Horse Powered

BRONCHOS BOWL OVER WAVERLY, SIT ON THE EDGE OF HISTORY

It hasn't taken Ryan Culloty long to get things in order with the Holly High School football program.

With Holly's 37-25 defeat of Lansing Waverly on Friday night, the young coaching prodigy who is entering only his fourth season at the helm, has the Bronchos qualified for the playoffs for the second straight year – third all-time –, and one victory away from claiming stake to the school's first league championship in close to 60 years.

Before coming to Holly in 2008 and installing his own customized version of the Wing-T, Culloty spun his magic at Madison Heights Madison, turning the Eagles into state powers in Division 5.

Starting the current season 0-2, Culloty and the Bronchos are proud owners of a six-game win streak and now stand 6-2 with one week left in the regular season.

Junior quarterback Johnny Williams, the catalyst to Holly's recent resurgence on the gridiron, combined for over 200 yards of total offense on Friday, completing 7 of 10 pass attempts for 102 yards and two touchdowns through the air and rushing 10 times for 103 yards and a pair of scores on the ground. The second-year starter connected on touchdown passes with Evin Papuga (55 yards) and Austin Hopkin (5 yards) and scored on rushing plays of 2 and 60 yards, respectively, continuing to wow the Bronchos faithful with his dazzling brand of signal-calling.

Senior Pat O' Connor fueled the Holly running assault, chugging along for 150 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries. His 77-yard scoring sprint brought the home crowd to its feet.

Defensively, the Bronchos were stingy in the trenches, holding a Waverly squad averaging 300 yards rushing per outing to a miniscule 77 Friday. Alan Strode anchored the Holly D with a game-high 15 tackles to go along with two sacks.

Blake Ordiway drilled a 36 yard field goal to highlight the Bronchos special teams performance. Earlier in the season, Ordiway nailed a game-winner in Holly's 18-16 downing of Fenton.

Holding a slim 17-14 halftime advantage against the visiting Warriors, Holly outscored its opponents 20-6 to open the second half and run away with the game.If the Bronchos take out Ortonville Brandon in Week 9, they will knock the Blackhawks out of the playoffs for the second consecutive season and capture a league title in one fell swoop.

The last time Holly raised a league championship banner was in 1952.  

Back in 2006, Culloty guided Madison to the state finals, losing to Menmominee.