Riverbank’s varsity football team has closed out its preseason campaign, suffering their first loss, falling to nearby Beyer of Modesto on Friday, Sept. 18. But now the Bruins get ready to start the Mother Lode League schedule, and they will head out on the road to face Linden in a 7 p.m. contest set for Friday, Sept. 25.
They were one of many Riverbank teams seeing action this past week.
The Bruins fell to the host Patriots by a 31-19 final, getting rushing touchdowns from Daniel Orunja and Cody Martin, along with Orunja pulling in a nine-yard pass for a touchdown.
Orunja had 17 carries for 122 yards on the night; Jamie Gabert had 20 carries for 100 yards and Martin had seven carries for 29 yards. Alexander Rodriguez had one catch for 64 yards.
Defensively, Lucien Hodge had 12 tackles and Orunja had seven but the Bruins just couldn’t quite hold off the Patriots. In JV action at Beyer, the host team defeated Riverbank by an 18-7 final.
The varsity squad went 2-1 in their preseason games and did put up a positive point differential, with 66 points for and 43 points against in their three contests.
CROSS COUNTRY
Jacob Myers Park was the venue on Wednesday, Sept. 16 and the ‘home course’ proved to be a good place to run for the cross country Bruins in the first cluster meet for the Mother Lode League. Three of the four Riverbank teams took first place honors, as the varsity boys, varsity girls and JV boys won their divisions. The JV girls finished second.
For the varsity boys, in the 5000-meter run, Armando Garcia took first overall in 16:40.5. There were four Bruins in the top 10. Giancarlo Reyes was fourth, 17:38.1; Yael Montesinos, seventh, 18:01.8; Spencer Osako, eighth, 18:20.8. Riverbank’s team score was 24; Summerville took second with 56 points.
Zuri Golding took first place overall in the varsity girls 5000 meters, running the course in 21:06.4; followed by Lesliee Valdez, fourth, 21:52.3; Antoinette Wilkerson, seventh, 23:18.3; Crystal Vigil, ninth, 23:27.6; and Margherita Majer rounding out the top 10, in 23:50.1. Riverbank took first place with 31 points; Calaveras was second with 44 on the afternoon.
Also taking first place team honors, the JV boys ran a two-mile course. Landon Jeffcoat was first in 12:25.3. Benjamin Ruiz was third, Francis Osako finished fourth and Alex Mangiapane was fifth.
The JV girls also ran a two-mile route and were paced by Charisma Abieanga, second overall in 14:43.6. Andrea Lopez was third and Emily Guzman was fifth.
Next up for the Bruin cross country team, they will travel to Calaveras High School on Wednesday, Sept. 30 for the second Mother Lode League Meet.
FLAG FOOTBALL
Wins have been hard to come by this season, and the varsity flag football girls fell in another contest, losing a 31-0 decision to Mariposa County on Sept. 16. They were scheduled to play at Gustine this week.
GOLF
In action on Sept. 15, the Lady Bruin golfers defeated Calaveras, 193-219, in a match played at Ripon Golf Course.
VOLLEYBALL
It was a 3-0 shutout loss to Enochs on the home court for Riverbank’s varsity volleyball girls on Sept. 14. Their next match, they won a set but still fell, losing 3-1 to visiting Central Valley on Sept. 15. They were scheduled to face off with Summerville in Mother Lode League play on Sept. 22 and will be at Calaveras on Sept. 24.
