Hastings College football coach Matt Franzen took a broad view in his assessment of the Broncos’ loss to conference foe Midland University Saturday at Lloyd Wilson Field.
“I don’t know if we got beat, or if we just missed opportunities,” Franzen said about HC’s 24-9 loss in the Broncos’ home opener.
Probably both.
HC turned the ball over twice and made some silly penalties. But the most glaring mishap came late in the game. That’s when Broncos fumbled a punt return that the Warriors recovered at the HC 21 yard line.
Two plays later, Midland threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to ice the win.
HC opened the game by scoring the first points — a 31-yard field goal by Colton Willmott. But Midland forged a 10-3 halftime lead, thanks to a 36-yard field goal early in the second quarter, then a one-yard touchdown plunge 11 seconds before intermission.
The Broncos showed their passing skills when quarterback Jarrett Synek fired a 48-yard touchdown pass to Eli Nappe to cut Midland’s lead to 10-9 late in the third quarter. Those were the last Bronco points.
Midland kept rolling in the final period and produced a pair of TDs — a two-yard plunge by Tyson Denkert of Kenesaw, and a 16-yard aerial from quarterback Brodey Johnson to Kevin Adams.
Coming into Saturday’s contest, the two GPAC teams seemed evenly matched. But Midland took advantage of Hastings mistakes, Franzen said. And that cost the Broncos in the form of a loss to even their record to 1-1.
“In the critical moments, Midland executed when we made mistakes,” Franzen said. “In a lot of games it comes down to the team that makes the fewest mistakes. In the fourth quarter Midland made the fewest.”
In light of Saturday’s defeat, did the Broncos show improvements from week one to week two?
“If our guys look at it the right way, I think so,” Franzen said. “I think we fixed some things from a week ago. Offensively, our execution was better on the perimeter. “Defensively we did some good things, too.”
Franzen is concerned about the health of Synek, who took big hits from the Midland defense.
“I am worried about our quarterback. If he’s not playing next week, I can’t honestly say we took a big step forward,” Franzen said.
Synek closed by completing 15 0f 26 passes for 209 yards, including his 48-yard TD pass to Nappe. He threw only five balls in the first half, including an interception in his aerial.
“Our passing was more in sync, in tune. But (Synek) took a lot of big shots. He’s pretty banged up coming out of this game, Franzen said. “It was good to see Jarrett get the ball down the field and get some big plays. The passing game was better than it was a week ago,”
Jake Bargen topped all HC pass catchers with six catches for 75 yards. Nappe earned three receptions for 56 yards.
Running the ball became a difficult task for HC. The Broncos rushed for just 63 yards on 27 carries. Dalton Armbrust and Kaiden Merryman ran for 40 yards and 24 yards, respectively.
“This Midland defense, I think by the end of the season or throughout the season, just watch what these guys do. They are salty at all levels. They are fast. They are athletic. They rush the quarterback,” Franzen said.
Denkert led the Midland ground game with 94 yards on 23 totes. His longest run was 31 yards.
“Tyson Denkert is one of the best players in the conference. He had a good day. He didn’t gash us up and down the field. But he was steady and consistent.” Franzen said.
Midland (1-1)...........0 10 0 14 — 24
Hastings (1-1)................3 0 6 0 — 9
First Quarter
H — Colton Willmott 31 field goal
Second Quarter
M — Payden Alexander 36 field goal
M — Brodey Johnson 1 run (Alexander kick)
Third Quarter
H — Eli Nappe 48 pass from Jarrette Synek (kick fail)
Fourth Quarter
M — Tyson Denkert 2 run (Alexander kick)
M — Kevin Adams 16 pass from Johnson (Alexander kick)
M H
First Downs 18 14
Rushes-Yards 42-140 27-63
Passing Yards 127 210
Att-Comp-Int 25-15-0 28-16-1
Total Yards 267 273
Punts — Avg. 5-40.4 5-37.4
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-1
Penalties-Yards 5-51 5-61
Possession Time 31:09 28:51
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
PASSING — M, Zach Congalton 3-3-0 32, Johnson 12-22-0 95. H, Carson Kudlacek 1-1-0 1, Synek 15-26-1 209.
RUSHING — M, Congalton 5-18, Isaiah Tucker 8-18, Johnson 5-10, Denkert 23-94, Kam Lewis-Stall 1-0. H, Kudlacek 1-(-1), Synek 6-(-13), Dalton Armbrust 9-40, Kaiden Merryman 10-24, Quaesean Hill 1-13.
RECEIVING — M, T.J. Covington 4-49, Tucker 1-8, Tim Brown 6-26, Adams 1-16, Colin Vigil 1-10, Preston William 1-1, Brodie Anderson 1-8. H, Jake Bargen 6-75, Eli Nappe 3-56, Armbrust 1-1, Damien Jenkins 1–20, Hill 4-53.
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