Wilson won their first game by 43 points, and lost their second by 29—fortunately for Bruins fans, it was Dr. Jekyll who showed up and not Mr. Hyde in their 32-10 defeat of La Serna at home. The offense was dynamic, and the defense stifling in the second half, as Wilson forced a Lancers turnover and four three-and-outs to close the game.
Wilson’s goal was to get back to basics this week, and they did that, showing proficiency on every level. Offensively, Brandon Robertson toted the load on the ground, with 24 carries for 114 yards; sophomore quarterback Brett Harper looked incredibly sharp, starting the game 5-for-5 for 117 yards and two TDs; the Bruins even got a little trickery going to their benefit, with a fake punt that connected for a 49-yard touchdown. Defensively, they let the undersized Lancers have too much space in the first half, but they clamped down in the second, only allowing 46 yards of offense.
The scoring started early, as Harper showed off his arm on his first attempt, a 56-yard touchdown down the right sideline to Josh Bell; Bell made an unbelievable play on the ball, grabbing the ball over the back of the Lancer defender, then pirouetting behind him to stay inbounds. The Wilson defense was in bend-don’t-break mode early, allowing two red zone drives to the Lancers to open the game, but holding them to just three points. At midfield, leading 8-3 (after Harper ran in the two-point conversion), Wilson lined up to punt it on fourth down, but instead direct-snapped it to Ezell Ruffin, who threw the 49-yard strike to Bell (Bell finished with four catches for 137 yards and two TDs).
With that pass, Ruffin, one of the more dynamic area players, has now scored on kick returns, receptions, rushes, passes, and interceptions. “I like moving around the field,” he said after the game, “Because it gives my teammates a chance to shine at other positions, too—it keeps things interesting.”
The Lancers scored again before halftime on a 35-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Buenrostro (16-for-30 for 175 yards) to Angel Estrada. In the second half it was all Bruins, as they posted 17 unanswered points, off a Harper-to-Steven Hauptman TD, a field goal, and a 55-yard Ruffin punt return for a TD to seal the win. In other words: everything went the Bruins’ way. The only question is, can they roll that progress forward into next week, with a higher level of opponent in Los Al, on the road. Harper exuded confidence after the game, saying, “We just need to keep getting better in practice this week, and put forth a better effort in the first half, not just the second.”
His coach, Mario Morales agrees. “We were very happy with the effort in the second half. With a short week before Los Al, we just need to remind ourselves that we can’t get too complicated. We need to play hard for all four quarters.”