WELLSBURG – With a senior dominated line-up that enters the season healthy and ready to roar, Brooke dominated on both sides of the football Friday night, with an offense that moved up and down the field and a defense that limited Ripley to just 73 total yards of offense while recording five sacks.

Quarterback Braelyn Sperringer threw for 154 yards and three touchdowns while senior classmate Tyler Wise dominated on the defensive side, while also blocking a punt, as the Bruins ran up 359 total yards on the night in steamrolling the Vikings by a 48-0 margin on Paul “Bud” Billiard Field at Brooke Memorial Stadium.

Coach Mac McLean’s Brooke squad will have little time to celebrate the season-opening victory with a trip to Wintersville to take on Indian Creek on the slate for Thursday night.

“There are definitely some things we need to clean up on offense, but I could not be prouder of our defense and how they smothered Ripley (Friday),” McLean said.

“We did have some big plays on offense, just a few things that need tightened up.”

After Ripley failed to do any damage after taking over at the Bruins’ 37, the visitors were forced to punt only to see Wise bust through the line and block the kick with Brooke recovering at the Vikings’ 39.

Sperringer needed just one play to put the first touchdown of the season on the board when he went deep down the middle to classmate Gavin Moore for the score at 6:59. The PAT failed but the hosts were leading 6-0.

Another punt from Ripley and the Bruins needed five plays to move 60 yards with Sperringer once again going deep, this time to senior Anthony Bachinski from 30 yards away with 3:35 to play in the first. Another missed point-after left the count at 12-0.

Brooke began at its own 30 late in the opening stanza and marched down the field once again, this time needing eight plays with Moore going in from 10 yards away with 10:36 showing in the half. Sperringer hooked up with Colton Palmer for the two-point conversion and the score moved to 20-0.

Following a pair of sacks that left Ripley deep in its own territory, Gus Gilbert hauled in a punt at the Vikings’ 35 and put the hosts in great position with a return to the 15. It took four plays before Sperringer found his brother, sophomore Ty Sperringer to the right for the score with just 1:35 to go in the half. Rocco Sacripanti’s point-after ballooned the margin to 27-0 at the break.

The Bruins recorded four sacks in the opening half, limiting Ripley to just 27 total yards of offense.

Things didn’t get any better for Ripley going into the second half when junior Triston Stevens picked up a rolling kickoff at his own 38, headed left, then broke right and turned on the jets to out race the coverage 68 yards for a touchdown. The point-after made it 34-0.

A pair of freshmen did most of the damage for Brooke over the final 12 minutes with quarterback Michael Gibson and running back Corey Maynard each finding the endzone while combining for 129 rushing yards.

“We are in a little bit better position this year with more depth than usual and the drop off between our starters and our No. 2 kids is not that great,” McLean added. “Which makes things look real bright for the future.

“And Tyler Wise really had himself a night. On one play he sacked the quarterback and two offensive linemen at the same time. I don’t think I have ever seen that before.

“But in the long run we have to put this one behind us quickly with no time to rest before Thursday. There has always been bad football blood between Brooke and Indian Creek and this one should be another good one. Kettlewell Stadium is always a tough play to go into and play, but we will be ready.”