Bronson football blanked in loss to Buchanan
BRONSON – The Bronson Vikings dropped a non-conference football clash with the Buchanan Bucks in a special edition of Thursday night football, falling by the score of 27-0.
The teams met on a rare Thursday night as the availability of quality officials proved to be a grave concern, forcing the teams to move their scheduled meeting up one day.
Bronson’s offensive struggles continue
Outside of two games early in the season, Bronson has struggled on the offensive side of the ball, both in moving the ball and finding the endzone.
The two games that were not a struggle for the Vikings came in a 40-12 win over Prairie Heights in the season opener, followed by a 34-8 win over rival Quincy in week three, two games that saw the Vikings power run game dominate the day. Besides those 74 points scored, the Vikings have only been able to muster 52 points over five games, an average of 10.4 points a contest.
Thursday night, Bronson had trouble once again moving the ball, only managing 122 yards of total offense, including 117 on the ground and five through the air. On the flip side, Buchanan had a big night on the ground, racking up 272 yards and 317 of total offense.
Bronson also struggled on third down, only converting 4 of 15 attempts, in addition to converting 2 of 5 on fourth down.
While Bronson’s vaunted run game featuring Seth Withington, Carson Norton, Spencer Losinski and Collin York put together several solid runs, the team was unable to really sustain any long drives much of the night.
Penalties prove to be a drive killer
Bronson’s best chance at finding the endzone came late in the third quarter when it appeared as though a Losinski pass was completed to Stevie Wilson, who took the ball all the way down to inside the 5-yard line. The play was negated by an illegal formation, however, and one play later a bad snap sailed over the quarterback’s head to force a third and long.
Another penalty on the Vikings pushed them back even further, meaning what should have been a first and goal from the 3-yard line was suddenly a third down and 35 from near midfield. The Vikings would end up having to punt as their best scoring chance was derailed by a series of unfortunate events.
Defense is a work in progress
The Bronson defense had some big moments on the evening, getting some big stops on third down to end several drives, while also creating one turnover when Carson Norton intercepted a Jake Franklin pass near midfield.
The biggest thorn in the side of the Viking defense came on the ground, where the Buchanan duo of Nichoals Finn and Leland Payne each eclipsed 100 yards while also scoring on a few big plays.
Finn started the scoring for Buchanan with an early touchdown via the passing game, hauling in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Franklin to make it 6-0 in the first quarter. Finn would later score on a shifty 18-yard run in the third quarter, to push the Bucks lead to three scores.
Payne pushed the Bucks 6-0 halftime lead to two scores with a speedy 31-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter, extending the Buchanan lead to 14-0.
After Finn’s touchdown pushed the lead to 21-0, the Bucks finished off their scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run by Franklin to find the final score of 27-0.
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Stat Leaders
Stats for Bronson were not made available at the time this article was written. Stats will be added online when they become available.
Buchanan was led by Nicholas Finn who had 18 carries for 142 yards and one touchdown to go along with two catches for 26 yards and a score. Leland Payne added 12 carries for 121 yards and a score.
Up Next
Bronson will look to finish bounce back from the loss with a road trip to Sand Creek next Friday.
Buchanan will be back in action next Friday when they face off with Dowagiac.
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Bronson football falls to Buchanan in non-conference clash
