Football: Oredockers shutout Broncos

The goose, which landed on the field during play in the third quarter and stuck around for a few minutes, got the biggest ovation by the International Falls crowd in the second half.

“Obviously, things didn’t come out as well as we liked,” said Broncos head coach Jay Boyle.

Ashland came in wanting to run the ball and they averaged over 5 yards a carry, finishing with 237 yards on 43 carries. They also finished 6 of 7 passing with 146 yards.

International Falls ran for 84 yards and passed for only 21.

“They definitely have a lot of size on their team and they have some very good athletes,” Boyle said. “They were a very good football team.”

After punting on the opening possession, the Broncos forced a punt from the Oredockers. However, Boyle accepted a 5-yard illegal motion penalty on the punt — forcing the visitors to kick it again — and punter C.J. Smith hit receiver Brad Dufek for 23 yards on fourth and 18.

“I just got an attitude,” Ashland coach Clay North said, noting he wasn’t a fan of having to punt it again.

“I just made a gut call and we’ve been practicing (that play) all year long.”

Boyle admitted he wasn’t surprised by the fake, but poor execution led to the conversion.

“It’s not the first time they’ve tried that,” Boyle said. “We’re used to that type of play from Ashland. We didn’t get the coverage we were looking for. It was a very good catch the kid made.”

The play awoke a sleeping giant.

The Oredockers capped their opening drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by Tad Bretting. They scored on their next three possessions and held the Broncos to a punt, a turnover on downs and an interception to close the first half with a 28-0 lead.

The big blow came immediately after taking a 21-0 lead. Broncos kick returner Chris Steinbach fumbled the ensuing kickoff and the Oredockers recovered at the 4-yard line. One play later, Taylor Stibbe ran it in for a four-score lead.

The Oredockers (4-1) made it 35-0 after Stibbe scored again from 20 yards out on the opening possession of the second half.

The goose arrived with 7:45 to play in the third quarter. The fourth quarter was played with running time.

“I was just happy they were a little nicked up,” North said. “They played us tough.”

The Broncos were without senior captain Tim Myles, who was out with a back injury. They also lost Philip Ruelle in the third quarter to an apparent leg injury. He was helped off the field. Myles said he will definitely be back for this week’s homecoming contest against Eveleth-Gilbert.

“Every game we have not taken a step back,” Boyle said. “We continue to get better and hopefully we can put everything together for homecoming.”

Brandon Richards led the Broncos with 97 yards on 16 carries, including a 50-yard run late in the first quarter. No other Bronco finished with over 11 yards on the ground. Quarterback Ryan Tomevi finished 3 of 10 for 21 yards and two interceptions.

Bretting led the Oredockers’ ground attack with 93 yards on 13 carries and Stibbe had 65 yards on 12 carries. Habas finished 4 of 5 with 105 yards.

The Broncos (0-3) play the Golden Bears (0-3) on Friday at 7 p.m.

A 14 14 10 0—38

IF 0 0 0 0—0

First Quarter

A — Tad Bretting 1 run (Cody Anderson kick), 7:29

A — C.J. Smith 38 pass from Reggie Habas (Anderson kick), 10:38

Second Quarter

A — Brad Dufek 41 pass from Habas (Anderson kick), 6:46

A — Taylor Stibbe 4 run (Anderson kick), 6:58

Third Quarter

A — Stibbe 21 run (Anderson kick), 2:48

A — Anderson 32 field goal, 10:10

Individual Statistics

Rushing — A: T.Bretting 13-93, Stibbe 12-65, Hudson 3-27, B.Bretting 6-25, Habas 4-19, Hudack 3-12, Gleeson 1-(-7). IF: Richards 16-97, Zawchenuk 2-11, Ross 1-3, Gunnerson 1-1, Steinbach 3-1, Janttie 2-(-2), Tomevi 6-(-26).

Passing — A: Habas 4-5-105, Smith 1-1-23-0, Gleeson 1-1-17-0. IF: Tomevi 3-10-21-2.

Receiving — A: Dufek 3-82, Smith 1-38, B.Bretting 1-17, Stibbe 1-8. IF: S. Filipiak 1-13, Richards 2-8.