Coming off a 34-14 preseason road win against St. Mary’s last week, a confident Bruin football team took the field Friday night ready to take on the Coquille Red Devils who made the trip down the coast to challenge the Bruins, bringing their own win streak with them.
Friday night was the start of regular season play for both teams and it did not take long to see the intensity on the field as both teams wanted to start their season with a win in the books.
The Bruins would punt after their first offensive series stalled and the Red Devils took the ball and put together a drive that would culminate in a Coquille dive into the endzone to start the scoring.
The Red Devils would force a turnover early in the first, quickly putting themselves in position to score once again. Coquille make the turnover payoff, with a 21 yard pass to the corner of the endzone, to take a 0-13 lead with just over 4:00 minutes to play in the first period.
On their next offensive opportunity, the Bruins would put together a long drive down to the Coquille 10 yard line before sophomore running back Owen Austin, #10 would take the hand-off and finish the sweep into the endzone, getting on the board as time ran out of the first period, making the score 6-13.
Coquille would score two more touchdowns in the second period, hitting a 30 yard pass play for a touchdown to make the score 6-27 at the half-time break.
The Bruins defense stiffened in the third quarter and both teams spent the majority of the period between the 20’s with hard hits and determination. However, the Red Devils would score once more as time ran out in the third period, taking a 6-34 lead into the fourth period.
But the Bruins weren’t done, stubbornly putting together a long drive that they would finish off with a 2 yard dive into the endzone by #8, Michael Varitek leaving the score at 14-34 with over 8:00 minutes to play.
The Red Devils would answer, putting together a time consuming drive pushing the ball straight into a tired Bruin defensive line before scoring to extend their lead late.
The Bruins continued to work, connecting on some long plays to put themselves in scoring position late in the period junior running back Kevin Hooper, #42, would score the final points of the game for the Bruins, making the score 20-41 as time ran out.
Talking with Bruin head coach Shawn Bavaro after the game, he said “The kids battled tonight. Coquille is a physical bunch. Proud of their efforts and fighting to the end. We had some stand-out plays on both sides of the ball and continue to build as we go through the season.”
The Bruins will be home next week, taking on the Sutherlin Bulldogs coming off a 14-39 loss to Douglas, with kick-off scheduled for 7:00pm.
