The Bruins got on the bus on a gloomy rainy Friday afternoon and rode a 3 game win streak on a 4-hour drive to Winston Oregon to take on the Douglas Trojans.
Both teams came out in less than perfect game conditions and tested each other resolve for the first few minutes of the 1st quarter. The Bruins received the ball to begin the game and after a quick 3 and out, the Douglas Trojans took their turn at their first offensive opportunity. The Bruins held their own forcing a Trojan punt. After a Trojan defensive stand, the Bruins punted to the Douglas offense. On their second offensive possession, the Trojans attempted a pass that would be intercepted by the Bruins. However, the Bruins failed to take advantage as both teams spent much of the 1st quarter between the 40-yard lines battling over the same 20 yards for field position leading to a 0-0 tie after one period of play.
At the start of the 2nd quarter, Coach Bavaro changed the offensive play caller, bringing in sophomore Logan Holler #11 at quarterback. Again, on a rain-soaked field, both teams struggled to move the ball, and it wasn’t until 3:00 minutes into the 2nd quarter that the Bruins achieved their first 1st down. Frustration began to set in for both teams as two determined and emotionally charged teams battled in a 20 yard box and flags began to fly to gain control of the game. Bruin punter and linebacker sophomore Oggie Badger #5 was flagged and ejected from the game. The penalty, on multiple players, resulted in 30 yards for the Trojans, putting Douglas on the 5 yard line. The Trojans wasted no time running a sweep to the left and into the left corner of the endzone giving Douglas a 0-6 lead midway through the 2nd quarter.
After the kick-off, Bruin returner Kelvon’te Dawsey #1 returned the kick to the Douglas 45 yard line. Moments later, quarterback Andrew Burger completed a 15 yard pass over the middle to sophomore tightend Jacub McCollum who then out ran the defense to the Trojan 5 yard line. However, bad snaps and penalties that had plagued the Bruins all night, kept the Bruins from getting into the endzone before the half=time whistle.
Throughout the 1st half, the Trojans chose to race the Bruins to the outside flanks with swing passes and option plays with a wet football and sloppy field conditions. In the 2nd half they attempted to lure Bruins into overplaying the edges, and then exploit pass coverage over the middle, but linebacker Logan Holler was not fooled and picked off the Douglas throw returning to the endzone making the score 6-6 early in the 2nd half.
The Bruins were instantly back in the game, and used the enthusiasm to overpower the Douglas offensive line as the Bruins defense spent much of the 3rd quarter in the Trojan backfield stopping the Douglas offense before it could get started. After backing up the Trojans to their own goal line, the Trojans attempted to throw the outlet pass to edge to get the receiver an opportunity to beat the defense to the edge, but this time Peyton Armentrout intercepted the pass and returned it to the endzone for his second pick, six in the last two games.
With the score 12-6, the Bruins were relentless on defense and began to wear down the offensive line of the Trojans. Douglas changed their passing game in the 4th period, as the quarterback began to take a single step drop out of the shotgun and quickly getting rid of the ball to slow down the Bruin rush. After a quick drop back pass deep, the Trojans scored with 7:00 minutes left in the game tying the game 12-12.
Douglas wasn’t done, as they recovered the ensuing kick-off, not only stealing ball possession but stealing momentum. They would then take advantage of continuing to use sweeps to the outside and passes over the middle and would ultimately score giving the Trojans an 18-12 lead with less than six minutes in the game.
But, as we spoke of last week with Coach Bavaro, this team is relentless and believes they are always in the game. For the second week in a row, they believed into the final minutes. After the kick, junior quarterback Ethan Hooper #10 hit senior wide receiver Marcus Clay #16 who would break away and ramble down the field to the Trojan 5 yard line. The Trojans refused to let the Bruins in the endzone and left the Bruins with a 4th and goal situation with just over 2 minutes in the game. Ethan Hooper then dropped back and threw a pass to the left side endzone pylon that would be caught by sophomore wideout Derek Bonde #42 for the touchdown making the score 18-18. With the game on the line the extra point, which neither team converted all night became very important, and after two illegal motion penalties, the extra point became a 30-yard endeavor converted giving the Bruins a 19-18 lead with 2 minutes left to play.
A mistake by the Trojans on the kick-off led to the Bruins recovering deep in Trojan territory and running out the clock for the victory. After the game Coach Bavaro acknowledged “the defense played great again, and the offense had some really nice drives but we shot ourselves in the foot with penalties”. But being relentless and always looking for the positive, Coach Bavaro left us with a positive…”Hey, we are 2-0 in league play and have a chance to keep the momentum going next Friday for homecoming!”
The Bruins will take on a powerful St. Mary’s Crusader team that defeated this same Douglas team 48-8 just last week. The Bruins will be at home next Friday for homecoming, and the stands will surely be packed at the 7:00 pm game time.
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