Broncos storm back onto the football field after bye week for seventh straight win

The San Juan Broncos hadn’t been on a football field for an actual game in two weeks when they headed to Castle Dale this past Friday, October 9 to take on 2A South Region foe Emery. Needless to say, they were chomping at the bit to get back to action.

Before the game got underway San Juan Head Coach Barkley Christensen said he wanted to see his team to “show how bad they missed it and fire out of a cannon.” He also said “execution” was the main key after the week off.

The team absolutely did not disappoint him in their first game back after their bye week.

To begin the game the Spartans wisely elected to receive the ball when they won the coin toss. San Juan is notorious for receiving the opening kickoff in nearly all of their games and quickly getting on the scoreboard to establish momentum.

So Emery wanted to take a page out of the Broncos’ playbook, and for the first few minutes of the game it was working. Beginning at their own 20 after a game-opening touchback the Spartans took the next five minutes to methodically drive to the San Juan 37.

But on third down Emery quarterback Ajay Thomas was hit as he threw by Bronco defensive tackle Landon Turk. The pass was intercepted by Randall Black at the San Juan 26 and he returned it back to the 39.

San Juan used the momentum to completely flip the game on its head. They scored the opening touchdown just four plays and 1:25 later on a 26-yard pass from Beau Yeomans to Miken Keith.

Yeomans actually hit Keith behind the line of scrimmage on a comeback pattern at the 28 and Keith ran the ball all the way into the end zone. One play prior to the touchdown the two had connected for a 31-yard completion that set the offense up on the Emery 26.

Following the first score of the game the Broncos continued to seize control. They went on to absolutely dominate the first half, scoring two more touchdowns in the first quarter and three in the second, all while holding Emery scoreless with just 128 yards of total offense.

Bronco senior Luke Jeppeson added point-after kicks on all those touchdowns and San Juan led the Spartans 42-0 at halftime. One of the highlights in the first half came three minutes into the second quarter when Brigg Palmer ran the ball off left tackle, then weaved his way through the Emery defense to the right edge and proceeded to streak down the sideline for a 90-yard touchdown run.

With the clock running to start the second half San Juan received the opening kickoff and picked up right where they left off. Two minutes into the frame Palmer took another handoff from Yeomans and ran to the right side, slipping a tackle and running over an Emery linebacker on his way to a 50-yard touchdown run.

With the Broncos up by 49 points the game was set to end after three quarters due to the new 44-point mercy rule implemented in Utah this season. But Emery took a step toward prolonging the game when they finally got on the board midway through the third quarter.

San Juan erased Emery’s excitement immediately however when Miken Keith took the ensuing kickoff at his own nine, faked a reverse handoff to Brigg Palmer, and ran the ball 91 yards down the left sideline to the house, making the score 55-7.

On their next possession the Spartans drove all the way down to the San Juan six, but the Broncos stood strong for a defensive stop, bringing the game to an end at the end of three quarters.

San Juan was nearly unstoppable in their first game back after a week off, and the offense picked up right where they left off. Beau Yeomans completed nine of his 11 pass attempts for 252 yards and five touchdowns.

His main target on the night was Andrew Nielson who had four catches for 128 yards and his first two receiving touchdowns of the season. He caught a 70-yard touchdown pass midway through the second quarter that he also caught on a comeback pattern and ran the full distance to the end zone.

Miken Keith finished the game with two catches for 57 yards and a touchdown. Kooper Laws had two receptions for 41 yards and his first TD of the season. And Randall Black caught one pass for a 26-yard touchdown.

The running game against Emery was all Brigg Palmer all the time. He had ten carries for exactly 200 yards. That included his 90-yard and 50-yard touchdown runs.

And Luke Jeppesen was outstanding again, going 7-for-8 in the extra point category. He’s now 33-for-41 on the season and is the team’s fifth-leading scorer with 36 points.

Thomas Hardin led the Bronco defense against Emery with nine tackles, two of which were for loss. Cameron Adair had eight tackles and three for loss. Jayce Raisor collected seven tackles on the night and Kooper Laws had six.

San Juan came into the game with just three quarterback sacks on the season, but they sacked Ajay Thomas six times this past Friday. Hardin led the way with two. Brigg Palmer, Adair, Landon Turk, and Pearce Holliday all had one apiece.

With the win San Juan improved to 7-1 on the season. They continue to sit in the #1 spot in the 2A standings with just one game remaining in the regular season.

The Broncos return home to host #6 South Sevier this Thursday, October 15. The Rams are 3-5 on the season but they’re coming off back-to-back wins over Emery and Rich.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. You can watch all the action live starting at 6:30 on StreamUtah.Live with the radio broadcast on Redrock 92.