The Lopez football team dominated the game against Clallum Bay last Saturday, despite several penalties.

Early in the first quarter, both Tommy Kramer and Shaun Samuel carried the ball for good offensive gains. Once the Bruins had the ball the Lopez defense went to work, sacking the quarterback and bringing down the receiver on the third down behind the line of scrimmage. The Bruins kicked off to the Lobos and not even penalties in the form of a personal foul – a helmet to helmet contact penalty, which was a 15 yard loss of momentum – could stop the team’s forward progress. Colton Jardine tossed the pigskin to Mica Arps and the Lobos scored and then made good with a well-placed pass on the two point conversion.

The Bruins answered quickly however, maintaining possession of the ball and relentlessly moving down field with consistent gains of yardage for new first downs. Kramer, Michael Lease, Arps and Tucker Hoffman stopped receivers time and time again, but the Bruins scored a touchdown and grabbed the extra two points. At half time, the score was still tied 8-8.

The third quarter opened with Lopez kicking off to Clallam Bay, but the Bruins turned it over quickly and Jardine sprinted a magnificent 71 yards on the carry, running it into the end zone with not one Bruin in sight. The two point conversion was stopped by the Bruins, making the score 14-8. The Bruins answered with another touchdown, and then the Lobos were hampered by a personal foul – a block in the back – which results in a loss of yardage. Lopez answered with an 18-yard run by Kramer into the end zone and a two point scoring pass caught by Mica Arps, for the game-winning score of 22-16.

Offensive statistics for the Lobos were impressive. Kramer had eight carries for 55 yards and a touchdown, while Jardine, quarterback, had eight carries for 121 yards and a touchdown. Total rushing for the Lobos resulted in 207 yards and two touchdowns.

In the air, Jardine was seven out of ten for 103 yards and one touchdown pass. Alex Buffum caught two passes for 57 yards while Kramer had two catches for 20 yards.

Defensively, the linebackers had a great day; Kevin Dengler had 12 tackles, many of them aimed at the offense’s special teams, Tucker Hoffman had 11 tackles, while Kramer and Samuel had seven tackles each and Arps had six tackles.

“Defensively,” Coach Berg said, “we had some good, tough stands; the guys really did not back down from the goal line. But we also had a couple of penalties, one of which cost us 38 yards and 25 yards respectively. Those are expensive penalties. Still, the defensive line held their ground several times against players who were much bigger than us. That’s a plus.”

The Lopez football team plays in an away game on Oct. 17, Friday, at Neah Bay.