Garden City vs. Independence-Saturday, Sept. 25, 7 p.m.