NMMI Sports Press
SEMINOLE, Texas — The Bronco football team wrapped up their home-away-from-home season Saturday at Wigwam Stadium in Seminole, Texas, with something that that's fairly unusual.
They shut out Northeastern Oklahoma A&M 34-0.
"It was nice to finish one and keep that zero up there. Because that's rare," said head coach Joe Forchtner.
The Broncos had four shutout halves earlier this season, but getting a scoreless complete game was a milestone, especially for assistant head coach/defensive coordinator Kurt Taufa'asau, who earned his first as a Bronco.
And while the defense sparkled and the game could have been won with far less offense, both sides played solid.
NMMI scored two TDs each in three quarters — only the third quarter was scoreless — and wasted no time getting on the board, scoring at 12:11 on its first possession.
Anthony Grant carried the ball in from the 8-yard-line after an eight-play, 47-yard run. The point after by William Testa was good — Testa was 6-for-6 on the afternoon, with four PATs and two field goals — and NMMI led 7-0.
"That's why we always receive," Forchtner said of the early scoring. "I tell the guys going out for the flip there's only one way we don't get the ball and that's if they elect to receive. Because if we win the toss, we're going to receive it. If they defer, we're taking it. I like putting the offense on first. I especially like it when they go score. That's a good way to start. Our offense is good. They had a good plan and the guys executed."
The defense showed their stuff early as well, when Alonzo Urquhart blocked a Golden Norse field goal and Jimmy Harrison recovered the ball, running it down to the NMMI 12. Six plays later, the Broncos led 14-0 after a 1-yard carry by Grant with 10 seconds left in the quarter.
NMMI scored twice in the second quarter: at 8:02 when Testa kicked a 29-yard field goal, and at 4:09 on a 2-yard carry by Grant that made it 24-10 at the half.
After a scoreless third, the Broncos made it 31-0 with 12:56 remaining in the game on a 19-yard scramble by quarterback Diego Pavia, then added the final three points at 5:27 on a 40-yard field goal by Testa.
Pavia tallied 141-yards rushing and 110 in the air, and Forchtner was pleasantly surprised with the running numbers.
"That's awesome. I don't even know what to say," he said. "With the defense they played, if you have a mobile quarterback, sometimes that gives that sort of defense problems, so that was a big part of the game plan. And they executed. They did a great job."
The NMMI wide-receiver core made some good catches opening the passing game over the middle.
"(NEO) kind of played the same defense the whole time, with a few exceptions here and there," the coach said. "They're good at it. Most of the time they are. So we kind of knew what we could get. What might be there. But you never know with your game plan if it's actually going to be there on Saturdays or not. And it was there, so they did a good job."
On the other side of the ball, the defense held the Golden Norse scoreless, with Lemario Larry getting his third interception in two weeks. But others deserved credit, Forchtner said.
"The thing about playing an offense like that is there's a lot of guys doing the dirty work who you don't really see. There's a lot of stuff going on in there, taking on blocks a certain way, that's not fun to do and not glorious to do and they don't show up in the stat sheet, but it's necessary if you're going to stop an offense like that. So we had a lot of guys doing the dirty work today that paid dividends for the rest of the guys."
The Broncos wrap up the conference at 4-3, with one more non-conference game vs. RPA College Prep at the Wool Bowl May 15. But despite the disarray Covid caused the season, including traveling for "home" games, Forchtner said he's going to miss playing in Seminole.
"I never want to leave. I want to come back here next year," he said. "I was talking to mayor John Belcher after this, and the athletic director, and they've been so good to us. They handled everything. Everything was just turnkey and their hospitality has been just great.
"It's been awesome. It helps that we've won every game here, too. That makes it more enjoyable to come here."
And before Saturday's game began, the Seminole Independent School District paid honors to retiring football umpire Eric Ames of Abilene, Texas, who worked the field for 23 years, including officiating multiple playoff games and an NAIA national championship. Saturday's game was his last.