Football Improves to 5-1 with its 28-9 victory over Briar Cliff
Hastings, NE ? The Hastings College football team started fast and then let its defense finish off the 28-9 win over Briar Cliff on Saturday afternoon on Lloyd Wilson Field.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 9 |
|
|
21 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 28 |
Team Stats
Briar Cliff (IA)
| Game Statistics | Briar Cliff (IA) | Hastings |
|---|---|---|
| Passing Yards | 165 | 180 |
| Rushing Yards | 24 | 208 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 2 |
| Time of Poss. | 24:41 | 35:19 |
Hastings, NE – The Hastings College football team started fast and then let its defense finish off the 28-9 win over Briar Cliff on Saturday afternoon on Lloyd Wilson Field.
Even though John Zamora was intercepted on his first pass of the game, it would be the ground game that would carry the load in this one.
After the Bronco defense would force a three and out on the Chargers next possession, BCU attempted to fake the punt on fourth and 14 but Ethan Wilborn hustled over to force Mikaele Hayes out of bounds short of the line to gain setting the offense in great field position.
After Zamora connected with Brett Simonsen for a four yard gain to the BCU 29, Simonsen picked up ten yards on the next two carries. Then Zamora connected with Toryian Tubbs for an eight yard gain to the Charger 11. Two plays later Simonsen carried the ball eight yards for the touchdown and the early 7-0 lead with 9:31 to play in the first quarter.
The Bronco offense would again get another short field when Koby stepped in front of the Luke Davies pass intercepting for his fourth interception of the year setting up the Broncos at the Charger 32. A few Zamora completions to Wilborn and Jaishawn Wright plus a few rushes from Simonsen and Antoine Murphy set the offense up with a second and goal at the six. Zamora did the rest carrying the ball into the end zone to make it 14-0 with 6:24 to go in the first quarter.
The Bronco defense would force the Chargers to punt and the Bronco offense would get pinned at its own five but a face mask got Hastings out of trouble and then Zamora found Garrett Esch wide open down the sideline as he took it to the house for the 76 yard touchdown and the 21-0 lead late in the first quarter.
From there, the offense slowed to a crawl but the defense would not budge getting two three and outs plus a Carlo Terrell interception as Hastings held its 21-0 lead into halftime.
Midway through the third quarter Hastings moved the ball 59 yards in eight plays as Simonsen capped off the drive with a nine yard run for the score and the 28-0 lead.
Briar Cliff countered on the next drive as Luke Davies found Spencer George for a 46 yard touchdown to make it 28-7 with 4:30 to play in the third quarter.
The Bronco defense would clamp down as BCU would only get two more points off a safety as Hastings won the game 28-9.
Simonsen finished one of his best days as a Bronco rushing for 137 yards on 33 carries and two touchdowns. He also collected five receptions for 43 yards. This is only the second time in his career to break 100 yards rushing in a game with the other time coming against Dordt back in 2019 where he rushed for a career high 146 yards.
Zamora finished his day going 17-for-27 for 180 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
Hastings finished the game with 388 yards of offense while the defense held the Chargers to just 189 yards of total offense. The Broncos also owned a 35:19 to 24:41 advantage in time of possession.
Harrison Udeh led the defense with seven total tackles, a sack and a tackle for loss. Caden Egr finished with six total tackles and two tackles for loss. Along with interceptions from Brandenburg and Terrell, Marcus Dustin collected his first interception of his career in the final minute of the game.
Hastings improves to 5-1 (4-1) on the year and will be back in action Saturday Oct. 8 hitting the road to take on No. 1 Morningside with kickoff set for 1:00 pm in Sioux City, IA.
