The Washington Blue Lions hosted the Western Brown Broncos for the home-opening game Friday night.
The game ended up in a shootout, as the Broncos defeated the Blue Lions, 54-40.
Washington spotted Western Brown a 21-0 lead with 2:52 to play in the first quarter.
Washington rallied with two touchdowns to make it a 21-13 score.
Western Brown took advantage of a Washington fumble and scored to make it 28-13 at the half.
The highly thought of Western Brown quarterback, Drew Novak, had a sterling first half, unofficially completing 11 of 20 passes for 263 yards and touchdown passes of 38, 11 and 30 yards.
Novak had a 5-yard touchdown run.
Trailing 21-0, Washington got on the board with a 40-yard pass play from Troy Thompson to A.J. Dallmayer down the home side of the field.
R.J. Foose made the extra-point kick to set the score at 21-7 with 1:40 to play in the first quarter.
Western Brown scored on their first three possessions, with Washington making a defensive stand on the Broncos’ fourth possession.
Early in the second quarter, Thompson passed to Tanner Lemaster for a touchdown covering 15 yards.
The extra-point kick was no good, leaving the score at 21-13 with 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter.
Washington’s Mason Coffman had an interception, but the Blue Lions fumbled the ball back to the Broncos.
The visitors took advantage with a 30-yard touchdown pass play.
It was 28-13 with 3:42 to play in the first half. The score remained the same at the end of the first half.
Washington kicked off to Western Brown to start the second half.
The Broncos fumbled the ball, recovered by Toby Mitchell at the Western Brown 22-yard line.
Washington capitalized with a 3-yard touchdown run by Trevaughn Jackson. Washington went for two, but the play was no good. It was 28-19 with 10:37 to play in the third quarter.
The Blue Lions took advantage of another Western Brown fumble, this one recovered by Ian Rogers-Wright.
Rocky Jones soon ran the ball into the end zone from the 24-yard line. Foose’s kick was good, making it a 28-26 game, the Broncos still leading with 3:07 to play in the third quarter.
A.J. Graham responded for Western Brown with a 5-yard touchdown.
The extra-point kick was blocked, giving the Broncos a 34-26 lead with 55 seconds left in the third quarter.
Unfortunately for Washington, Spencer Smith intercepted a Blue Lion pass and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown with just two seconds to play in the third quarter.
The extra-point kick was no good, leaving the Broncos with a 40-26 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
With 10:21 to play in the game, Jackson scored on an 18-yard run. Foose made the extra-point kick to set the score at 40-33.
Novak had a 2-yard touchdown run to give Western Brown a 46-33 lead. The two-point conversion was no good.
Washington had another answer, with a 19-yard pass from Thompson to Isaiah Haithcock for a touchdown.
Foose’s kick made it 46-40 with 5:53 to play in the game.
Not long after that, the lights at Gardner Park went out, causing a delay in the game.
After the delay, Novak ran for a touchdown of 10 yards. The conversion run made it 54-40, Western Brown.
Western Brown had an interception late in the game and ran out the clock.
In another Frontier Athletic Conference game Friday, Ironton defeated Jackson, 29-26.
