By Tina Kitt

The Wauneta Breeze

Wauneta-Palisade Football Coach Roger Lauhead noted last week that the Callaway Bears defense was one of the best in the district.

That aspect of the game proved decisive Friday night with the Callaway defense capitalizing on two safeties to gain a 4-point advantage over the Broncs en route to a 12-8 victory, putting a damper on Wauneta-Palisade’s homecoming.

The Callaway defense held the Broncos to 102 yard rushing and 29 yards passing for 131 yards of total offense while the Bears racked up 242 yards total offense.

With the loss the Broncs’ record falls to 3-4 on the season and 0-4 in the D1-District 9 standings. Callaway is now 4-3 on the season and 3-1 in district play.

The Bronco starting lineup taking to the field in their last home game of the season included Johnathon Brougham, Bo Fanning, John Kitt, Adam Simpson, Myles West, Luke McCrumb, Ryan Fischer and Brandon O’Neil.

Callaway out to an early lead

Callaway put their opening marks on the scoreboard early in the contest with a safety. They took the 2-0 lead after a high Bronco snap on a punt attempt on the WP 15-yard line sailed over the punter’s hands into the end zone barely a minute into the game.

Callaway launched their ensuing series from the Bronco 37-yard line, using five plays to work the ball in for a touchdown and PAT run to lead 10-0 with 9:20 left in the first quarter.

Later in the opening quarter Wauneta-Palisade capitalized on a Callaway fumble, with Colby Skelton recovering the ball for the Broncs on Callaway’s 27-yard line.

On a second-and-10 from the Bears’ 15-yard line, Myles West fired off a pass to Skelton as the Callaway defense was dragging West to the ground, putting the Broncs inside the Bears’ red zone.

O’Neil pushed the ball forward on a 5-yard rush, carrying a pack of Bears with him for the first down. On a first-and-goal play the Bronco offensive line plowed an opening for O’Neil for a 3-yard TD run. O’Neil followed up with a PAT run to bring the Broncs within two points at 10-8.

Defensive face-off

It was a battle for defensive domination throughout the last three quarters of the game. The Broncs trailed by a slim two points at the end of the first half and throughout much of the third quarter.

Midway through the third quarter the Bears worked their way to the Bronco 11-yard line when a fierce effort by the Bronco defense denied the Bears, with the Broncs taking over on downs on their own 11-yard line.

Later in the quarter Callaway took possession of the ball on the Bronco 16-yard line after blocking a punt. Once again the Bronco defense stepped up to deny the Bears, with M. West and Fischer sacking the quarterback for a 9-yard loss and Reese West pulling down an interception in the end zone for a Bronco touchback.

A subsequent holding penalty against the Broncs pushed them back to their own 7-yard line. With the Callaway defensive in full blitz mode, Reese West, taking over at quarterback as Myles West went to I-back, was sacked in the Bronco end zone, giving Callaway two points on the safety and a 12-8 lead with 1:31 left in the third quarter.

The Broncs kept the Bears from widening their lead, holding them out of the end zone on a first-and-goal series midway through the fourth quarter and later on a series inside the Bronco 20 yard-line for a final score of 12-8.

Lauhead was pleased with his team’s defensive effort against the Bears who just three weeks earlier posted a 24-20 win over Elwood. 

Offensively, however, Lauhead said his team is struggling to regain the rhythm, flow and intensity that had the team clicking earlier.

Stat leaders

O’Neil led the Broncs in rushing with 46 yards, including one touchdown and one PAT. Simpson had 31 yards rushing and led in receiving with 16 yards on two catches. Myles West had 25 yards rushing led in passing with 29 yards on four connections. Skelton was the second leading receiver with 13 yards on two catches.

Simpson led the team in tackles with 30 total tackles including 20 unassisted tackles and 10 assisted. M. West and Fanning had 12 tackles each and O’Neil had 10 tackles.