If the senior Broncs football team played their whole game like they did the last two minutes against Camrose it would have been a resounding win.
The Broncs hosted the Camrose Trojans Oct. 13 showing little for points up until the last two minutes. There were moments of excellence during the game however, with big passes from quarterback Jared Bussiere, plus a few key running plays.
Coach Jamie Blinkhorn said with a smaller roster many of the players take on dual roles. And when someone gets injured, it creates further challenges during the game.
“When you’re short numbers it’s tough to keep going but the guys stayed with it and played hard,” said Blinkhorn.
Injuries did affect the Broncs this game with a few players taking big hits including Josh and Mathew Parent both having to limp off the field.
In the first half Broncs’ penalties managed to land them in a tough third-and-27 situation close to their own endzone. Enter Bussiere with a huge pass caught by Cameron Walsh that put the team in a first down. It wasn’t enough to secure a touchdown as the Trojans’ defense stepped in a halted any momentum.
Close to the end of the first half the Trojans were sitting in a decent points position with a 20-0 lead. They pushed the envelope in the last 37 seconds after a successful capture from an onside kick.
This put Camrose in potential scoring position and with a time out available the team managed to plan, and execute, plays that brought them ever closer to Ponoka’s end zone.
With .4 seconds left and yards to go, the Broncs managed to hold them from scoring.
The second half really belonged to Ponoka. The home team managed to hold the Trojans for most of the half until the fourth quarter when the opposition scored one touchdown. At this point the margin was 28-0 for Camrose.
In the last two minutes the Broncs came out of nowhere securing two relatively quick touchdowns, both by Bussiere. With little time left, the team just started to make plays.
“The game gets to a point where you really don’t have much to lose after that. The guys just relaxed a little,” said Blinkhorn.
The first touchdown came after an interception by Bussiere who ran the ball in. The team capitalized on the change to manage a two-point conversion. A short time later, with a solid drive down the field, Bussiere ran the ball in taking a huge hit by two Trojans players before finding a small pocket to score.
“Having a guy like him (Bussiere) in Grade 10 is pretty awesome because we’re pretty pumped to have him till Grade 12,” said Blinkhorn. “We’ve got lots of young guys so things are looking good in the future for sure.”
The Broncs couldn’t convert after their last touchdown leaving the final score 28-14. The Broncs next home game is Oct. 21 against Sylvan Lake.