The562’s coverage of Long Beach Wilson Athletics is sponsored by Joel Bitonio, Class of 2009.
Prior to Friday night’s showdown between Wilson (3-1) and Dana Hills (4-0), Bruins head coach Raudric Curtis said his team should be fine if they could just play their game and limit their mistakes.
Unfortunately for Curtis and his Bruins, the miscues piled up and proved too much to overcome in a 41-7 loss against the visiting Dolphins.
“I take a lot of responsibility for this,” Curtis said. “The losses help me reflect on our programming, how we’re putting the pieces together. Ball security, the snaps, just need a lot more time for us. Those things that we maybe took for granted. We had a couple centers kind of switching, and it’s really hard to get the rhythm like that, but I take that on us. We’ve got to get more people reps that could potentially go in, because you’ve got to deal with injuries. So that’s not on them. That’s definitely on me.”
After Dana Hills scored on their opening drive, thanks to a 50-yard catch and run by Nicholas Newsom, a Wilson fumble on the next possession set the Dolphins up with prime field position. That led to a second TD toss by sophomore QB Carter Anderson, who connected with Trevor Dean to make it 14-0 Dana Hills.
But on the ensuing kickoff, it was redemption for Wilson sophomore Kyle Harris. After losing the fumble on offense, he made a big play in his next opportunity, going 87 yards up the home sideline for a Bruins touchdown. That cut the deficit in half, and gave Wilson a needed shot of life.
“There are still tons of positives to take from this,” said Curtis of the loss. “Kyle’s playing his heart out. Our guys are playing their hearts out. We as coaches have got to get back to the drawing board, to see how we get this team into their best light. But it’s going to take some character building. We’re going to have some adversity.”
After Harris’ kickoff return, Wilson was able to start building some momentum, but consecutive miscues by the offense put them in a hole. A low snap got by Bruins QB Mack Cooper, setting up a 3rd & 27. On that play, Cooper was blindsided on a sack and the ball popped free, with Dana Hills recovering it deep in Wilson territory.
The Dolphins again turned that field position into a touchdown, as Anderson connected with James Leicester for a short TD, giving Dana Hills the 21-7 advantage.
Wilson responded with a solid drive into Dolphins territory, but a false start on 4th & 1 pushed the Bruins back, and an incomplete pass gave the ball back to Dana Hills. The visitors were able to drive the field and a short TD plunge by Thompson Foulger made it 28-7 with just eight seconds left in the half.
On the ensuing kickoff, Harris got his hands on it and broke free for another kickoff return touchdown, which would have made it a 14-point game at the half. However, a costly holding penalty brought the play back and wiped the TD off the board.
Wilson had six penalties for 55 yards in that first half, but they had a major impact on the game. On the flip side, Dana Hills was called for only two penalties for 20 yards on the night.
In the second half, the Bruins got a takeaway by Jemel Grigsby who stepped in for an interception, but Wilson’s ensuing drive came up empty as Cooper’s pass was intercepted in the end zone on 2nd & Goal from the Dana Hills one-yard line.
The Dolphins were able to put the game away from there. Wilson punted on the first play of the fourth quarter and never got the ball back as the Dolphins drained the clock. Anderson was 20/28 for 267 yards and 4 TDs through the air, and Foulger ran it 16 times for 94 yards and a pair of scores.
“I have a ton of belief in this group. I have a ton of belief in these coaches,” said Curtis. “This is a game that’s uncharacteristic of us, but it’s going to build character for us having to see this. Whether we won the game or lost the game, the goal was to get better tomorrow. So that’s where we’ve got to stay.”
Wilson will get an extra week to look at film and work on things with a bye week. They’ll be back in action for their Moore League opener at Millikan on Sept. 26.
