The Hive Sports

Thursday night’s game against the Grand County Red Devils was a defining moment for the San Juan Broncos. With a 47-0 win, the Broncos ended their regular season undefeated, granting them the title of “2A South Champions.”  

 “That’s the goal we set every year,” said Coach Barkley Christensen in response to a question about being undefeated. “Our goal is to win the State Championship….we’ll celebrate the little things, a region championship… and an undefeated season.”

After a close-call win on the Beaver Beavers the week before, the Broncos reset their focus for their game against the Devils. Their strategy would be going back to the fundamentals. 

“It doesn’t matter who you’re going against,” Coach Christensen said. “You’ve still got to do the little fundamental things right.”

In preparing to go up against the Devils, the Broncos chose to center their practices on defense, offense, tackles, and blocks. 

“I didn’t feel like we did those the whole game against Beaver,” Coach Christensen said. “So that’s kind of what we’re focusing on.”

Broncos Stay Strong

Despite not having the full week to work on these things because of Fall Break, it must have been enough time for the Broncos. Starting off strong in Thursday’s game, Collin Baker scored the first touchdown of the night. Baker has made an impressive comeback after missing out on the first seven games due to injury. 

“It’s hard to believe that Collin has been out most of the season, only back the last two games,” Art Adair said. “…He hasn’t missed a beat.”

Baker ended up scoring two touchdowns for his team. Zack Conway had the lead with three, followed by Baker. Jerzy Nieves and Anthony Done each added one more to the tally, resulting in seven total touchdowns for the Broncos. 

Parker Snyder, once again, gave a stellar performance as quarterback with a total of 366 passing yards in the game against the Devils. He continues to impress fans by being selected as Offensive Player of the Game. Linebacker Bradley Duke also made an impression on the crowd with a sack in the first quarter.  

“Everyone understands their role,” Coach Christensen said in the post-game interview. “No one tries to do too much.”

By the time the horn signaled the end of the second quarter, the Broncos already had their 47 point lead. With such a strong edge in the game, the team felt confident enough to throw in their Junior Varsity players. The Broncos’ JV didn’t score any further points, but they ensured both the game and the season ended undefeated. 

“It feels really good,” said Coach Christensen. “I don’t know the last time we went undefeated.”

As the Broncos head into playoffs next Saturday, they head in with dedication and confidence. They’ll stick with their new strategy as they aim for State. 

“Next week we’re going back to the fundamentals of things,” Coach Christensen said. “If we get our defense figured out, we’re going to be really, really, really tough to beat.”

Prospects are high for the Broncos. The goal is to defend their 2A Football State Championship title from last year.

“That’s definitely where we want to be,” said Coach Christensen. “But we’ve definitely got to take it one game at a time.”