Following a three game win streak, the Bruins fell 20-10 at home against conference rivals Helias Catholic High School (HCHS), Friday, Sept. 22.
Throughout the game, penalties plagued the offense, and chunk plays both running and passing hurt the defense, giving HCHS an early lead and preventing the Bruins from catching up.
The Crusaders started with the ball, and after a fumbled snap, were held to a fourth and five. The Bruins then jumped offside, allowing a first down conversion. The drive ended in a punt three plays later, leading to RBHS’ first drive of the game, which resulted in a three-and-out.
With four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, HCHS took the ball downfield in a series of running plays. Then on a quarterback scramble, the Crusaders found a receiver uncovered down field to set them up for a rushing touchdown soon after, giving the away team a 6-0 lead after a missed point.
Defensive line coach Jake Floyd said the goal of the Bruins’ defensive line was to “reset the line of scrimmage” and push the offensive line into the backfield.
“There were just some mental mistakes honestly,” Floyd said. “[There were] a couple of misalignments where we just shot ourselves in the foot.”
The Bruins responded before the first quarter closed with a touchdown pass to the back corner of the endzone from junior quarterback Brady Davidson to junior receiver Devin Holt.
HCHS scored once again in the second quarter off the back of several running plays, the last of which ended in a touchdown. After a short runback on the following punt, the Bruins were pinned inside their own ten yard line on a penalty. Junior receiver Drevyn Seamon was targeted on one attempt to gain a first down, but a dropped pass led to an RBHS punt that ended the half with a 13-7 deficit in favor of the Crusaders.
“I definitely played badly today,” Seamon said. “I mean we didn’t give up and I think we played well, but I had a couple dropped passes.”
Seamon said the Bruins had good focus, even when they were losing late, and that focus is what the team needs to stay in those kinds of games. A bad punt for HCHS in the third quarter resulted in an RBHS field goal by senior kicker Joey Scardina from 47 yards, shortening the Crusader lead to 13-10. Senior safety Cullen Snow said their errors early in the game put them in a hole and forced the Bruins to play from behind.
“You just have to move on from the loss and prepare for the next week,” Snow said. “We’ve got to watch what we did as a team, offensively and defensively and to get better.”
A host of quick defensive plays and a sack from senior linebacker Grayson Cutchlow put HCHS in a fourth and goal from the 31. The Crusaders opted to go for the first down rather than kicking a field goal, however, and launched a pass on a scramble for a touchdown with eight minutes left in the quarter.
The following RBHS drives were subject to penalties that pushed the team just out of range of first down. With four minutes left on the clock, the Bruins made it to the HCHS 20 yard line where Scardina missed wide on a field goal, keeping the score at 20-10 to finish the game.
“The biggest thing tonight we did well was [the operation of the] defense as a whole, and that’s something you’re going to see from the entire squad for weeks to come,” Floyd said. “This [game] is over, so next week we’re going to try to really hone in on the good things and take a step forward and get better.”
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