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Varsity Bruins On Wrong Side Of Final Score
Brown
Varsity Bruin Tim Brown, 21, carries the ball for a nice gain in second quarter football action at home on Friday, Sept. 5 against the Denair Coyotes. A similar play in the series, a sweep around the right end, resulted in a Riverbank touchdown late in the second quarter. - photo by Ric McGinnis/The News

There were not many bright spots in the Riverbank High varsity football game on Friday. The host Bruins were soundly defeated by a score of 54-8 by the visiting Denair Coyotes in the Sept. 5 contest.

To the team’s credit, they played with the same intensity at the end of the game as in its opening minutes. However, RHS consistently had trouble against Denair’s gadget play kickoff, where they squib-kicked through the front line of the receiving team. At every instance, and there were many kickoffs, the ball always seemed to scoot away from those Bruins closest to it. Several Coyote kicks were recovered for substantial gains in the first three quarters. It wasn’t until the final frame that Riverbank received a normal kickoff following a Denair score to run back.

The varsity Bruins finally scored toward the end of the second quarter, with a sweep by junior running back Tim Brown, followed by a well-executed sweep all the way to the right sideline by running back Roy Rodgers, for a two-point conversion in the darkened end zone. A light pole failure in the middle of the second frame left a quarter of the field in the dark. The lights were restored by halftime.

With the eight-point Riverbank tally, the half ended with a score of 40-8.

In the third quarter, another technical glitch added a light spot to an otherwise grim evening of football. The automated sprinkler system started up in the south half of the field and play was suspended until the problem was resolved. School officials scrambled to shut it off, and play was resumed after a brief delay.

Another high spot on football Friday was the return of the RHS band and drill team with its first halftime performance of the season.

The JV Bruins also suffered at the hands of Delhi, on the short side of a 26-6 score in the early game.

Next, the Bruin squads hit the road, as they travel to Delhi on Sept. 12, then Linden on Sept. 19. Following a bye on Sept. 26 and a game at Livermore Valley Prep on Saturday, Oct. 4, football action returns for a Homecoming game against Modesto Christian on Oct. 10.