HOLLY POND, Ala. – The Holly Pond Broncos were back home to cap off homecoming week Friday night and they celebrated the occasion with a dominant, 50-14 performance against Gaston to collect their first win of the season.
The Bulldogs received the opening kickoff, but a strong Holly Pond defense shut Gaston down. Facing third down, quarterback Easton Albert dropped back to pass only to be sacked by Holly Pond’s Jackson Miller. The Bulldogs were forced to punt but Cade Allbright burst through the line to block it and give the Broncos great field position at the 36.
Sawyer Olinger got the Broncos down to the 8-yard line and Jayden Holloway finished the drive in the end zone to give Holly Pond a 6-0 lead with 9:06 to play in the first. Gaston started its next possession on its own 35 but on first down, the ball sailed over Albert’s head and Miller tackled him for a big loss at the Bulldog 11. The Bulldogs punted the ball away, but a Broncos fumble gave the ball back to Gaston at the Bronco 20.
The Bulldogs drove the ball down to the Bronco 4-yard line but on third down, a Bulldogs fumble was recovered by Lucus Carlisle recovers and gave the ball back to the Broncos.
Holly Pond’s running game was hitting on all cylinders with Olinger, Boston Gibbs and Brody Howard all carrying the ball. They drove the ball down to Bulldog 23 where Olinger called his own number and ran it in for the touchdown. The two-point conversion attempt was good and with 1:27 left in the first quarter, Holly Pond led 14-0.
The Bronco defense, led by Gibbs, stepped up big time early in the second quarter, forcing the Bulldogs to punt again.
This time the Broncos started on their own 31. Holloway, Gibbs and Howard each carried the ball for Holly Pond, moving the Broncos down to the Bulldog 37. Olinger caught the Bulldogs napping and expecting a run and he found a wide-open Fox Westall running down the left side for a 37-yard touchdown. Gibbs tacked on the two-point conversion and with 9:25 left in the first half, Holly Pond held a 22-0 lead over Gaston.
Later in the second, the Broncos drove the ball down to the 1-yard line where Howard scored another Bronco touchdown. Holly Pond went for two with Gibbs once again and he took the ball into the end zone to make it a 30-0 game with 1:28 left before halftime.
As the game clock and play clock were counting down to halftime. The referee told The Broncos they had to run another play. Olinger lined up under center, took the snap, dropped back to pass and found Howard for a 69-yard gain down to the Bulldog 10. Olinger got the Broncos lined up and he took it in for another Bronco touchdown with six seconds left in the half to give Holly Pond a commanding, 37-0 lead at the halftime break.
To start the third quarter, Olinger scored on a 41-yard touchdown run to stretch the Bronco lead to 43-0. On Gaston’s next possession they fumbled the ball away again and this time it was recovered by KyRain Grazer for Holly Pond.
The Bulldogs did manage to score twice on the Broncos in the third quarter, but Holly Pond’s Coby McCoy scored the final touchdown of the night with 3:59 left in the game to bring the final score to 50-14 and wrap up the Broncos’ first win of the season.
Holly Pond will look to stay in the win column next week with another home game against West End Walnut Grove.
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