Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos win in double OT

Speedy and sly at times, Warden battled back from a 21-7 deficit at half time to force overtime play against the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos last Friday. Ultimately the Broncos overcame the late game charge by Warden to pick up an exciting win 27-21 in double overtime.

Chris Steinmetz proved to be the workhorse everyone expected him to be, carrying the football 35 times for 156 yards and four touchdowns.

Steinmetz scored the opener in the first quarter on a one-yard run. He scored again later in the quarter in a one-yard run. In the second quarter he scored again on a one-yard jaunt. He sealed the Broncos win in the second overtime with a three-yard touchdown run.

Warden’s passing game gave the Broncos fits, and generated all three of the team’s touchdowns. While the Broncos held the Warden running game to 101 yards, the passing offense recorded 316 yards against the LRS defense.

Warden had 87 plays on offense while the Broncos logged 69.

“The bottom line, it was a great, great non-league football game for us,” said head coach Greg Whitmore. “Win or lose the ballgame, in the end we were going to learn a lot. The kids struggled through adversity.”

The Broncos will need to fix the team’s troubles with turnovers. They had three fumbles and three interceptions during the game.

“At the end, after the win, the kids were not that satisfied. They know they can play better,” Whitmore said.

At quarterback, Dylan Hartz finished with 134 yards passing, completing 14 of 24 attempts.

Ryan Whitmore led the receivers with 68 yards on three catches. Steinmetz gained 48 yards on four passes.

Defensively Jake Dewald was stellar with four solo tackles, seven first hits and seven assists. Hartz, working from safety, had nine solo tackles and two first hits. Palmer Phillips churned up the Warden offense from the middle linebacker role with three solo tackles, five first hits and seven assists.

This week the Broncos head to Kittitas for another tough non-league outing. Kittitas has a new quarterback, who checks in at 200 pounds and likes to run. While Warden went to the air, Kittitas will aim to grind it out on the ground.