MIDDLEBURG - Middleburg High football coach Karl Smeltzer's young Middleburg Broncos team are making strides week to week but have yet to find a victory so far in 2020. After trailing 28-6 the Broncos made a furious comeback and had three possessions in the final minutes but could not "close" falling to the Englewood Rams 34-20 Friday night at Bronco field.

"We got frustrated early, stopped the bleeding, came back but just couldn't finish the job," said Smeltzer. "We are getting closer and I really like this team. We have to continue to improve and mature and we will be fine" he added. And in a crazy 2020 it is a different season where all teams are eligible for post season play which is a great situation to be in; especially for such a young and inexperienced team that is learning week to week like the Broncos. We know we are in (the playoffs) so if we can improve each week; once you get into the dance anything can happen."

Englewood struck first on a fourth down pass to speedster Rashaad Clarke who ran 42 yards for the first score of the game less than three minutes into the contest. The Rams then scored the two point conversion for an early 8-0 lead. They would then score on a 30 yard touchdown pass and again score the two point conversion for a 16-0 advantage with 3:48 left in the first quarter.

Broncos quarterback Luke Padgett would throw an interception and Englewood would get the ball back at the Middleburg 38 yard line. On the first play of the drive Rashaad Walker would catch a screen pass and the speedster turned up field and simply ran a straight line 62 yards for the touchdown that seemed more like a game of NFL Madden with a secret "turbo cheat code" leaving everyone else in the dust.

"Watching him move so fast we felt a little like Rocky Balboa in the orginal "Rocky" movie where Mickey has him chase a chicken that is near impossible to catch" said Smeltzer. "Sometimes you just get out-athleted but it wasn't from a lack of effort on our side, he is just really fast."

The Rams had a 22-0 lead ten minutes into the game and the Broncos seemed as helpless as Clay Today sports writer Doug Deters high school dating life (Which was pretty darn helpless).

But unlike dateless Deters, who hid in the basement playing "Dungeons and Dragons" the Broncos pulled themselves together and continued to give their best effort. They would hold Englewood scoreless through the second quarter and after a bad punt the Broncos had their best scoring opportunity of the night starting at the Rams 30 yard line. Padgett would find wide receiver Austin Dillion to the 12 yard line for a first down. The Broncos would find themselves at 4th down and nine then Padgett would scramble in for the touchdown and Middleburg cut the lead to 22-6 with five minutes left until halftime. **Note: No truth to the rumor that it is an official local government ordinance that at least one member of every Middleburg sports team must have someone with the last name Padgett.

The defense would make a late second quarter stand to keep the score 22-6 when safety Jace Campbell ripped the ball from a receiver in the end zone with less than 30 seconds before halftime.

Unfortunately, the second half started poorly for Middleburg as Clarke would get this third touchdown of the game on a 50 yard pass the first play from scrimmage for a 28-6 lead. Englewood would add another score midway through the third quarter to push the lead to 34-6 after a near interception by Middleburg's Jace Campbell.

The Broncos would answer with a solid drive that ended with a one yard touchdown run by Padgett to cut the lead to 34-13 with 2:27 left in the third quarter. The Broncos momentum continued with a quick defensive stop and then a fumbled punt that was recovered by Wyatt Underwood. Later in the drive Padgett would throw a seven yard touchdown pass to Joe Green on the first play of the fourth quarter and suddenly a blow out 34-6 game was cut to 34-20 with practically an entire quarter still to play and the Bronco crowd on their feet bursting with excitement.

Englewood would again turn the ball over to the Broncos as they dropped the kickoff and Middleburg recovered the ball at the Englewood 25 yard line and suddenly the Bronco were one play away from cutting the lead to one possession. Unfortunately, the drive would end on a 4th down interception at the four yard line. However, the Broncos Jace Campbell would record his second interception of the night with 5:42 left and again Middleburg had possession of the ball in scoring position at the Rams 29 yard line. Again the Broncos shot themselves in the foot as Padgett would be sacked and fumbled the ball back to Englewood marking the second straight possession in Englewood territory that resulted in no points.

Middleburg would get one final possession on the Rams side of the field but would not be able to score ending the night knowing they had their fair share of opportunities to win the game.