Giving the Bruins a 4-2 record entering the back end of the season, RBHS defeated St. Mary’s South Side Catholic High School (SMSSCHS) 28-21 at home Friday, Sept. 29.
Winning the coin toss, the Bruins deferred possession to SMSSCHS. Within the first two minutes of the game, junior safety Mason Snider intercepted a tipped ball at the Dragons’ 27-yard line. Junior receiver Drevyn Seamon then ran the ball on a sweep for a touchdown.
On the Bruins’ following possession, Seamon scored a second rushing touchdown, this time from 25 yards out. Wide receiver coach Chris Stehle said that the Bruins played well and their speed is strong, though there are still some things the receiver room is working on.
“Our wide receivers are very fast,” Stehle said. “I mean Dre[vyn Seamon], Riley [Rolwing], and Devin [Holt] are all four by one state champions [for RBHS track]. That’s something a lot of schools don’t have. […] So as an offense, we’re still growing and trying to figure out what our ceiling is, but we’ll get there.”
Entering the second quarter, the Bruins worked their way down to the SMSSCHS 20-yard line, where they opted to go for a first down, but were stopped by the Dragons’ defense. On the following drive, the Dragons threw their second interception of the night as senior safety Cullen Snow came down with the ball and ran it back for a third Bruin touchdown. Immediately after, SMSSCHS forced the RBHS defensive line through a series of run plays that resulted in the visiting team’s first touchdown of the night with 5:37 left in the half.
The fourth and final touchdown for RBHS came off the back of a second interception by Snow, setting the Bruins up on the Dragons’ 19-yard line. After a couple runs and one short pass to senior tight end Gray Fisher, RBHS began the half up 28-7. Senior guard Lars Perkins said the team prioritizes focus every week and that the Bruins have great potential this year.
“We have a lot of heart,” Perkins said. “We just need to unlock it. We have so much talent and I know we’re gonna do great things.”
Both teams’ defenses stepped up in the third quarter, keeping the score at 28-7. Junior cornerback Donivan Taylor echoed Perkins’ sentiment and said he too believes focus and effort are an important part of practice and game time. When both are devoted, Taylor said, the team becomes “unstoppable.”
“On defense, everyone trusts each other to do their job,” Taylor said. “I think that [has] a big impact on how our defense has played so far this year.”
RBHS’ defense was tested in the fourth quarter when SMSSCHS completed passes for two touchdowns on consecutive drives, bringing the Dragons within one score of the Bruins with 1:32 left on the clock. RBHS then recovered an attempted onside kick, but went three and out on the possession. A shanked punt by junior punter Matthew Wheeler then gave SMSSCHS the ball on the 35-yard line with less than thirty seconds left in the game.
The Bruin defense played deep and to the sidelines, shutting down the passing game. With a short pass and run with less than ten seconds left, RBHS defeated the Dragons 28-21.
“We left a lot on the field tonight,” Stehle said. “We’ve felt like that a lot this season. Just little errors, like penalties that kill us, or a missed block or a dropped pass. We just have to put complete drives together and complete quarters in a complete game. […] Once we put our offense together completely, sky’s the limit for this team.”
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