By Kalvin D. Perron
Staff Reporter
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BRIMLEY - For a third straight game, the Brimley Bays allowed their opponent to run up a large first half lead. On a positive note, and also for a third straight game, the Bays defense stopped those teams from finding the end zone again in the second half. However, the Bays lost those three games. According to Bays Head Coach Brian Reattoir, showing up to play one half of football is not a recipe for winning.
"It hurts," he said of his team's dismal first half performance against the Mid Pen Wolverines on Friday, Sept. 30. "We have got to show up to play in the first half. We haven't done that for three games now. It's almost impossible to win when we're spotting team's points and trying to come from behind."
The Bays began showing signs of another collapse early on in the contest when the Wolverines marched downfield to their 27-yard line. Facing fourth down and a long 13, Wolverines' Quarterback Carl Branstrom was able to evade the Bays defenders on a bootleg and walk into the end zone virtually unscathed. Mid Pen found themselves up 8-0 at the 7:02 mark of the first quarter after they punched in the two-point conversion.
The Bays threatened to keep it close early on after a Seth Schofield bomb found Jeff Graham streaking down the sideline for a 29-yard touchdown at the 11:14 mark of the second quarter. Even though Schofield's touchdown strike made it 8-6, the Bays offense would seemingly collapse and not find the end zone again in the first half. The defense followed suit, allowing Mid Pen to rattle off 36 unanswered points and to extend their lead 44-6 going into the half.
The Bays did manage to put up 22 points in the second half, but their effort proved too little, too late. The Wolverines went on to hand Brimley their fourth loss with the 44-28 victory, dropping the Bays record to a disappointing 2-4.
Plagued all season by injuries, and by players who were unable to suit up due to either academic or disciplinary reasons, Reattoir said he could only imagine what might have been if he had all the players on the field he had intended. With high hopes of winning the conference coming into the season, he said it has been difficult to deal with the way things have unfolded.
"It's a shame. It really is," Reattoir said. "We should have had an excellent ball team this year. We just couldn't get everyone out there on the field together. But I'm proud of the way the other guys stepped up."
With the strong left arm of Junior Seth Schofield and the powerful running of fellow Junior Jerrod Dillon, the future of the Bays offense looks to be in good hands. In just his second start since taking over for an injured Travis Lynn, Schofield threw for 258 yards and four touchdowns on 17-28 passing. Jerrod Dillon, in just his first game of the season, amassed 79 yards on the ground on 18 carries. Jeff Graham added six receptions for 122 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Cody Robbins and Jordan Dillon each had a touchdown catch.
Defensively, the Bays were led by Jerrod Dillon with 12 stops and Steve Phillips with 11 tackles and a sack. Chris York added nine tackles and a sack, and Tom Watchorn contributed five tackles and two sacks.
The Bays next game will be on Oct. 7 at home against the undefeated Cedarville Trojans.
