From the opening whistle, Branson brought the energy on both sides of the ball against rival Calistoga High School and dominated en route to a 72-30 blowout victory.
“The game plan is always to come out firing and set the tempo, that way we get the momentum and the energy is high throughout,” said Coach Jerome Saddler.
The Bulls indeed came out firing, as they jumped out to a 46-0 lead in the first half. When Calistoga finally scored their first points late in the half, Jaden Sher ‘24, returned the ensuing kickoff to the house after receiving a great block from Callahan Green ‘24, ending any momentum Calistoga attempted to build.
“I went a little up the field because I knew I was going to cut back right,” said Sher. “I saw Cal blindside someone for a block and Spencer sealed the outside and I housed it.”
Sher had a monster game, racking up four total touchdowns: two receiving, and two kickoff returns.
“Jaden is the engine that makes this team go. I will get the ball to him every single time and count on him to bring a win for the Bulls,” said Coach Tyler Guin, Branson football’s new offensive coordinator.
Sher’s first touchdown came on a scramble drill, where quarterback Tom Lardner ‘25 evaded pressure, rolled out, and threw to him in the flat. Sher did the rest, making several defenders miss before taking it to the end zone. His second touchdown was almost the length of the entire field and came on a wheel route.
“It was a bunch formation, we had the two outside guys run a slant. It was a chip-off play, and Jaden ran a great route and got open,” Lardner said.
The Bulls’ new offense has been firing on all cylinders the last few weeks after the implementation of Guin’s new offensive system.
“I brought the scheme from San Marin over, and the kids have been really good about picking it up,” Guin said. “The credit is that the kids have been willing to learn and they have opened their minds and caught up very fast.”
Lardner had a great game in his own right. Calistoga is a big team designed to stop the run, so the Bulls abandoned the run early and attempted to throw the ball downfield, and Lardner delivered.
“The passing game has opened up the past few weeks. Tom has gotten better at reading defenses, he’s throwing the ball extremely well, and we’re able to push the ball downfield more,” Guin added.
The Bulls attempted numerous deep passes, taking advantage of the speed of their receivers. They connected on the first play of the game; a 30-yard strike from Lardner to James Stovell ‘25. Getting on the board first was huge for the Bulls, and their defense was able to lock up the Wildcats’ offense, stifling the run and shutting down the pass.
“We want to keep everything in front of us, we knew they were a run-heavy team so we wanted to load the box and have our backers blitz, and really set the tempo,” Saddler said. “Smash mouth hit them in the mouth, so they can’t really run on us.”
The defense did a great job containing the run and held strong with the exception of a few drives.
“Once we got control of the snap count, the blitzes were lethal, and we really shut down their run game,” Mo Jacoby ‘25 said. Jacoby had a monster game from his middle linebacker position, flying around and making tackles for loss in the run game.
“We got guys flying around making plays, it’s gotta be God’s plan or something,” Jacoby said.
In a rivalry game like this one, full effort is essential from every player on the team, and the Bulls stepped up to the occasion.
“Great team win, the starters really balled out today. The effort was great … I loved what I saw,” Saddler said.
