Hastings College coach Matt Franzen is hoping his team can make the big plays when needed in Saturday’s 1 p.m. game at Memorial Field in Sioux City, Iowa, against Briar Cliff.

You know, those plays they didn’t make in a 24-9 loss to Midland last weekend in a game that was 10-9 going into the final quarter.

“It came down to a few plays that we just didn’t make when we needed to when the game was on the line,” Franzen said. “You know, in winning time, as (NBA great) Reggie Miller once said, when you got to make those big plays.

“And we didn’t.”

But the Broncos (1-1) get another chance to make those plays against the Chargers (1-1). The two teams are in ways similar heading into the third game of the season.

Both teams won their openers, then lost the second game. Both teams had a GPAC player of the week the opening weekend; HC’s Brice Chaplin was the defensive player of the week while Briar Cliff quarterback Brock Saya was the offensive player of the week after throwing for 307 yards and two touchdowns in a 35-23 win over St. Ambrose.

Saya, a redshirt junior, is a second-year starter for the Chargers.

“They have a decent amount of experience back,” Franzen said. “They had some new players this year, though, that I think probably have improved them overall from who they were last year. They want to throw the ball down the field. They have a quarterback who does that well.”

The Broncos will also see a different look from the Briar Cliff defense. Franzen said his team’s first two opponents ran a three-man front while the Chargers run a 4-2 defense.

“It’s going to look a little different as far as that goes,” Franzen said. “They’re pretty big in the defensive line. They play with five safeties, so they’re fairly athletic on the back end also. So that’s kind of what we know after just the two games that they played.”

This will be the first overnight road game for Hastings College. The team will travel to Sioux City on Friday. Franzen said that can be a challenge for younger players who haven’t gone through it before.

“Personally, I kind of like it,” he said. “There are plenty of distractions when you play at home. That’s maybe not a real nice thing to say but at home your family and maybe your girlfriend are coming in on Friday for the Saturday game. As an athlete, there are plenty of things to draw your attention away from going in and focusing on playing three hours of football.”

Franzen is hoping the Broncos can not only make the big plays this week but avoid the mistakes that cost them in the loss to Midland.

He said there were a couple of untimely dropped passes, and the special teams were a bit sloppy. That included a blocked extra point that kept Hastings College from tying the game at 10-10.

“We had a couple of penalties in the second half that were just sloppy,” Franzen said. “So we have to clean up some of those areas on our special teams.”

Franzen said the Broncos are fairly healthy heading into the third game of the season, but quarterback Jarrett Synek has taken some shots and is a bit sore and stiff.

“We need to do a better job keeping him upright because at this rate, he may not last much longer,” Franzen said. “Some of it is on the offensive line and some is on Jarrett just being able to preserve himself and get out of pressure situations.”