BUHS vs Ontario Christian
The Bishop Broncos hustle off the filed
September 20, 2017
BUHS fights hard in a tough game vs Ontario Christian
The Bishop Broncos played the Ontario Christian Knights on Friday September 15th in Ontario. The Broncos were 2-0 and the Knights were 3-0 so both teams were looking to remain undefeated. On the opening coin toss the Broncos won the toss and elected to kickoff to the Knights.
The Knights charged down the field putting much pressure on the Broncos defense. The knights seemed to be in full control in the opening drive passing and rushing with ease. The Knights did encounter some trouble in the red zone as the Bronco defense forced a 4th down situation near the goal line, but the Knights remained unfazed and scored making it 7-0.
The Broncos then tried to answer by putting the ball into the hands of Sophomore QB Luke McClean. Luke was not intimidated by the score and with the help of Senior wideout Lorenzo Parra and Senior running back Mike Molina they drove down the field easily on the Knights defense. The Broncos were in the redzone and Luke called his own number running into the endzone to tie the game 7-7.
After the Bronco touchdown the Knights did not answer back and with a pick by Sophomore lineman Tristen Valle caught a pass thrown in the air in an effort to get rid of the ball before getting sacked. The Broncos then scored by marching down the field and kicking a field goal making the score 10-7 in favor of the Broncos. The only lead of the night by Bishop was short lived because the following kickoff was returned for a touchdown by the Knights making the score 14-10.
The Knights started to take over and were in the driver seat for most of the second quarter. The Broncos did not score and the Knights scored once making the game 20-10 and put the Broncos in a big hole for the second half.
The third quarter was a very defensive quarter as the Broncos nor the Knights scored at all the bright spot for the Broncos was when Junior lineman Cal Omohundro caught a ball thrown up in the air by the Knights QB while being sacked. Nothing came of that interception unfortunately because on the next play a Knights defender caught a pass from Luke McClean for an interception and got the ball right back for the Knights.
The Knights scored again and made the game almost out of reach for the Broncos making the score 27-10 with just minutes left in the fourth quarter. WIth just minutes left Junior Arturo Lemus intercepted the ball for the Broncos 3rd interception of the game and ran for 49 yards to give the Broncos excellent field position. With the excellent field position the Broncos scored the final points of the game and made it 27-17 with the Broncos getting there first and only loss so far in the season.
Interview with Arnie Palu after the tough loss.
Q “Very tough loss against a very good team, how do you rebound and focus on the next game.”
A “We were really proud of the way the boys battled. We fought right up to the final whistle. Ontario Christian is a very good team, we have nothing to hang our heads about. We also don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves. We have a very good opponent coming to town Friday.”
Q “Did your strategy change as the game went on and they started to score more and go up by 17 at one point.”
A “No, I feel we stayed the course. We had very good game plans going in. We were able to force three turnovers, two D-line interceptions and Tuli Lemus also had a second half pick. Cal Omohundro and Tristan Valle made big plays on the D-line.”
Q “Your team never gave up even as they went up by 17 points. How does it make you feel as a coach to see your team pull together and never give up.”
A “As a staff we are very aware of the heart and effort our team plays with. They were united throughout the game and fought to the end. We work hard to instill values and character into our players that they will carry with them past Bishop Union high school and past football. Everyone gets knocked down, what we want to see is our players understand that getting back up and fighting is what matters. Anyone can handle the ship on calm seas, but true character is revealed when the waves start crashing. Our boys stood up to the challenge, we were really proud of their effort.”