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MT. PLEASANT---The football season came to an end for the Bark River-Harris Broncos on Saturday, falling to the top-ranked team in the state, the Beal City Aggies, 45-16, downstate, in the MHSAA Division Eight regional championship game.
The Aggies rolled to nearly 400 yards of total offense, almost all of them on the ground. Avery Small had a 63-yard touchdown run on the first possession of the game, and ended up with 193 yards on five carries, with two total touchdowns. Braxton Butkovich added two touchdown runs as well, as the Aggies advanced to the state semifinals.
Beal City (12-0) led, 14-0, after the first quarter, and 35-0 at halftime. The Aggies scored touchdowns on all five of their first half possessions, while BR-H turned it over on downs four times and threw an interception.
In the third quarter, the Broncos got a big play on a pass from quarterback Dane Schmitt to Gionni McDonough to the Aggie ten yard-line. But that opportunity ended on an interception, and Beal City led, 42-0, on the running clock, headed to the fourth quarter.
The Broncos finally got on the board with 5:49 left in the game on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Schmitt to Caleb Desselits. McDonough's two-point conversion run made it a 45-8 game. The Broncos forced a fumble (recovered by Desselits), and McDonough ran in a nine-yard touchdown with 2:28 left.
BR-H got the two-point conversion to make it a 45-16 final score.
Bark River-Harris finishes its season with a 9-3 record, with their only losses coming to Division Seven powerhouses Menominee and Pewamo-Westphalia, and Beal City.
