Ronan dealt tough loss by Frenchtown

RONAN — The Chiefs just couldn't hold on in their home opener on Friday night against the Frenchtown Broncs, losing 46-13 after keeping pace with their opponent in the opening frame.

After losing in the final minutes last week to Browning the Chiefs' outlook for Friday was positive heading into their first home game against Frenchtown. They knew what needed to be done to get the ball in the endzone and put numbers on the board but the Broncs showed up to play and pulled ahead for good in the second quarter.

"We lost containment during the game. We needed to contain Nathan Lebsock and just couldn't do it," said head coach Jamie Courville.

The Broncs came out and had a 66-yard touchdown return to get the game going. This led them to fake the PAT and go for two and complete the play putting them up 8-0 in the first few minutes of the game.

But Ronan came back with a 57-yard run up the middle from Joe McCarthy to put the Chiefs on the board and give the team a real boost after Frenchtown's opening drive. Coach Courville called for a screen play to go for two and tie the game up but Frenchtown was able to stop the play and hold them, leaving Ronan with only six on the board.

"They had a two point lead on us so we called for a screen package," said Courville. "They sniffed us out on that play. Frenchtown is a very disciplined team."

The Chiefs were only able to come up with one more touchdown in the quarter after Tylar Espinosa also streaked up the middle for a 66-yard run to spark the team again. But the Broncs scored two more before the quarter would end. This ended the first quarter with a score of 22-13 and that is where Ronan would stay the rest of the game.

"We knew that we needed to sustain drives and take care of the ball," said Courville. "Again turnovers and not executing well hurt us. We needed to keep our offense on field to hold them."

Alan Skogen completed one of seven attempted passes on the night for 57 yards. Tyler Espinosa had 18 carries for 152 yards with one touchdown, and along with that he had two kickoff returns for 53 yards. Other Chiefs on the kick off return team held their own against Frenchtown with McCarthy catching four, returning them for 75 yards and Tyler Noyes returning one for 14 yards.

"Our offense was blocking really well throughout the game which allowed for our kick off return team to do well," said Courville. "They were gellin' and they blocked well."

Over the next three quarters the Chiefs' offense was held scoreless by the Frenchtown defense. The Chiefs ended the game with 31 carries and 160 yards rushing total.

"Our pad level needed to be a lot lower and we needed to sustain the drives," said Courville. "We had some dumb penalties, the kids need to catch small things, and we turned the ball over four times."

Courville noted that there was much improvement from their game in Browning last week. The offensive line is getting much better and getting the scheme down overall really well, he said.

"We also had some of the sophomores come in and play really well in positions that they weren't all that comfortable with," said Courville.

This was the last non conference game for the Chiefs as they prepare for the conference play to start on Friday on the road against Columbia Falls.