On a perfect night for football, under a brisk Hunter’s Moon, the Douglas Trojans made the long trip from Winston to challenge the undefeated Brookings-Harbor Bruins during Homecoming week.
Head coach Shaun Bavaro and his 5-0 Bruins ran into a loud and full Bruin stadium ready to play a strong Douglas team who were coming off a loss to the St. Mary’s Crusaders last Friday, and were hungry for a win to blemish a perfect Bruin record and ruin the Bruin Homecoming.
The Bruin defense showed early signs of what was to come later when Oggie Badger shed his blockers and sacked the Douglas quarterback after the Trojans decided to go for a 4th and 10 just minutes into the first quarter. That would be followed by the Bruin defensive line tipping a Trojan pass that Logan Holler #11 would intercept on the Trojans next possession.
The Bruins would then put together a long drive that #11 Logan Holler would punch into the endzone seconds into the 2nd quarter giving the Bruins the early 8-0 lead.
After a first quarter of the Trojans trying to control the line of scrimmage with no real results, Douglas adjusted in the second quarter and used the option toss to counter the speed of the Bruin defense and get to the edge for some big yards. That helped their inside line that began to pound the Bruin defensive line up the middle for some big gains. Just before the end of the first half Douglas put together a long clock and ball control drive and got into the endzone with just 45 seconds in the half making the score 8-7.
Douglas came out in the second half with the ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ attitude and dealt out more of the same. Long drives running the ball wide to tire the speed, and individual battles in the trenches to tire the line. The recipe worked again and the Trojans quieted the crowd as they took the lead 8-13 with 6:10 left in the 3rd period.
The Bruins would answer in the 4th on a 30 yard #10 Ethan Hooper pass and catch to Connor Christensen #30 putting the Bruins up 14-13 with 10:21 left in the 4th period.
At that point…. a football game broke out.
On the next Douglas possession the Trojans drew up a 70 yard run up the middle and into the endzone giving the Trojans back the lead 14-19 with 9:15 left in the game. The Trojans followed that up with some shut down defense, forcing a Bruin punt.
This remarkably unremarkable moment in a tense 4th quarter would later prove to be the moment that turned the game. The Bruin punt from Logan Holler was perfect, away from the Douglas return man and bouncing out of bounds inside the 5 yard line, pinning the Trojans deep late.
Defensive coach Nalls and his Bruin defense then served up their own version of shutdown defense, returning the favor and forcing a Douglas punt from inside their own 5 yard line. The Douglas snap would sail high and out of the back of the endzone for a touch-back making the score 16-19 Douglas with 5:35 left to play.
This is where this years hard work put in by coach Bavaro and his win-now program negated the Trojan’s ground and pound effort to tire the Bruins, as this teams fitness and determination dug deep. The hits became a little louder and speed got a little bit faster, as the fast paced Bruins used their hometown crowd advantage to catch a tired Douglas team on its heels late in the 4th.
After the touchback the Trojans had to free kick to the Bruins, which was returned down to the 25 yard line. Quarterback Ethan Hooper #10 then faked the hand off to the inside and ran into the endzone on a bootleg sweep to the left putting the Bruins up 24-19 with just over 3:00 minutes in the game.
Coach Nalls dialed up the defense and unleashed Jason Vanginderen #53 on a blitz who sacked the Trojan quarterback putting Douglas in a 3rd and long situation. The Bruin defensive backs sat back and Kayson Christensen #9 timed the Trojan route and stepped in front of the Douglas receiver intercepting the ball and returning it to the endzone extending the Bruins lead to 32-19.
On the Trojans next possession, they again dropped back looking for long gains and quick scores but this time it was Bruin defensive back Seth Byrd #7’s turn. He patiently waited and then stepped in front of the Douglas receivers deep-out route, intercepted the pass, and returned it 81 yards for another late Bruin score.
The Bruins, down early in the game, made some key adjustments. “Coach Nalls and his staff did a great job of adjusting their scheme and getting his players in place to be successful” Coach Bavaro said after the game. “Andrew Burger #4 came out in the second and played well, Oggie Badger #5 filled in a lot of roles and was relentless, Logan Holler #11 gave us a spark on offense helping us get things going, and Ethan Hooper #10 was extremely efficient in the finishing of the game and we are very proud of him.” he went on to say.
After this Bruin 38-25 win, your now 6-0 Brookings-Harbor Bruins will be on the road next Friday to challenge the St. Mary’s Crusaders in Medford who will be coming off of a 26-49 loss to Hidden Valley.
