Friday, Oct. 5, the RBHS boys’ soccer team faced off against De Smet Jesuit High School under bright lights on Bruin home turf. The game was filled with massive twists and turns, the two opponents battled it out for that night’s victory. In the end, however, the Bruins’ managed to secure a tie with De Smet (1-1)
“I just thought we had the courage to come out here and play, no matter what they were in the state and we made sure we’d got down what we needed to play a good game and give them a good contest,” senior midfielder Jayton Johnson said.
Johnson along with sophomore fielder Jeremiah Johnson managed to score the only goal that night for RBHS. Pure ecstasy ensued, flowing through the stands as Bruin fans and RBHS’ players rejoiced. The night wasn’t over, however, and at times the competition got intense with RBHS players colliding with De Smet players as they kicked the ball all over the field in an effort to once again take the lead.
“[De Smet] is probably one of the toughest competitions we’ve had and are going to have. They played hard and they kept the intensity up and they kept us on our heels,” Jeremiah Johnson said. “Scoring the first goal got our intensity up and we started playing a lot harder than we were before.
Head Coach Scott Wittenborn, despite the tie, was happy and proud of his team and the players who managed to keep the Bruins motivated and ready for competition.
“This is probably the best team we’ve played all year, easily one of the top two or three teams in the state. And so the way we came out and just fought for 80 minutes played our butts off, I’m really proud of the guys and I thought we showed that we could compete with anybody. I thought the game got a little chippy at times, but we carried ourselves with a lot of class and just played soccer,” Wittenborn said.
In the end, the game ended up being good practice for the Bruins, as they were able to motivate one another and keep each other on their toes as De Smet tested their playing abilities.
“We definitely have to improve on when the ball is in the box clearing it and making sure it gets out, Jayton Johnson said. “And I think we do a good job on pressuring the team no matter what the score is we keep the pressure on them so they don’t get the wrong mindset.”
Friday’s game was a contrast to this afternoon’s game, where RBHS easily defeated East Kansas City in a final score of 3-2.
The team will play their next game against Battle High School, Tuesday, Oct. 9.