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Ripon Too Much For Bruins In Football Finale
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The challenges the Riverbank Bruins walked into their final football game carrying were too heavy to overcome as the Bruins closed out the Trans-Valley League schedule with a 58-12 loss to the Ripon Indians on Friday, Nov. 9 in Ripon. The Indian rushing attack had its way in the TVL finale, rolling over the Bruins for 476 yards rushing in the final contest of the season for both squads. Ripon jumped out on the Bruins early behind a 7-yard touchdown run from Ryan Baker in the game's opening quarter. Riverbank would respond with two scores of their own, but could do nothing to keep pace with the Indians' 544 yards of total offense. The Bruins closed out the 2007 campaign with a 3-7 record overall, and a 1-4 mark in the intensely competitive TVL. Riverbank's three wins on the season tie the amount of victories the program was able to win over the past two seasons combined, so there were some things to smile about this season. Riverbank received a tremendous effort from seniors Evan Gunther, Rodney Robbins as well as Anthony Sahagun. Cory Bigelow and Marcus Garcia both stepped up tremendously for the Bruins down the final stretch of the TVL schedule as well. Head coach Paul Smith has seen his players work together well, coming away with some wins and gaining some confidence along the way. Hopefully, the Bruins will parlay that into some momentum for the 2008 season. And while they aim to improve on the 1-4 league mark, gaining ground on the Escalon's and Modesto Christian's of the conference will undoubtedly be a difficult task. The TVL will be represented in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division V playoffs by the Hughson Huskies, Modesto Christian Crusaders and the No. 1 seed Escalon Cougars. Hughson grabbed the number two seek and Modesto Christian is third. Action will get underway Nov. 16 with Hughson traveling to Central Catholic, Modesto Christian paying a visit to Caleveras and the Cougars playing host to Bret Harte High. All games will begin at 7:30 p.m.