Brookings-Harbor High School’s Elmer Bankus field ended two seasons of dark quiet Friday nights with full stands, roaring crowds and of course Friday night lights, as the Bruins opened their 2022/23 football season hosting the Coquille Red Devils in their first home game since 2019.
BHHS varsity head coach Shaun Bavaro and his Bruin football team confidently ran onto the field to an excited home town crowd full of energy and anticipation after a long hiatus, ready to face a equally confident Coquille team, each eager to set the tone to start their season.
The Bruins struggled early as they worked the kinks out of the system and put some game time experience under their belts. The Red Devils came out playing power football early, testing the Bruins line, stretching the defense and pounding the ball up the middle.
Coquille would strike first, driving over 60 yards before pushing the ball across the endzone and converting the 2 point conversion to take a 0-8 lead with 8:00 minutes left in the first quarter. An early Bruin turnover would give the ball back to the Red Devils, who would put the ball in the endzone once again, to take a 0-16 lead after the 1st period of play.
Now, with a full period of play on their resume, the Bruins defense filled the gaps and turned the 2nd period into a defensive battle, holding the Red Devils out of the endzone, before putting together an offensive drive of their own. The Bruins would put together a long sustained drive, attacking Coquille with sweeps to the edge and passes over the middle before punching the ball into the endzone on a 2 yard dive by #8, senior Kallen Christensen, making the score 6-16. The Bruins would continue to hold the Red Devils offense and give themselves another chance at the endzone, but would fall short just before the half-time break.
The start of the second half was much like the 2nd period, two defenses denying each others offense, determined to set the tone. But the story of the 3rd period would be penalties, and it would be two costly penalties that would end a serious Bruin threat after a long sustained drive, ending the 3rd with no scoring by either team.
In the 4th period, the Red Devils would wrestle away control of the line of scrimmage, and relentlessly pound the ball up the middle. The Bruin defensive line and linebackers fearlessly threw themselves at the Coquille run game, holding the Red Devils to just small gains as time ran off the clock. Coquille would go on to score twice in the period and take a 6-31 win with them back to Coquille.
The Bruins will host the 0-1 Lakeview Honkers, who are coming off a 3 point loss to North Valley, in a rare Saturday afternoon day game, next Saturday, September 10th, at 3:00pm.
