Broncbusters continue their climb; now No. 2
Garden City, KS (westernkansasnews.com)-The story of the 2016 Broncbusters is still being written, but this is what we know so far: through six games, Garden City is proving a lot of doubters wrong.
A team that started the year unranked and picked to finish sixth in the Jayhawk Conference, climbed to their highest ranking in 14 years on Monday.
Garden City leapfrogged Arizona Western for the No. 2 spot in the latest NJCAA rankings, despite the fact that the Matadors, who slid to third, defeated No. 9 Snow 50-14 on Saturday. The Broncbusters received one first-place vote.
“We tell our guys to play each situation,” Head Coach Jeff Sims said following Saturday’s 39-13 victory over Coffeyville. “And our guys did a really good job of responding after a very shaky first quarter.”
One of the main reasons Garden City jumped Arizona Western was their schedule. The Broncbusters have won three straight games over teams that were ranked in the preseason top 20. Arizona Western, while their victory over former No. 1 Snow might be the most impressive of the bunch, has wins over non-NJCAA members Everett and Air Force Prep.
Garden City is 6-0 for the first time since 2000 and 5-0 in the Jayhawk. The brown and gold are in search of their first conference title in 15 years.
Northwest Mississipp is No. 1 for the second straight week, while East Mississippi is fourth followed by Trinity Valley. Dodge City dropped 10 spots to 20 after their loss vs. Iowa Western on Saturday. Highland was knocked out of the polls after a disappointing showing at Butler.
