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Senior Broncs conclude season with home turf loss

Ponoka’s senior Broncs ended their football season losing to the only team they had won against this season.
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Ashton Soosay and Braeden Korchinski do what they are best at

Ponoka’s senior Broncs ended their football season losing to the only team they had won against this season, Drayton Valley, with a 20-8 score in their only playoff game on Wednesday, Oct. 28.

The Broncs bench was further trimmed down because of injuries as the game got underway in sunny but cold and breezy weather. After the uneventful first quarter, visiting Drayton Valley got on the scoreboard early in the second with a swift play and before the Broncs defence could regain their composure, scored another. With converts made good after both scores, the first half ended 14-0 as the teams huddled to strategize for the second half.

As the third quarter began, Broncs showed some determination to get back into the game and the visibly more vivid defensive effort allowed the offence to get more chances to execute some plays. In one of them, Braeden Korchinski, having assumed the role of quarterback in the absence of DJ Horne due to injury, just blew like a wind to score a 60-yard rushing touchdown. Instead of a kick, Ponoka boys went for a two-point conversion after the TD and with surprisingly smooth execution, they added two more points to make the scoreboard show 14-8.

But the hopes were not to last long. Just before the end of the third, Drayton Valley scored another touchdown. The only consolation was that the Broncs defense did manage to block the kick after the score and held the visitors at 20. The last quarter was as plain as the first one and the game ended 20-8 for Drayton Valley.

Defensive coordinator Cody Baird said after the game that his team had played “for the love the of the game in Broncs tradition”, in reference to the lack of any realistic possibility to advance enough to take a shot at the championship.

Asked to assess the season, Baird said the team had seen continued progress in the course of the season. “We had our first win, as you know,” he said. “We have come the furthest we have been.”