St. Francis cruises past Riverside-Brookfield

With only five returning starters from last year's team, St. Francis coach Greg Purnell was not quite sure what to expect from his youthful group when it opened the season on the road at Riverside-Brookfield on Friday.

What the Spartans showed is that they can get the job done despite the relative lack of experience. Led by a pair of senior running backs - Bobby Miller and Ben Trimble - St. Francis rolled to a 34-7 nonconference victory over the Bulldogs in front of a packed house in Brookfield.

Miller scored on runs of 1, 2 and 12 yards, and Trimble turned in the highlight run of the night when he raced 66 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.

"The offensive line opened up huge holes and gave me lots of running space," said Miller, who piled up 64 yards on 15 carries. "That gave me a chance to get to the second level. They had great drive off the ball.

"It is great to get the first one (win of the season). It really paves the way for the rest of the season."

Purnell was particularly impressed with the team's first drive of the season. St. Francis (1-0) marched 60 yards on 9 plays to score when Miller punched it in up the middle from 2 yards out. He also had a 17-yard run during that drive.

"Anytime you can come out and score the first drive of the season with young kids without a mistake, that is really a tribute to the young men to be able to do that," Purnell said.

The Spartans also were opportunistic at times. After scoring on that first drive, their pressure forced R-B (0-1) into a mistake on a punt when a bad snap forced the punter to have to fall on the ball at the St. Francis 1-yard line. Miller scored again, and after Matt Krese's extra point, the score was already 14-0 with 6:19 to play in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs managed to cut the score with a touchdown run by Nick Callahan early in the second quarter. But less than a minute later is when Trimble sliced his way through the R-B defense to get those points back.

"The guards kicked out and made a beautiful block," said Trimble, who finished with 96 yards on 5 carries. "I read the block and ran it up field. I saw the safety coming over to pursue so I cut up the field and saw daylight."

Purnell thought Trimble's score couldn't have come at a better time. On that run he singled out the blocking of wing back Jeff Rutkowski, tight end Nick Pfeiffer and guard Mike Stolte.

"(The Spartans) play hard and they play fast," said first-year R-B coach Jason Rech.

St. Francis also got 2 interceptions from defensive back Jack Murphy and Mike Yanan had a pick too.