HOMECOMING SETBACK: Broncos Lose To Lakes

HARRIS---The Bark River-Harris High School football team jumped to a 12-0 lead but the Lake Linden-Hubbell Lakes made several big plays to beat the Broncos, 24-12, Saturday afternoon. The result put a damper on the BR-H Homecoming festivities, and damaged the team's state playoff changes with the season record falling to 3-3.

The Broncos scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak by Ben Schultz on their first possession, then doubled their lead on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Schultz to Ryan Arndt.

That came on a 4th-and-21 play, and even though the two-point conversions were both no good, the Broncos had a twelve point lead.

But the Lakes battled back, converting on a 4th down play of their own near midfield. Then on the next play, James Tuovila broke free for a 55-yard touchdown run right up the middle of the field. The Lakes made the two-point conversion.

The Broncos looked to be driving the next time they got the ball, but Caleb Gregoire pressured Schultz into a bad throw. The ball fluttered into the arms of Kellen Klein, who took it 50 yards to the house for a pick-six touchdown. The two-point conversion was good again, and the Lakes, who had just one offensive first down, led, 16-12.

Bark River-Harris had plenty of opportunities to regain the lead. The hurry-up offense was clicking in the final two minutes, as the Broncos drove into the red zone.

The drive ended in the final seconds, however, on an incomplete pass on 4th-and-3 from the LLH 7. That kept the Lakes in front heading into the Homecoming break.

In the third quarter, the Bronco defense stymied the Lakes offense. But while the Lakes couldn't move the ball, the Broncos moved well between the 20's, only to come up short when they made it into scoring range.

A fumble ruined a scoring chance late in the third quarter, and then a personal foul penalty effectively killed another drive at the 28.

The Lakes still had just one first down midway through the fourth quarter, but put together four of them on a drive that ended with a 24-yard TD pass to Dominic Wagner.

And Lake Linden went a perfect 3-for3 on two-point conversions to make it 24-12.

BR-H again drove deep into Lakes territory, but a would-be touchdown pass to Arndt was ruled out-of-bounds in the back of the end zone.

The Broncos now have to be Road Warriors, with their final three regular season games on the road. They will try to regain their push to the playoffs next week with a trip to Wakefield to face the Gogebic Miners. Game time is 3:00 (ET) and it will be broadcast live on WUPF-FM (Eagle 107.3), and on-line at www.radioresultsnetwork.com.

Click the thumbnails in the ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS box above to see photos and video highlights from Saturday's game.