Broncos run over Eveleth-Gilbert to give Boyle his first career victory
Even with the game in hand early, Jay Boyle didn’t grasp his first career victory until the closing minutes of a 48-22 win over Eveleth-Gilbert on homecoming.
“I’ll be honest, until the kids came up and congratulated me before we shook hands, I didn’t even think about it,” said the first-year head coach, noting — with a smile — it was a good win.
His players sure felt good for him.
“Extremely good,” said senior captain Tim Myles Jr., who led a two-pronged rushing attack that helped put up over 500 yards of offense against an overmatched Golden Bears squad.
Myles rushed 18 times for 210 yards and three scores and battery mate Brandon Richards carried 16 times for 238 yards and three scores. The Broncos piled up 532 yards on just 56 plays — all on the ground — averaging 9.5 yards a play.
“It was good blocking and it was really easy for Richards and I to score touchdowns,” Myles Jr. said.
Boyle and his coaching staff have been tweaking the offense since losing the opener to Virginia, and a lot of confidence was gained Friday, especially in the first half.
The Broncos scored on five of six drives and piled up 383 yards rushing on just 34 plays, for an average of 11.3 yards a play. Richards scored on touchdown runs of 80 and 6 yards and Myles scored on runs of 36, 31 and 18 yards.
“We’ve definitely made some adjustments, and I feel we have kids in positions right now with the greatest benefit to the team,” Boyle said.
The only time the Broncos didn’t score came with controversy. On second and goal from the 3 late in the first quarter, Broncos quarterback Ryan Tomevi reached the ball out while getting tackled on a run and appeared to break the plain of the goal line before the ground forced a loose ball. No whistles were blown, however, and Golden Bears senior Lee Birk picked the ball up on a hop and ran 101 yards for a touchdown. Tomevi would later say he was in and the ground forced the fumble.
But even after cutting the Broncos lead in half at 12-6, Eveleth-Gilbert (0-5) carried little momentum all night. They finished with six yards in the first half — 22 passing, -16 rushing — and had 24 yards on 29 plays before the Broncos started unloading their bench in the third quarter.
Golden Bears quarterback James Greiner finished 6 of 16 for 77 yards with a touchdown and an interception to Justin Ross. Shawn Johnson was the leader on the ground with 65 yards on 12 carries.
Boyle has broken down the season into two parts and after finishing the first part 0-3, his squad is 1-0 to open the second part.
“We just took our first step,” Boyle said. “Now we have to go to Proctor, fix the small errors and play Bronco football.”
The Broncos travel Friday to Proctor in a 7 p.m. contest.
I. Falls 48,
Eveleth-Gilbert 22
E-G 6 0 0 16—22
IF 12 20 16 0—48
First Quarter
IF — Myles Jr. 36 run (run failed), 2:14
IF — Richards 6 run (kick failed), 5:35
E-G — Birk 101 fumble return (kick failed), 10:59
Second Quarter
IF — Myles Jr. 31 run (kick failed), :46
IF — Richards 80 run (Myles Jr. run), 5:11
IF — Myles Jr. 18 run (kick failed), 11:12
Third Quarter
IF — Richards 56 run (Myles Jr. run), 2:50
IF — J. Myles 13 run (Steinbach run), 10:22
Fourth Quarter
E-G — Johnson 13 run (Greiner pass to Overly), 2:53
E-G — Wagner 35 pass from Greiner (Greiner run), 9:10
