By Dale Cory
“It was a weekend for the Broncs defence to shine — and they did,” said excited head football coach Scott MacGregor. “We turned the ball over seven times, but the defence kept getting the ball back for us. They held us in the games.”
It took them a while coming out of the gate.
But the Ponoka Composite High School Broncs, who dropped their first two games of the season, are in full gallop toward a playoff spot in the Western Alberta Six-man Football League.
The Broncs made the long trip north to Fort McMurray last weekend and came away with a pair of wins, giving them a 4-2 record with two games remaining on the schedule.
“The come-from-behind win in Hinton showed a lot of character, and really catapulted our confidence level,” said MacGregor. “The biggest thing in football is confidence and momentum swings, and we’ve controlled the momentum in all four quarters in all four wins. There has been very little time where we’ve lost focus, and I’m proud of that.”
Winning back-to-back football games on the road is reason to celebrate. Winning twice in a span of 14 hours may have had a few of the linemen sucking back pain killers come Sunday morning.
Ponoka opened the weekend Friday night against the Westwood Trojans. The Broncs came away with a 49-26 victory to run their winning streak to three games.
That game finished at around 10 p.m.
By 10 the next morning, the Broncs were back on the field to face the Fort McMurray Composite Miners — and completed the weekend sweep by recording a 41-33 victory.
“That is not an easy task for the game of football,” said defensive coach Brady Teeling of the two games Ponoka played in less than 14 hours. “The players showed great stamina — and by the fourth quarter of game 2, showed the heart to pick it up and stay with it for the victory.”
The Ponoka Broncs are a running team, with Zak Louis scoring 11 touchdowns along the ground through the first four games.
But in Fort McMurray, the Broncs got their passing attack in gear.
“We were three for three on pass completions against the Trojans. We got big yards on all three, and I’m looking to throw the ball more as the season progresses,” added MacGregor. “We will work on our passing game against Sedgewick. I plan on throwing the ball a ton.”
Next up… The Broncs travel to Sedgewick Oct. 22, and play their final regular season game against Victory Christian Crimson Knights of Edmonton Thursday, Oct. 28 at PCHS.