Sprau, Bonanza rout Clark

Basketball players often have a spot on the floor from which they feel most comfortable knocking down a shot.

Bonanza quarterback Sterling Sprau took that concept to the football field as he led his team to a 53-34 home victory over Clark on Friday night.

Sprau threw three 45-yard touchdown passes to three receivers in the first half for the Bengals.

“It was just working out well,” Sprau said with a laugh. “(The receivers) were getting behind the defense.”

The junior quarterback found success from other parts of the field, as well.

He finished the game 13-for-17 for 291 yards and five touchdowns for Bonanza (2-1, 2-0 Southwest League).

“We had some big plays that opened up, and we had some nice catches,” coach Shawn Dupris said. “Sterling made the right reads and put the ball in the right spots, and that’s what we want to do. It helps us open up the run game, also.”

Dasean Martin was the beneficiary of that. The junior carried the ball just 15 times but racked up 214 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Martin had 178 of his yards in the second half. He also caught two of Sprau’s touchdown passes.

In all, the Bengals accumulated 512 yards of offense.

“I thought our offense had more speed than their whole defense,” Martin said. “I knew we would beat them to the punch. We’re more physical than them. We’ve got to start showing people that we can play.”

Bonanza’s offense made that case, but the defense wasn’t as effective.

Clark (1-2, 0-2) ran for 308 yards, led by 171 yards and three touchdowns from Andre Clay.

“Last year, we had the same kind of game with them. They’ve got our number,” Dupris said. “We struggle with stopping that Wing-T (formation). They did a good job. They blocked it well and called the right plays, and we’ve just got to get better at stopping it.”

Both teams had trouble stopping their opponent in the second quarter. The teams combined for 48 points in the period. After Bonanza opened a 26-7 lead, the Chargers scored to get back within two touchdowns, but the teams traded touchdowns the rest of the way, and Clark couldn’t get back in the game.

Jimmy Garibay had two touchdown receptions for the Bengals, and Dakota Barrix added one. Zach Nati ran an interception back for another Bonanza score.