By Wade Linville
The Brown County Press
In a battle for this year’s Southern Buckeye Conference American Division title, it was the Western Brown Broncos playing host to the New Richmond Lions in week seven on the gridiron. It’s always an exciting bout when the two SBC rivals meet on the field of battle and the Oct. 10 contest was no exception.
After trailing by two at halftime, it was the Broncos rallying in the second half to pull off a narrow 24-21 victory to remain unbeaten on the season by upping their overall record to 7-0 and rise to a 1-0 record in league play.
Rainy, wet conditions made execution difficult for both offenses and the Broncos —who typically rely on their air attack for quick scores — were forced to look to their ground game more often than they have in prior games this season.
As for the Lions, they relied heavily on the rushing game of senior running back Tyler Anderson with hopes of spoiling Homecoming night for the Broncos.
The Broncos drew first blood in the week seven battle, as junior quarterback Chaiten Tomlin topped off a drive with a touchdown carry with 1:43 remaining in the first quarter. Following the unsuccessful kick for the extra point, the Broncos held a 6-0 lead at the end of the first period.
The Broncos upped their lead to 12-0 with Tomlin capping off a drive with a short run to pay dirt with 1:53 to go before halftime break, but the two-score cushion wouldn’t last through the first half of play.
The Lions put together a drive late in the second period that ended with a short touchdown carry by Anderson. Following the successful kick for the extra point, the Lions had cut the Bronco lead to 12-7 with 57 seconds remaining in the half.
In their final possession of the first half, the Bronco offense quickly cruised into Lion territory to find itself working just beyond the New Richmond 20-yard line with less than a minute to go.
From there, Tomlin received the snap, but would struggle to maintain a grip on the wet pigskin and New Richmond’s junior defensive lineman Brian Waddle recovered a Tomlin fumble. Waddle would cruise 70 yards down the field with time running out to score the final touchdown of the first half.
With the successful kick for the extra point, the Lions held a 14-12 lead at halftime.
Coming off the halftime break, the Broncos took little time to reclaim the lead with senior wide receiver Christian Dawson hauling in a pass for a touchdown and junior Eean Hornung rushing for a touchdown. Before the third quarter came to a close, it was the Broncos rising to a 24-14 lead.
The Lion defense held the Broncos scoreless in the fourth period, while a touchdown by Anderson and a successful kick for the point after sliced the Bronco lead to 24-21.
The Lions found themselves with a chance to win the game on fourth down inside their own 20 yard line. However, a dropped pass by Miles Burnam on a long throw from Anderson that would have most likely resulted in a New Richmond touchdown instead became a turnover on downs.
The Broncos would take the final possession of the night, allowing the remaining seconds to run off the clock after the Lions used their final timeout to pull off a narrow 24-21 victory.
The Broncos racked up 486 yards of total offense compared to the Lions’ 176 yards of total offense. 200 of the Broncos’ yards came from their air attack, while they recorded a total of 286 yards on the ground.
Anderson led Lion ball carriers with a total of 141 rushing yards on 35 carries. He scored two touchdowns.
The Lions dropped to an overall record of 4-3 and 1-1 in league play with the week seven loss at Western Brown. New Richmond will host Goshen on Friday, Oct. 17 with kick off slated for 7 p.m.