Junior Dan Ruffrage gets the ball in the backfield, and instead of running downfield he chucks the ball up to junior wide receiver Thomas Vossler for a 31-yard touchdown — the Bombers’ third touchdown in their first three possessions against Springfield College on Saturday.

“As seasons wear on and teams get to see you more and more in films, it gets harder and harder to move the ball just because good defenses have seen what you do,” Assistant Coach Gabe Luvara said. “So you try to give them little things like that to give you a spark.”

Senior tri-captain and quarterback Brian Grastorf said the Blue and Gold have been able to put points up early because of play-calling and execution as well as the energy the team has at the beginning of games.

“When we come out to a game, we try to come out flying,” he said. “We try to set the tone right away, running the ball and throwing the ball. We try to come out and just control the line of scrimmage to try to get some points on the board in the first drive.”

Ruffrage said the team’s pregame routine also helps the Bombers get on the same page.

“We run some plays as a team before that we may open up with,” Ruffrage said. “That really helps us out.”

Grastorf also said scoring touchdowns when they get into the red zone is the biggest part of scoring early. On the season, the Blue and Gold are 24–35 on red zone touchdowns and 31–35 on red zone field goals.

“When we get in the red zone we want to score,” he said. “We don’t want to settle for field goals, so just making the right reads, and these guys run great routes with the linemen blocking for us. We put it in as soon as we can.”

While the South Hill squad quickly scored 20 points against Springfield, they only managed to score six points the rest of the game as the Bombers lost 47–26. The past two games, the Bombers have scored touchdowns on their opening drives and have picked up five first-half touchdowns but have only managed one second-half touchdown.

Luvara said when the game is even, it is easier to score because it gives the Bombers more opportunities to mix up the play-calling. In the Bombers’ win over Frostburg State University two weeks ago, they ran the ball 40 times and threw the ball 30 times, but in their loss to Springfield, they were forced to throw the ball more. Luvara said he credits opposing defenses for being able to slow down the Bombers’ production.

“We got caught in a tough situation in the fourth quarter last week because we were behind a couple scores,” Luvara said. “Then you become one-dimensional, and when you play a good team and you’re one-dimensional, it’s very hard.”

Ruffrage said in order to bounce back, the Bombers need to stay focused on scoring the entire game.

“When we scored early in the game we may have gotten a little complacent,” Ruffrage said. “It’s definitely our job these next couple weeks to not settle for what we’ve done and just keep pushing the ball and try to score as many points as we can.”