Ritzville leaves Brewster out in the cold

RITZVILLE – Appropriately, the two-time state champion Lind-Ritzville/Sprague football team began defense of its championships with defense Friday.

And if the Broncos want to hang around in the postseason, they’ll need more of the same.

Lind-Ritzville/Sprague took advantage of two fumbles and rode the throwing and running combination of Cort Ruzicka and Jacob Saetre to a 27-18 win over the Brewster Bears in a State 2B first-round game in frigid conditions on a frozen field.

The Broncos (11-0), winners of 37 straight dating back to 2011, hit the road next week to face Waitsburg-Prescott (8-3), a 27-6 winner over Tonasket on Friday.

Leading 20-6 going into the third quarter, the Broncos took the opening possession and did what they did best offensively Friday – used ball control to take time off the clock and keep the ball from the Bears (10-2).

Twelve plays later, the left-handed Ruzicka hit a wide-open Matt Leffel on a 15-yard touchdown pass on fourth down, extending the lead to 27-6.

It was a beautifully executed play. LRS coach Greg Whitmore called timeout when he saw Brewster’s safety creeping over to Saetre’s side of the field. LRS had trips left and Saetre isolated.

“Cort saw the same thing,” Whitmore said. “He was mad at me for calling timeout. We told Jacob to run a fade route and for Cort to look him (the safety) off.”

Sure enough, Ruzicka faked right, freeing up Leffel for the TD reception.

Brewster scored later in the quarter to pull within 27-12, and the Bears didn’t score again until under a minute remained.

“I have to give a big shout out to our offensive line,” Ruzicka said. “It’s one of the best games they’ve played. They helped us run the ball and gave Jacob and I good pass protection, which helped a lot.”

The Broncos’ defense had to defend against talented Brewster quarterback Timbo Taylor.

Taylor completed just 17 of 49 passes for 227 yards – the bulk of the yards coming late.

“We got real good pressure on him and that helped our safeties and corners not to have to stay on their receivers as long,” Ruzicka said.

The Broncos played without starting running back Hugh Hennings, who suffered a concussion last week. Ruzicka and Saetre more than filled the void.

Ruzicka finished with 121 yards on 24 carries and Saetre had 86 on 15. They combined to complete 9 of 14 passes for 135 yards. Ruzicka had two TD passes, one to Saetre, and Saetre had a TD pass to Ruzicka.

“We want to make our own path,” said Ruzicka, a starter the past two years. “We came into the season with the pressure of a three-peat. “But it’s a new year and we had some kids trying to find their roles. We’re starting to find a path to where we want to be.”

“Our kids don’t panic, they keep playing and force the other team to finish their drives off,” Whitmore said. “I’m really proud of our kids under the conditions. That’s a good football team we beat.”