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Broncos Score Late Touchdown To Beat Lakes, 14-6
 LAKE LINDEN, Mich.---It was an absolute war. One where every kid who played 48 minutes of high school football left everything on the field. In fact, every kid who played in this game ended up bringing quite a bit of the field home with him. The Bark River-Harris Broncos beat the Lake Linden-Hubbell Lakes on Saturday, 14-6, in an MHSAA Division Eight playoff game. The game was a defensive war all day long, played on a field that had a little bit of snow...and a whole bunch of mud.  The Broncos fell behind on Lake Linden's first series of the game, as Nic Walli ripped off a 43-yard touchdown run with 8:08 left in the first quarter. But Messersmith capped off a 65-yard drive with a four-yard touchdown run with 3:45 left in the quarter. Messersmith got his first interception off of a deflection, and the Broncos drove inside the Lakes' 20 yard-line in the second quarter. But three penalties and a sack ended up having BR-H turn the ball over on downs. The Lakes drove into BR-H territory from there, but Messersmith got his second interception to stop the LL-H drive. Bark River-Harris had plenty of scoring chances, but couldn't get that big play. The Broncos ended the second quarter at the Lakes' 25-yard line, with the half ending on an interception in the end zone. In the early part of the fourth quarter, BR-H had the ball at the Lake Linden 18 yard-line, but ended up turning it over on downs.  The Lakes constantly were playing from the shadow of their own goal post, and the Br0ncos caught a break when a bad snap sent the ball into the end zone on a LL-H punt. The kicker was able recover enough for a 30-yard punt, but it set the Broncos up for the game-winning drive. Messersmith, who had 141 yards rushing in the game, had several short runs against the tough LL-H defense. That moved the ball inside the ten yard-line, and then, on fourth-and-goal from the two, Mathias scored the winning touchdown. Quarterback Jordin Sodergren completed the two-point pass to Jake Greenfield. Lake Linden (7-3) was not done. With less than a minute to play, the Lakes moved inside the BR-H 35 yard-line. But Messersmith stepped in front of a long pass in the end zone for his third interception of the game, and the Broncos ran out the clock. Bark River-Harris (8-2) won its first playoff game since 2009, and followed last week's upset win over West Iron County with another quality win on Saturday. Next will be the Broncos' biggest challenge: powerhouse Crystal Falls Forest Park. The Broncos lost to the Trojans, 48-18, in the opening game of the regular season. Next Friday's playoff game in Crystal Falls starts at 7:00 ET/6:00 CT. Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box to see photos, courtesy of Bruce Messersmith.   |
| Date | Time | Opponent | Score | Record |
8/28 |
7:00 PM |
Forest Park Trojans
|
18 - 48 (L)
|
0-1
|
9/6 |
1:00 PM |
at Manistee Catholic Central
|
54 - 6 (W)
|
1-1
|
9/12 |
7:30 PM |
at Newberry Indians
|
38 - 14 (W)
|
2-1
|
9/19 |
7:00 PM |
Gwinn Model Towners
|
58 - 16 (W)
|
3-1
|
9/26 |
7:00 PM |
at North Dickinson Nordics
|
22 - 18 (W)
|
4-1
|
10/3 |
7:00 PM |
Stephenson Eagles
|
52 - 12 (W)
|
5-1
|
10/10 |
7:00 PM |
Munising Mustangs
|
0 - 42 (L)
|
5-2
|
10/17 |
7:00 PM |
North Central Jets
|
44 - 22 (W)
|
6-2
|
10/24 |
7:00 PM |
at West Iron County Wykons
|
8 - 6 (W)
|
7-2
|
11/1 |
1:00 PM |
at Lake Linden-Hubbell Lakes
|
14 - 6 (W)
|
8-2
|
11/7 |
7:00 PM |
at Forest Park Trojans
|
12 - 36 (L)
|
8-3
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