The Hamilton Broncs are off to a roaring start this season, topping Butte Central, Corvallis, and now Stevensville. The Broncs defeated Butte Central, 49-26, in their first game. Last week, Corvallis fell to Hamilton, 47-7. This week, Stevensville fell, 55-0.
“We talk about how we want to get better every week,” said coach Bryce Carver. “This is just another chance to come out and do what we do, work on getting better on our details.”
Junior Jaiden Klemundt set the tone of the game when he returned the opening kickoff 92 yards for the score. Tyson Rostad kicked the PAT and the Broncs were off. Just three minutes later, Carson Rostad hit Mason Murray from 30 yards out for another touchdown after Hamilton intercepted a Yellowjacket pass. The Broncs went on to score twice more in the quarter; once when Tucker Jones caught a 44 yard pass from Carson Rostad, and later, when Carson Rostad hit his brother, Tyson, from 19 yards out. Tyson ran for two points on the Jones touchdown, and then kicked the PAT on the second TD.
In the second quarter, Landon Duce caught a 72 yard pass from Carson Rostad for the score. Tyson’s PAT was good. And then it was another brother to brother connection when Carson hit Tyson from 60 yards out for the TD. Tyson’s PAT was good.
The Broncs went to a hurry-up offense. Carver said, “We try to go fast. We want to practice like that. That way if something doesn’t look good, we’ve still got time to maybe call a different play.”
He went on to say, “We want to try and out condition people. That’s kind of our goal. We want to run plays and catch them out of a defense that they are not ready to play. I thought the kids did a good job the first couple quarters doing that. “
The second half saw the younger Broncs come in and take over. Coach Carver said he likes to be able to play the younger players and build their confidence. He said with the senior leadership instilling their hard work in the younger team members, the younger players practice hard and jump at the chance to play when they can.
“They did a great job today coming out and showing that. I was really proud of those young guys,” Carver concluded.
With Tristan Lewis playing quarterback in the final two quarters, the Broncs scored twice more. Lewis hit Rory Jessop from 33 yards out in the third quarter. In the fourth, Cole Anson had a six yard scoring run. Tyson Rostad kicked the PAT for both touchdowns.
Hamilton will take on perennial powerhouse Beaverhead County in Dillon on Friday. Carver said he grew up in that program and knows the tradition of winning they have.
“It will be a very tough game for us down there.”
Corvallis took on another tough team in the Southwest A conference, Frenchtown. The Broncs scored first in the first quarter on a 30 yard pass to Jace Klucewich from Cade Baker. But then, in the second quarter, Corvallis scored when Emil Bohnet kicked a 30 yard field goal. That would be the only score of the game for the Blue Devils. Frenchtown went on to score three more touchdowns and a field goal to win, 31-3.
Darby topped Plains, 41-26. Although Darby trailed by one point at the end of the half, the Tigers rallied in the fourth quarter to take the win. Nelson Smith had three touchdowns including two receiving TDs from Jordan Anderson. Tyler Davis also had two scoring runs.
Florence defeated Anaconda, 45-0. No other details were available. Victor lost to St. Regis, 52-6.