Defense plays lights out, offense sluggish with QB competition
By Tim Wester
Sports Correspondent
To be blunt, the first offensive play of the season for the Union Grove football team couldn’t have been much worse.
The Broncos lost a fumble that was recovered by visiting Greenfield near midfield, leaving the excited home crowd in stunned silence.
Fortunately for Union Grove, it took just three more plays to turn the game around.
Bronco linebacker Keith Storm-Voltz recovered a Greenfield fumble at the Broncos’ 25 and scampered 75 yards for a touchdown. Storm-Voltz’s score coupled with Jacob Ross’ 25-yard touchdown catch from Luke Nelson later in the first quarter propelled the Broncos to a 14-2 victory in a non-conference opener Friday, August 18.
“We’ll definitely take the victory,” Union Grove coach Craig McClelland said. “We didn’t play up to our potential offensively, but our defense played lights out.”
The Bronco defense was indeed dominant, holding Greenfield’s offense scoreless, and surrendering just 246 total yards.
“Our guys were flying around the ball all night,” McClelland said. “We expected our defense to lead the way for us and the unit did just that.”
A strong defensive effort was just what the Grove offense needed after the unit struggled for most of the game.
Ross provided the lone offensive score with a 25-yard touchdown catch on a bubble screen pass from Nelson.
“With Ross’ speed, he only had to make one guy miss and he was gone,” McClelland said.
Nelson, who got the starting nod, shared time with senior Alec Spang. The duo will share snaps again tonight against Racine St. Catherine’s. Both quarterbacks look to improve their performances after combining to complete 4-of-10 passes for just 44 yards. The Grove managed just 114 total yards overall, and had two touchdowns called back because of penalties.
“The plan is for both guys to each get possessions tonight as well,” McClelland said. “But after that, we want to name a starter for the start of the conference season because it’s hard for guys to get a feel for the game when you are rotating possessions. We just need one of the guys to step up and take the job.”
The Hustlin’ Hawks eventually took advantage of the sluggish Bronco offense, sacking Spang in the end zone for a safety late in the third quarter.
But that was as close as Greenfield would get as the Broncos defense continued their dominance for the rest of the second half.
“Our defense certainly looked good, but our offense was rusty,” McClelland said. “After we got a touchdown early, our offense sputtered and we had two touchdowns called back.”
The Broncos look to crank up the offense tonight when they battle Racine St Cat’s at Racine Case High School. The Angels, behind standout quarterback Da’Shaun Brown’s two touchdowns, pummeled Cudahy 53-14 last week.
“Racine St Cats is bigger than they usually are and are very quick,” McClelland said. “Brown had close to 40 touchdowns last year and is a really good athlete in space and has a good arm with has plenty weapons to throw to, so it’s going to be a good test for us. We have some good athletes, but it’s going to be hard to matchup with them.
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