Bronchos Fall in Season Opener to 2nd Ranked Jones
Launch the media gallery 1 playerBethany, OK - In a year when many wondered if football would ever get played due to the worldwide pandemic we finally arrived at that point in Bethany. The Bronchos (4A-UR), coming off of an 11-1 season a year ago, started this year with a tough test as the Jones Longhorns (2A-#2) came to town in this week zero matchup. The game was a defensive battle throughout much of the first half with Jones holding onto a 3-0 lead until the top quarterback in Oklahoma for the class of 2022, Carson May, found the endzone on a 15 yard run for the Longhorns. The Bronchos rebounded though out of the locker room in the second half as Gray Adams connected with Jocelyn Malaska for a 51 yard touchdown catch where he broke two tackles on this way into the endzone to make the score 10-7.
On the ensuing drive May once again showed why he is one of the top high school players in the entire state as he connected with wide receiver Cadyn Karl on a 55 yard touchdown pass to give Jones a 17-7 lead. The Bronchos put together another drive that went the length of the field before missing a field goal early in the 4th quarter that would have tightened the game. The experience of the Longhorns showed down the stretch as compared to Bethany, who has a good number of younger players on the field for the first time at the varsity level. Jones scored again late on a fantastic pass, again from May to Karl.
Bethany coach Jon Arthur said after the game, "Jones is a great team and a great program year in and year out. They returned almost their entire squad from a year ago and that showed some down the stretch compared to our younger guys. We did a lot of good things tonight and when you're playing with a younger team you always see a lot of improvement early in the year as they adjust to the speed of varsity level football." Bethany, who gained over 300 yards on offense, had trouble finishing drives, but it was great to see some outstanding play from quarterback Gray Adams. Adams was 15 for 23 on the night, throwing for 259 yards and one touchdown. Jaden Gilliland led the Bronchos on the ground with 52 yards on 10 carries, to average 5.2 yards per carry. Sophomore Taylor Heim also had a fantastic night catching the ball with four catches for 108 yards. Malaska, who was the recipient of Adams' touchdown pass had six catches for 86 yards. On the defensive side of the ball Bethany was led by sophomore safety Cale Wetwiska's nine tackles. Karter Fouts and Isaiah Carpitcher added six tackles each.
The Bronchos will go on the road this week to take on another top team from a year ago, John Marshall (4A). John Marshall finished last season as a top 5 ranked team in Class 3A before moving up to Class 4A this year. For the second straight week the Bronchos will face a top 10 player in the state, this week it is John Marshall's Bryce Stephens, who is the 8th ranked recruit in this years class and University of Arkansas commit. The game will be played at historic Taft Stadium at 7:00 PM on Friday, September 4.