Joshua Cedro

Sophomore receiver Kyree Brown returns a kickoff against Terra Nova on August 25, 2023.

Friday, Aug. 25, SCHS played against Terra Nova to kick off their first football game of the season. When SCHS previously played Terra Nova, they lost 42-21.

Senior Jeremiah Karongo believes SCHS has an advantage with a new coach, Nelson Gifford, and they can win the game.

“This team got blown out last year (by Terra Nova). Everyone wants to buy time this year,” Karongo said.

As the new coach, Gifford strives to bring a new perspective and mindset to the team by helping players thrive and get recognized for their hard work. He hopes to help the team grow and gain more by learning from their mistakes and experiences.

Revising old plays is a strategy Gifford uses to adjust and improve the team.

“We look at the previous week’s film. We see what we did. We see where we can improve,” Gifford said. “We make our decisions on how we want to practice to address those issues for the upcoming opponent.”

The Bruins had a rough start on Friday, with a score of 13-0. SCHS began making a comeback when senior Matthew Conklin tossed the ball and it soared through the sky until Karongo caught it for a first down. A hand off to senior Matthew J. Nguyen brought SCHS back into the game with the score at 13-6.

Alongside the game, SCHS spirit squad made the crowd go wild by prompting them to make some noise. They threw bracelets, necklaces and glasses into the crowd, making an excessive amount of cheering.

At halftime, the score was 20-7, with Terra Nova in the lead. SCHS needed to reassess their game plan.

Coming back from halftime, sophomore Kyree Brown received and pushed all the way to the 50 yard line, followed by Nguyen who carried to the 30.

Karongo again with an amazing play, made a touchdown that SCHS desperately needed.

Finally, senior Joseph Manueli scored a touchdown causing the score to rapidly rise in SCHS’s favor. Karongo finished off the game by making the last play. Terra Nova, however, won with a score of 52-42.

Although SCHS lost, they plan to learn and move on and progress.

“We’re just trying to do the best we can in that moment,” Gifford said. “And irrespective of the score, whether we’re up or down or tied, we’re just going to try to do our best in that moment.”