By KYLER ROWDEN-STUM
Tiger Media Network
The Russell Broncos kicked off their 2025 season with a hard-fought 29-22 road win over rival TMP-Marian on Thursday night at Lewis Field Stadium in Hays.
Russell leaned on a balanced attack and senior leadership to hold off the Monarchs in a back-and-forth matchup.
Quarterback Trey Zorn threw for three touchdowns. His 12-yard strike to Walker Middleton with just over five minutes left proved to be the game-winner, while running back Kolton Jones rushed for 131 yards on 13 carries to keep drives alive.
TMP struck early with quarterback Carson Liles connecting on a 49-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Gillespie, and Liles finished with 188 passing yards and two scores.
But four TMP turnovers — three interceptions and a fumble — swung momentum in Russell’s favor.
Both teams struggled with penalties, something Russell head coach Cole Greenwood’s team was able to overcome.
“We got way more penalties than they did,” he said. “Honestly, we shouldn’t have won that game with the amount of penalties we had.”
Senior Dominick Hernandez, a wide receiver, defensive back and one of the team’s leaders, said the victory carried extra meaning.
“It feels so amazing. TMP has been a rival for so long. … I’m so proud of this team we have,” he said.
Hernandez backed up his words with his performance, catching multiple passes and making several tackles in the secondary to help Russell hold off late TMP surges.
Greenwood said the versatility of his team offensively aided in the victory.
“If you watch this film, you can’t just sit back in coverage of us anymore. We can beat you in a multitude of ways,” Greenwood said.
With the victory, Russell improves to 1-0 and heads to Oakley next week. TMP falls to 0-1 and will look to regroup on the road at Norton.
This story was written as part of INF 322: Sports Writing, a course in the Department of Informatics at Fort Hays State University