Broncos open district with Anton win, 73-48

Meadow football is still winning - and now it counts.

Now 5-1, the Broncos opened their district season Friday in Anton with a 73-48 comeback win, and are anticipating three more victories before they accept their trophy.

Things didn’t look great from the beginning, though, after the Bulldogs ran two straight touchdowns that the scoreless Broncos could barely defend.

"The first quarter to half we played horrible,” said head coach Kent Allison. "We were acting like we weren’t interested in being there. We couldn’t stop their running game for a while.”

The Broncos finally made it to their own end zone a few times, matching the Bulldogs touchdown for touchdown. A 50-yard touchdown run finally gave them a lead just before halftime, at 37-34.

But after star running back Andrew Flores suffered an injury, sub Zach England unfortunately soon suffered the same fate. Determined to keep fighting while their injured teammates remained in their prayers, Evan Esparza rushed a touchdown and varsity newcomer Jonathan Flores had some good runs. Ironically, having some top players out actually seemed to help their game because of the wake-up call it provided, according to the coach.

"Then we had a sense of urgency and a little guilt because the way we played was the reason we got hurt,” Allison said. "We had lots of kids step up - they had to. These guys overcame it.”

By midway into the third quarter, the Broncos were no longer just barely ahead. They ran to their end zone again and again - and landed one touchdown pass, from Brandon Flores to Alan Estrada - while their hosting team only scored twice the entire second half.

Next Friday, the Broncos will be back at home for their most highly-anticipated game of the season, Round 2 of district against longtime rivals Ropes. For a preview of their match against the Eagles and stats from the Anton game, see Wednesday’s issue of the News.