Bruin football had its first test on its dazzling new digs with a preseason match-up that would set the tone for many games and seasons for years to come.
At a beautiful example of what the term ‘Friday night football’ represents, head coach Shawn Bavaro and his varsity football team ran onto their new state-of-the-art turf surface for first time, eager to ‘christen’ the new field with a win.
The Pleasant Hill Billies made the over 4 hour trek from Pleasant Hill, just south of Eugene, to challenge the determined Bruin team and received the opening kick-off to start play, before punting after their initial drive stalled.
After forcing another Billie punt, the Bruin running game put the Bruin offense in position to score, and a 17 yard pass to right corner of the endzone wold be caught extending the Bruin lead to 22-7.
The Bruins offense then set out to score the first points on the new field and promptly put together a strong methodical drive to the endzone, culminating in a touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Grady Maylin, #12, to sophomore #10, Owen Austin that put the Bruins up 8-0 with just over 9:00 minutes left in the first period.
The Billies then took the Bruin kick-off and put together a long sustained drive of their own, driving almost 60 yards, completing an 18 yard pass to the corner of the endzone, making the score 8-7 Bruins with 6:00 minutes in the first.
In the second quarter of play, the Bruins would drive down into scoring position with 9:00 minutes in the second quarter, before handing the ball to #12, senior running back, Michael Varitek, who would go 17 yards outrunning the Billie defense to the endzone, putting the Bruins up again. 16-7.
But the Billies would score late in the period, putting Pleasant Hill behind by 8 with the score 22-14 Bruins. The Bruins would then drive down to the goal line only to have the Billie defense deny the Bruins as time ran out in the half.
The second half became a defensive battle with no scoring in the third quarter, and the Billies putting together a drive that would put the ball in the endzone off of an option play putting Pleasant Hill within 2 with just under 7:00 minutes to play.
A late Bruin mistake would put the Billies within field goal range with under 3:40 left in the game after Pleasant Hill intercepted a Bruin pass on the sideline and returned the ball to the 15 yard line.
The Billies ran the clock down to insure their field goal attempt would be the last play of the game to steal the win, but defensive pressure would force the Pleasant Hill kick wide to the left, securing the 22-20 win for the Bruins.
“We had great week of practice and it was a gutsy win by our the guys.” coach Bavaro told the Compass after the game. We left some points off the board and the defense came through in end. Our Coaches have been doing a great job of getting the team ready to play, and we started out much better than last week. The kids made history, with the first win on our unbelievable beautiful new field. They will remember that for a lifetime.” – head coach Shawn Bavaro
The Bruins will play their next preseason schedule next Friday, traveling nearly 4 hours to Etna, CA, to challenge the Etna Lions with kick-off scheduled for 7:00pm.
