Redcats still searching for win No. 1

Bay View faced a Milwaukee Riverside team that went to the WIAA Division 1 state football semifinals last year, but was hit hard by graduation, in its 2007 Milwaukee City Conference opener on Sept. 7.

The Redcats were in search of a mulligan after suffering a 45-0 drubbing Sept. 7 at South Stadium.

"Absolutely anything that could go wrong in a high school football game all went wrong in that game, from the opening kickoff return," Bay View coach Gary Griffin said. "The ball lands behind our back wedge, and everyone stands there and looks at it. We were holding (Riverside quarterback Shane) Covington to probably negative -31 yards in the first half, and then he gets two quarterback sneaks for about 100 yards and two touchdowns (in the second half).

"We had nine sacks, and he never got passed the line of scrimmage and then all of a sudden in the second half, they saw something we didn't see or something, and he ran right up the middle of the field."

Bay View was stricken by the penalty bug, costing more than 70 yards, and the Redcats, who started eight sophomores and three freshmen, suddenly showed their youth.

"I won't deal with kids without character," Griffin said. "If our older kids can't find themselves, they won't play. We work ungodly hours to make sure they're prepared, and our only reward is for them to play hard.

"You can't tell me that Riverside is anything like Pius or Preble, and we played hard in both of those games. In the Riverside game, we gave up a turnover on the kickoff and never looked back. I used three timeouts in the first quarter and it didn't matter. It's a mentality that I refuse to be a part of."

Bay View suited up just 34 players for the contest, and both of its inside linebackers were freshmen.

"And I'm talking 5-foot-6, 150-pound freshmen," Griffin said, "but they run to the ball."

Cameron Brown scored twice, and Covington ran the ball in twice and threw for another score for Riverside (1-2) while Bay View fell to 0-3.