It's a plus having two running backs who are effective, with totally different running styles. That's the luxury Braden River has. The Pirates have tailback Jajuan Bell, who's a straight-ahead, grind-it-out toter. Then, there's Rueben Roderick, who's the slasher of the pair. Bell and Roderick pounded and sliced the Bruins' defense as host Braden River cruised to a 42-28 victory Friday.
"Our offensive line did a nice job out there," Pirates coach Josh Hunter said. "Once Jajuan got in there I thought he played hard and Rueben did a good job in the first quarter filling in for Jajuan in the first quarter. But we are leaving yards and scores out there, and we can't do that."
Bayshore (0-3) fumbled the opening kickoff of the game and Braden River recovered it at the 14-yard line. The ensuing play, Roderick ran to his left - making four Bruins whiff on the tackle - and scored, giving the Pirates a 7-0 lead. He turned another Bayshore fumbled into a 22-yard touchdown run. He had nine carries for 79 in the first period before giving way to Bell.
After two weeks of being held scoreless, the Bruins woke up.
Bayshore marched 92 yards on 16 plays and 6:00 as Zach Foster scored a 2-yard run to close the Pirates lead to 21-7.
"The offensive line stepped up and played well," Bruins coach Jean P. Gordon said.
But, Bell shut the door on any chance of a Bruins comeback. His 82-yard run with 0:43 seconds remaining in the half put the Pirates up 28-7.
Bell finished with 220 yards on 26 carries and three touchdowns.
It was Braden River's first home game of the season, and the Pirates committed 16 penalties for 114 yards. You would have thought the Pirates (2-1) lost, because Hunter was in no mood to celebrate.
"This is ridiculous," he said. "We are still making too many mistake. It will be taken care of (Saturday). We caught breaks, so we could overcome it. If we go to Arcadia DeSoto next week and do the same thing we are getting beat 56-0, and I refuse to let our kids self-destruct and implode like that."
Bruins quarterback Dustin Linderman passed was 9 of 13 for 100 yards, and running back Alex Jackson led the way with 60 yards on 11 carries and touchdown.
Besides the two early fumbles, the Bruins looked like a much different team than the past two weeks.
"You take away the two early mistakes and we played hard," Bayshore coach Jean P. Gordon said. "They got their butts kicked the last two weeks and they could have dropped their heads, but they didn't, and I'm extremely proud of that fact."
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