After last week’s loss to L.D. Bell the Broncos hoped to rebound against Summit. Despite an early 14-0 lead, the Broncos could not maintain it and ended up with a 21-16 loss. The players blame themselves for letting the same continuity problems occur for the second time in a row and mandate that the mistakes will be corrected in time for this week’s game against Plano.
“We didn’t lose to Summit we lost to Legacy,” outside linebacker Kendal Washington said. “We just keep beating ourselves over little mental errors and even though we came out blasting we couldn’t finish.”
The Bronco offense got off to a good start taking a two touchdown lead early in the second quarter. The first was a 15 yard rushing touchdown by running back Ian Simon and the second was a quarterback sneak by quarterback Quentin Hasten. Legacy’s defense had forced Summit to punt twice up to that point, and in desperation Summit decided to go for it on 4th down. Legacy’s defense held again and forced a turnover on the Jaguars. However, on Legacy’s next possession running back Denarius Landrum fumbled the ball which was recovered by Summit at the Legacy 25 yard line. Summit capitalized on their turnover when quarterback Xavier Williams ran it in from the 15 yard line to make the score 14-7 with 4:24 left in the 2nd quarter. Another fumble by Hasten would result in another Summit score. On 4th and 13, Williams connected with wide receiver Brendan Pegg who made a one handed catch in the end zone to tie the game 14-14 into halftime.
“Momentum can put you up and can put you down with your emotions,” Washington said. “When they fumbled back to back it put us back on the field tired and a little frustrated. Eventually they got their touchdowns.”
The Broncos drove the ball all the way to the Summit 13-yard-line. The drive was stalled by a dropped pass by wide receiver Trent Davis and Legacy was forced to settle for a field goal attempt. The kick was missed and Summit cashed in on the turnover. On another fourth down at the 28 yard line, Williams escaped pressure from the Legacy defensive line with a rollout and found wide receiver Donovan Ellis in the back corner of the end zone. The score put the Jaguars up 21-14. Washington expressed his disappointment in himself for the two touchdowns given up on fourth down.
“It felt like you did all you could and yet you still couldn’t get it done,” Washington said. “You get them into fourth and long both times and they end up getting a touchdown. It was very depressing but you have to hope that it won’t happen in the next game.”
With Legacy’s final drive, the Broncos were faced with a fourth and two at the 18 yard line. Quarterback, Decarlos Humphry ended up one yard shy on a QB boot and the Broncos turned the ball over. After an intentional safety by the Jaguars, the Broncos were given one last opportunity for a Hail Mary. Hasten was unable to get the ball off on the play, and the Broncos ended up losing the game 21-16. Although the loss was detrimental to team morale, both Washington and wide receiver Tyron Price say that the loss motivates them and that mistakes will be corrected next week. According to Price, the team is working on ball security and other fundamentals that the team was struggling on to make sure they’re ready for Plano this Thursday.
“We have a lot of good athletes,” Price said. “If we’re able to put it all together we should be able to beat anyone on our schedule.”
