Despite a legitimate chance for an upset, the Bruin football team didn’t quite have what it took to finish off the Francis Howell Vikings Oct. 14, senior night for RBHS, losing 20-14. The loss brings the Bruins’ final regular season record to 2-8 and could mean they will face the Vikings again in the first round of district play.
Many of the problems plaguing the Bruins’ offense resurfaced early in the first quarter, as junior quarterback Trevor Twehous sustained another injury on his very first drive since breaking his collarbone earlier in the season. This left sophomore Marcus Manuel to once again manage the starting quarterback position; while he handled the job nicely, the Bruins’ offense still sputtered out early. In response, the defense for RBHS took over, getting two fumble recoveries in the first half and an interception return to Francis Howell’s two-yard line.
Knowing the team needed to score to stay in the game, senior running back Kian Pilot scored a two-yard run by leaping over two Vikings defenders. For Pilot and the rest of the Bruins,  the gritty play would characterize their most back-and-forth matchup in the season.
“We never looked at their record or size or whatever before this,” Pilot said. “We just knew we had to come out and play harder than them which I think we did a good job of for the most part.”
This sentiment largely came from head coach Joe Collier. Throughout the week, he continued to push his team into this mindset, even when they found themselves down 20-7 at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
“When they went ahead in the third, I think a lot of guys kind of got themselves down but our offense knew there was work to be done,” Collier said. “Malik’s touchdown late really got us pumped up but it just wasn’t quite enough.”
Senior wide-receiver Malik Gleason put the Bruins a possession away from taking the lead with a 23-yard touchdown with only four minutes left on the clock; unfortunately, the late score wasn’t quite enough to stop the Vikings’ offense from winding down the final minutes of another nailbiter for RBHS. Nonetheless, the Bruins will most likely receive another shot at upsetting their Kansas City rival in the first round of district competition. This time, however, they will have no choice but to pull out a victory to keep their season going.
“It’s district play now — you lose, you go home,” Collier said. “I think tonight gave us a really good starting point, but we still have a ways to go this week. We know though that we can beat them, and they know we can beat them too.”
With this being the final regular season game for the Bruins, who will you miss being on the field the most? Let us know in the comments below.