Ray Conner
Sports Editor

If you wanted excitement in a football game, the Kern Valley/Desert match up was a good one.

This game seemed to have everything. Big plays, tough defense, a last ditch effort and a goal line stand. Unfortunately for the Broncs, they ended up on the losing end of their High Desert League opener. The Scorpions were able to hold off Kern Valley in the end.

The Broncs were driving for the tying touchdown, but two questionable penalties thwarted the effort.

The Broncs were first and goal from the Scorpions one yard line when a flag was thrown for illegal procedure. Taking them back to the six-yard line.

A loss of three left them at the nine and then another questionable call put them back five yards to the the 14-yard line.

A gain of six put them back to the seven on a fourth and goal. An incomplete pass ended the game and gave the Scorpions the 28-21 win.

The Broncs opened the scoring on their first possession. They went 64 yards in six plays capped off by Kyler Emery scampering 11 yards for the touchdown.

The PAT was good by Logan Campbell and Kern Valley was ahead 7-0.

Desert answered two possessions later as they went 80 yards in five plays and with the two-point conversion they would take the lead 8-7.

Kern Valley answered as they drove 60 yards in seven plays to take back the lead. Tyler Gibson raced in from 19 yards out to give Kern Valley the lead once again. The PAT was good and the Broncs enjoyed a 14-8 margin.

Desert would score the next touchdown on a 49-yard scamper into the end zone and the two-point conversion was successful.

With the score 16-14, Desert tried and was successful in recovering an on-side kick.

They quickly went down the field and scored on an eight yard scoring toss. The PAT was no good leaving the score 22-14 in favor of the Scorpions.

Coming out for the second half, the Scorpions took the kick off back 85 yards to pay dirt and increased their lead to 28-14.

In the third and fourth quarter it was all Broncs as they dominated the second half on both sides of the ball. They would draw closer with a touchdown in the fourth quarter by Mark Eisenhauer. He went over from three yards out and with the PAT the Broncs trailed by seven at 28-21.

Kern Valley got the ball back as they stopped the Scorpions on a fourth and five play.

Taking over on the Desert 40-yard line they used just five plays to get to the one yard line where they would have help in self-destructing by the yellow hankies.

In the game the Broncs had a total of 353 yards of offense. They rushed for 288 and threw for 65.

Desert had a total of 284 yards in the game with 226 coming on the ground and 58 yards in the air.

Emery was the leading rusher for the Broncs with 107 yards on 15 carries.

Eisenhauer picked up 97 yards on 16 rushes, while Gibson gained 84 yards on 13 carries.

Emery was 8-of-14 passing for the 65 yards with one interception.

Eisenhauer hauled in four passes for 26 yards, while Mark Driskell had two catches for 14 yards.

Ethan Kennedy had one reception for 14 yards, while Tyler Kaplan had one catch for 11 yards.

Defensively, the Broncs were led by David Heitman with 10 tackles, including one and a half sacks. Kevin Rendon collected nine tackles, including half a sack, while Bo Hurley and Steven Powell each had seven tackles, including half a sack. Powell also pounced on a Desert fumble.

Warren Pappas had six tackles and a fumble recovery, while Driskell had six tackles. Scott Winslow recorded four tackles, while Kennedy and Gibson each had three tackles.

Daniel Bracken had two tackles, while Ronnie Grannan, Kaplan, Chad Hug, Campbell and Tommy Register each had one tackle in the game.

Head coach Ben Goffinet said, “We played fairly well in most aspects of the game. We were hurt by a couple of special team plays and penalties. I though we moved the ball well offensively and we defended well most of the game.”

He would go on to say, “Unfortunately, a few mistakes cost us at least two scores. We have to regroup and try to compensate in the next three games.”

Kern Valley will face off against the Bishop Broncos on Friday in another key HDL battle. The game will kick off at home at 7 p.m. This one could be scary, as it is Halloween Night.