Head coach Shaun Bavaro and the Brookings-Harbor varsity football team opened their pre-season play Friday evening, Taking on the Phoenix Pirates who made the 3 hour 130 mile trip to the coast.
The match-up became a tale of two halves, as the first half had both teams go back and forth as they looked to get their seasons off with a win.
The Bruins would start the first half of play receiving the kick-off which was received by senior, #42, Kevin Hooper, and returned to the Phoenix 32 yard line, giving the Bruins excellent field position. But the Bruins would the football on their first offensive play of the game that would be returned by Phoenix 70 yards for a Pirate touchdown.
Two plays later, the Bruins would run a reverse, and junior, Owen Austin, #10, got the edge and turned the corner for a lengthy Bruin touchdown to tie the score at 7-7.
In the second quarter, it was big plays and big hits. Both teams tightened up their defense to start the second quarter, stopping drives and forcing punts as they worked for field position. Phoenix would break through first, putting together a long drive with 5:47 in the second, getting in the endzone to give the Pirates a 7-13 lead.
But the Bruins would strike back quickly just over a minute and a half later, hitting a 35 yard pass for a 22 yard touchdown to make the score 14-13, Bruins. Seconds later, Phoenix was crossing the goal line for another touchdown on the kick-off return, to reclaim the lead once again at 14-19.
Again, just seconds later, the Bruins would receive the kick, run a quick pass to the flat to senior, Kevin Hooper, #42, who would go 70 yards for the Bruin touchdown as the Bruins reclaimed the lead with just seconds left in the half, and hit the 2 point conversion to take a late 22-19 lead. Phoenix would then get the ball in field goal range to tie the score at 22-22 at the half.
The second half was a different story for the Bruins. Phoenix had lost their starting quarterback to injury in the first half of play and came out onto the field with a completely different gameplan in the third quarter, catching the Bruins off guard and quickly took the lead in the third, taking the opening kick-off and driving downfield to score on the first possession of the second half.
An untimely special teams mistake would cost the Bruins on their next possession with the ball going over the punter head on the snap, giving the Pirates excellent field position deep in Bruin territory, and just like that, it was 22-35, Pirates.
The Pirates would stop the Bruin offense on their next possession before driving again for another touchdown, extending their lead to 22-42. They would then successfully attempt on on-side kick, regaining possession at mid-field and driving down for a field goal, making the score.22-45.
After the Pirates scored again in the fourth, the Bruins would put together a long drive late in the fourth putting the ball in the endzone on a dive by #34, senior Jonathan Devereaux, to make the final score, 29-52.
“We didn’t execute on both sides of the ball in the third, over playing to the outside instead stringing out those plays to sideline defensively and not holding our blocks on offense.” coach Bavaro told the Compass after the game. “It was an exciting game in first half, we just came out to flat in the third.”
The Bruins will be on the road next week making the 230 mile trip to Pleasant Hill to challenge the Billies in another pre-season match-up with kick-off scheduled for 7:00pm.
