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Non-League Finale In Loss Column For Bruins
9-18 RIV Football3
Sophomore Tim Brown takes a carry up field for a touchdown. He had the only score on the night for the Bruins in a Sept. 20 loss to Linden to end the preseason campaign. - photo by IKE DODSON/ THE NEWS

With one major weapon – Dominic Jack – lost in last week’s Homecoming game, the Riverbank Bruins have had to do so re-tooling on offense and are still on the search for the right formula as they prepare for Trans-Valley League football action.

The varsity squad took a 42-10 loss on Friday night, the visiting Linden Lions scoring 27 unanswered points in the second quarter to put the game out of reach early.

The Lions outscored Riverbank 8-3 in the first quarter, with a touchdown and 2-point conversion, while the host Bruins got on the board with a 27-yard field goal off the foot of Fabian Arana.

A four touchdown onslaught by the Lions in the second quarter, with just one missed extra point in four tries, gave them 27 points in the frame and helped them build up a 35-3 halftime advantage.

Riverbank got an outstanding game from Tim Brown in the loss, and he took in the Bruins only touchdown on a rushing play in the third quarter. He had a total of eight carries for 142 yards total on the night, with his longest run an 80-yard scamper. Arana added the point after on the Brown TD, but Linden also scored a touchdown and extra point in the third for the 42-10 final. Neither team got on the board in the final quarter.

For the Bruins, Arana was a monster with 15 tackles, Orlando Gutierrez added 14 and Eddie Guardado was also in double digits with 11 tackles. Jorge Jimenez added eight.

Austin Wey had eight carries for the Bruins for 22 yards.

Linden countered with a pair of scores each by quarterback Colin Jacobs and leading rusher Bailey Wright (148 yards total). Jacobs had 54 yards passing and rushed for 60 himself for a total of 114 offensive yards.

Riverbank ends the preseason campaign at 2-2, starting off with a pair of wins (Waterford, Denair) before falling to Delhi in the Homecoming game on Sept. 13 and to Linden this week. Now, they prepare for a run in the tough Trans-Valley League and will be home to host winless Orestimba in the league opener on Friday, Sept. 27.

Orestimba, which went 0-4 in preseason, has losses to Gustine (17-14), Mariposa County (32-6), East Union (63-14) and Le Grand (50-6) on its record. Riverbank has allowed 106 points while scoring 86 and will be looking to get off on the right foot in league play, mixing the pass and rush and hoping to exploit weaknesses in the Warrior game come Friday night. Kickoff will be about 7:30 p.m.