HOLLY POND, Ala. – Holly Pond was back home for its season finale against Cleveland on Halloween night and the Broncos avoided a scare in the second half. Holly Pond went into the locker room leading 28-6 at halftime but the Panthers came out swinging in the second half. Cleveland put 34 points on the board to chip away at the lead and put pressure on the Broncos, but Holly Pond was able to keep things rolling on the offensive side of the ball and capped its season with a 58-40 win over the Panthers.
Hunter Tolbert recovered an onside kick on the game’s opening kickoff, giving Holly Pond excellent field position right out of the gate. Two plays later, Fox Westall took a handoff 50 yards up the middle of the defense and into the end zone for a touchdown, putting Holly Pond ahead 6-0. Holly Pond rolled another onside attempt on the ensuing kickoff, and it was recovered by Tolbert once again. Not long after that, Miguel Garcia broke a 35-yard touchdown and punched in the two-point conversion to give the Broncos a 14-0 lead with just two minutes gone in the first quarter.
Cleveland responded with a scoring drive to make it a 14-6 game later in the first but a big return from Tolbert on the ensuing kickoff gave Holly Pond great field position again. The Broncos were forced to turn it over on downs, but Westall picked off a Panthers pass just a few plays later to get the ball back to Holly Pond’s offense. Westall took advantage of his own turnover, running one into the end zone from 19 yards out to add to the lead. A two-point pass to Cade Allbright made it a 22-6 game with just under two minutes to play in the first quarter.
The Broncos put together one more scoring drive before halftime, capping it off with a 1-yard touchdown run by Garcia to take a 28-6 lead into the locker room at the break.
Holly Pond’s big night on special teams continued in the third quarter when Garcia returned the opening kick of the second half all the way back for a touchdown to put the Broncos in front 34-6. A two-point pass to John Hamby made it a 36-6 game with 11:46 on the clock in the third. However, the Panthers weren’t ready to lie down, and they racked up 22 unanswered points in the third quarter to cut the lead down to 36-28 with 2:30 remaining in the period. A 50-yard touchdown run by Miguel Garcia stopped the bleeding and gave the Broncos a 44-28 lead but Cleveland hit right back with another explosive play, making it 44-34 late in the third quarter.
After Boston Gibbs punched in a 1-yard touchdown to make it 52-34, the Panthers hit on a 58-yard pass to trim the lead to 52-40 midway through the fourth quarter, but they couldn’t come any closer than that. Boston Gibbs ran in a 9-yard touchdown with three minutes on the clock to put Holly Pond up by 18 and the Broncos went on to win the Halloween shootout 58-40.
With the win, Holly Pond finishes the season 5-5. It’s the first time the Broncos have finished a season at .500 or better since 2018.
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