Coach Shaun Bavaro and his Bruin varsity football team ran into the well oiled machine that is the 2-0 Cascade Christian Challengers, coming off of two consecutive wins with over 100 points in total offense between both games.
The Bruins hosted the Challengers Friday evening at Bruin stadium, and Cascade Christian showed no sign the 3 hour travel time had any affect on their gameplan. The predominantly senior line for the Challengers, averaging six foot and over 200 pounds, dominated both sides of the football.
Early mistakes, miscues and penalties kept the Bruins from establishing any offensive consistency early on, as the Challengers capitalized. Cascade Christian recovered 2 loose balls and drove in to score within the first 3:00 minutes of play, taking a 0-13 lead, before recovering yet another fumble on a kick-off and scoring again for a 0-21 lead after just the first period of play.
Offensively the Bruins struggled to contain the Cascade Christian rush, who were consistently in the Bruin backfield disrupting the Brookings-Harbor offense and limiting successful plays. The Challenger defense held the Bruin offense to few positive yards, forcing the Bruins to punt the ball away, giving the Challenger offense more opportunities.
The Bruin defense spent the majority of the time on the field, and the Challengers took full advantage, adding three more touchdowns in the second period to take a 0-42 lead to locker room at the half time break.
In the second half of play, the Bruins would prove more effective, putting together some consistency offensively for positive yards as well as holding the Challengers to two touchdowns, who would ultimately take the 0-56 win.
The Bruins will be on the road next Friday evening, traveling to Sutherlin to take on the 0-3 Bulldogs.