BETHANY – The Bronchos put up big numbers in the season opener against Noble Thursday (Aug. 29).

Senior quarterback Jackie Payne was 18-of-23 for 241 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

Payne’s biggest target was Wyatt Geissler. The senior had nine catches for 143 yards, including all three touchdowns. Junior Judson Gilliland added five catches for 51 yards.

Gilliland really shined in the ground game with 22 carries and 145 yards. He accounted for the other three touchdowns.

Bethany had 22 first downs to Noble’s eight.

On defense, Gilliland had 10 tackles (seven of which were solo). Payne added five tackles. Seniors Devonta Melton, Brock Cross and Charlie Tolle each had four tackles. Tolle had two tackles for loss. Freshman Breck Brady also had two tackles for loss.

Cross and sophomore Damyen Aguilar each had an interception in the win.

GAME MOVED TO THURSDAY DUE TO OU GAME

The University of Oklahoma hosted its first Friday night game. Because of that Bethany coach Jon Arthur and Noble coach Greg George agreed to move the game to Thursday. With all of the interest in OU’s inaugural season as an SEC member and Noble’s close proximity to Norman.

“(We were) just trying to try and make sure we got a crowd here. And it was a good one,” Arthur said.

BRONCHOS HAVE OFFENSIVE VERSATILITY

Gilliland spent some time at quarterback a season ago, throwing for 452 yards. Arthur said he expects Gilliland to see some time in the “Wildcat” formation, taking direct snaps.

Arthur said his team’s offensive versatility could be helpful.

“We’ve got some guys that can, like a Garrett Johnson’s a guy that can play inside receiver, can play tight end, can play in the backfield as a fullback kind of guy,” Arthur said. “So we’re doing that out of multiple formations and it just gives us some versatility in there without having to change personnel a whole lot and all that hopefully makes us difficult to defend.”

WEEK ZERO PENALTIES

Both Bethany and Noble had issues with penalties. Each team struggled in the first quarter with pre-snap penalties. For the game, the Bears were whistled eight times for 68 yards. Bethany had 13 accepted penalties for 95 yards.

NEWCOMERS ON OFFENSIVE LINE

Bethany returned only one starter from last on the offensive line. Arthur said their play was good, outside of a couple “busts” during the game.

“Really what you look at there didn’t have a lot of negative plays, which was good,” Arthur said. “You’re going to have some zeros and some one-yard gains, but didn’t have a whole lot of minus threes and minus fours, which, which is good to stay ahead of the sticks.”

BRONCHOS BECOME ROAD WARRIORS

Bethany’s matchup with John Marshall Friday (Sept. 6) begins a stretch of four road games in five weeks (including the team’s bye week).

“You have to get used to being the road warriors here,”Arthur said. “It’ll pay off in the end”

Bethany’s next home game is October 11 against Tuttle. Including that game, the Bronchos will end the season with four out of their last five games at home.

Photographs courtesy of Kristie Escoe of Life in Action Photography.