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Chiefs use balanced attack to get back to winning ways

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RONAN — A consistent offensive attack and a stingy running defense helped the Chiefs pick up a win in their final nonconference game Friday as Ronan downed Corvallis 38-26.

The Chiefs were content to spread the ball around on offense in the win as six players carried the ball for Ronan and quarterback Robbie Gauthier connected with five different receivers.

“We did a good job of spreading the ball around,” Ronan head coach Jim Benn said. “That is always a good thing to see because the other team can’t take everything away from you.”

Marcus Hungerford led the Chief rushing attack with 76 yards on nine carries while Chris Clary added another 49 yards on 15 totes. Jack Humphreys picked up 36 yards and Gauthier added another 30.

Dallas Jore led the Ronan receiving corps with seven catches for 71 yards while Clary finished with 40 yards and Hungerford had 32.

Defensively, the Chiefs had some trouble defending against the deep ball, giving up 386 yards through the air, but dominated the Blue Devil running game. Ronan consistently had defenders in the Corvallis backfield and held the Blue Devils to a loss of 19 yards on the ground.

“Holding back a team’s running game is something we have not struggled with, for the most part,” Benn said. “We have been really solid shutting down the rush, now we just need to work on attacking the pass.”

Ronan had its first chance to get on the board midway through the opening quarter when a bad snap on a Corvallis punt gave the Chiefs the ball on the Blue Devil 10-yard line. Ronan was unable to take advantage of the opportunity and turned the ball back over on downs four plays later.

Corvallis needed only two plays to reach the end zone on the ensuing possession, picking up 20 yards on a quick pass on the opening play of the drive before scoring on a 63-yard pass from Logan Connors to Trevor Brown. A 2-point conversion attempt failed and Ronan trailed 6-0 with 6:38 to play in the opening quarter.

“They have a good quarterback who knows how to buy time for himself,” Benn said. “If you give a kid nine seconds to throw the ball, he will find a way to get it downfield.”

Another bad snap on a Blue Devil punt attempt led to Ronan’s first touchdown of the evening later in the quarter as Clary took the ball in from a yard out to tie the game with 1:50 to play in the frame. Gauthier connected with Jore on a 2-point conversion try, and the Chiefs led 8-6.

The Chief lead was short lived, though, as Corvallis scored on the opening play of its next possession on a 64-yard pass from Connors to Brown. Another 2-point try failed and Ronan trailed 12-8 heading into the second quarter.

Ronan regained the lead with 5:36 to play in the half on a 17-yard, fourth-down pass from Gauthier to Jore in the back of the end zone. Gauthier found Dalton Molzhon for another 2-point conversion and Ronan led 16-12 at the break.

Ronan added two more touchdowns in the third quarter as Hungerford ran in from 10 yards out midway through the frame before Jore caught an 18-yard scoring pass from Gauthier with 4.9 seconds to play in the quarter. Gauthier connected with Cole McArthur and Humphreys for two more 2-point conversions as Ronan led 32-19 heading into the final 12 minutes of play.

Hungerford capped off a long drive with a 4-yard touchdown run with 3:29 to play in the game to push the Chief lead to 38-19.

Corvallis added one final touchdown late in the game, but could not come back and Ronan got the win.

With the win, the Chiefs improve to 2-2 on the season. Ronan opens conference play this week, hosting Whitefish Friday.

Summary
Corvallis 26, Ronan 38
Corvallis 12 0 7 7–26
Ronan 8 8 8 14–38

C - Trevor Brown 63 pass from Logan Connors (kick failed)
R - Chris Clary 5 run (Dallas Jore pass from Robbie Gauthier)
C - Brown 64 pass from Connors (pass failed)
R - Dalton Molzhon 5 pass from Gauthier (Gauthier run)
R - Marcus Hungerford 3 run (Cole McArthur pass from Gauthier)
C - Brown 56 pass from Connors (Turner Zsupnik kick)
R - Jore 17 pass from Gauthier (Jack Humphreys pass from Gauthier)
R - Hungerford 3 run (run failed)
C - Connors 5 run (Zsupnik kick)

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