A three-game winning streak and the season came to an abrupt end for the International Falls football team on Saturday afternoon when the Broncos lost their Section 7AAA semifinal game at Proctor, 27-6.
The Falls, seeded No. 4 in the Section, ended the season at 3-7, while the top-seeded Rails improved to 8-1 and advanced to Thursday’s 7AAA championship game against No. 2-seeded Esko at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
The Broncos drove deep into Proctor territory twice early in the first quarter when both drives ended on interceptions thrown by Falls senior quarterback Gunner Anderson, who threw four interceptions for the game.
Proctor scored first when its only touchdown of the first half came with 3:29 to play in the first quarter. The Rails faced fourth down with inches to go for a first down near midfield when Proctor’s Alex Greene ran into the end zone. Jack Nikko’s extra point extended the Rails’ lead to 7-0.
Proctor squibbed the ensuing kickoff and recovered it to stay on offense. The Rails threatened to take a two-touchdown lead when they got within two yards from the end zone, but they then were backed up by three penalties for five yards each and ended up with a missed field goal attempt by Nikko.
“It was a tough first half for us, but even with having some issues on defense, we still only gave up seven points,” said Broncos head coach Jay Boyle. “But in the second half, (the Rails) were able to come out and make some adjustments and capitalize on some errors that we were making, and that’s just the way the ball game went.”
Proctor opened the second half by scoring two touchdowns in the first 4 minutes. A long run by Nikko set up a 3-yard plunge into the end zone by Greene, followed by Jimmy Merling scoring the first of his two touchdowns.
Merling added another rushing touchdown from 13 yards away with 19.2 seconds left in the third quarter. Proctor’s lead remained at 27-0 when the extra point failed.
“The biggest thing was they would score, and they have a very good special teams, and they were able to get the ball back in good field position multiple times...,” Boyle said. “Our kids played tough. I’m proud of the effort that they gave. Proctor’s a good football team.”
The Rails rushed for 400 yards, which also accounted for all of their offensive yardage, compared to 191 rushing yards and 264 yards of total offense for the Falls.
The Broncos’ only touchdown came with 4:10 left in the game when senior running back Nick Janttie ran wide and found the end zone from 55 yards away. The score remained 27-6 when the Broncos’ pass for the two-point conversion failed.
Janttie’s touchdown run was almost half of his 115 yards rushing on 18 carries.
All three of Anderson’s pass completions for 73 yards in 13 attempts were caught by sophomore end Ben Humbert, whose longest catch went for 51 yards.
Along with the Section semifinal concluding the 2012 season for the Broncos, they will be losing eight seniors next year due to graduation.
“There’s definitely going to be a lot of tough players and a lot of heart that’s going to have to be replaced,” Boyle said. “But we’ve got younger guys that are going to be ready to step up, and the biggest thing is these seniors have helped us turn a corner.
“Winning three games at the end of the season was huge, and it’s something that’s going to carry us into next year and the rest of Bronco football.”
I. Falls 0 0 0 6 — 6
Proctor 7 0 20 0 — 27
Scoring: IF: Nick Janttie, 55-yard run (pass failed).
Team statistics: IF: 191 yards rushing, 73 passing, 264 total. P: 400 yards rushing, 0 passing, 400 total.
Rushing: IF: Nick Janttie, 18-115, 1 TD; Gunnar Anderson, 7-41; Jakob Ettestad, 5-22; Ben Humbert, 1-14; Wyatt Helgeson, 1-0; Nehemiah Olson, 2-0; Lane Skallman, 1-(-1).
Receiving: IF: Humbert, 3-73.
