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HARRIS -- It took a little while for fifth-ranked Bark River-Harris to get untracked in its homecoming football game here Friday night.
The Broncos, coming off last week's 49-14 loss to perennial power Pewamo-Westphala at Petoskey, were trailing the L'Anse Purple Hornets 12-8 after the first quarter of this WestPAC Iron Conference match-up.
BR-H, however, answered in a big way en route to a 46-18 victory.
"Personally, I would attribute that to homecoming," Broncos' coach Caleb Adams said. "It cut our practice time down. We have to work on our passing. We saw that against Pewamo-Westphalia last week."
The Broncos gained all their yards on the ground, rushing for 521.
BR-H led 24-12 at halftime and started the third quarter by marching 60 yards in six plays.
The Broncos extended their lead to 32-12 on a 14-yard run by senior running back Andy Johnson less than three minutes into the third frame.
L'Anse answered on its next possession, shaving its deficit to 32-18 on a 32-yard pass from junior quarterback Kale Chicosz to sophomore tight end Mikey Delich with four minutes, 17 seconds remaining in the third.
Johnson extended BR-H’s advantage to 38-18 on a nine-yard run up the middle at 1:16 and senior Borys Kotov concluded the scoring on a three-yard run with 3:09 remaining in the contest.
The Purple Hornets scored first on a 27-yard pass to Delich for a 6-0 lead.
BR-H took an 8-6 lead on a 51-yard dash by senior running back Gionni McDonough less than two minutes later.
L'Anse regained the lead on Chicosz's 11-yard pass to senior wide receiver Ryan Turpeinen with 4:24 remaining in the opening frame.
BR-H went ahead 16-12 on a four-yard run through the middle by senior Gabe Spear.
McDonough gave the Broncos their 10-point halftime cushion by breaking off right tackle, then changing direction for a 34-yard touchdown run 2:19 before the intermission.
Johnson led the Broncos' potent ground attack with 243 yards on 22 carries. McDonough added 176 in 10 attempts. They were 0-for-5 passing.
"This gives us thunder and lightning," Adams said. "Our speed helps. Our linemen, when we're on offense, are road graders. Andy had a whale of a game. He's an explosive player."
The Purple Hornets gained the bulk of their yards through the air with Chicosz converting on 9-of-25 aerials for 189. They finished with 228 yards in total offense.
"He (Chicosz) is a really good ballplayer," L'Anse coach Mike Griffin said. "We had some young guys on the line. Our passing game was effective, but we need to work on our pass blocking, matching intensity and finishing drives."
Senior Kaleb Desilets led the Broncos in tackles with nine and sophomore Jordan Messesmith, junior Tryton Tippett and senior Carson Schwalbach each had a QB sack.
Both teams play again Friday night.
BR-H, which improved to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the league, travels to Hancock. L'Anse (3-3 overall, 3-2 league) visits Iron Mountain.