BRADENTON
On a breezy Friday night — Senior Night at Bayshore High School — Bruin fans approach Balvanz Stadium with newfound confidence and excitement.
Annette and Craig Keys are the proud parents of Troy Keys, who is a running back and linebacker for the Bayshore Bruins. They attended 'Senior Night' festivities Oct. 24 prior to a game against Booker High at Bayshore's Balvanz football stadium in Bradenton. (Staff photo by Thomas Bender)
Swagger? Not exactly.
More like relief mixed with exhilaration and hope.
After six straight losses to start the season, Bayshore had finally won a game at Hardee High School. Now the Bruins are hosting Booker High and people are talking about the postseason.
“For the first time, they have a chance at the playoffs — the playoffs!” says Craig Keys, whose son Troy plays running back and linebacker. “Last week, after the game, we took him to Applebee’s. He talked about it the whole time.”
Next to the end zone — and Bayshore’s massive bear statue — school administrators and faculty enjoy a pregame barbecue. They seem excited, too.
Bayshore Bruins lost to the Booker Tornadoes 21 to 12 Friday evening at Bayshore's Balvanz football stadium in Bradenton, Florida. (Staff photo by Thomas Bender)
Art Durshimer, an English teacher, talks about school spirit and the value of a one-game winning streak.
“It matters because it matters to the kids,” he says. “I have a lot of players in my classes. This year has been a struggle for them, a learning experience, but now they’re pumped.”
For Senior Night, players and parents walk across midfield.
Glorianne Flint smiles for pictures with her husband and her son, Kyle Thompson, a senior wide receiver. She groans when asked about the beginning of the season. She beams when she talks about the Hardee game.
“Finally, to see him win,” Flint says. “Oh, my god — unbelievably exciting. Just to see them win. Just to see them have fun.”
The Booker game begins and — just like that — Bayshore loses any momentum it might have had.
Mistakes. Penalties. Minus yardage.
Bayshore Bruins take the field against the Booker Tornadoes Oct. 24 at Bayshore's Balvanz football stadium in Bradenton. (Staff photo by Thomas Bender)
Booker scores one touchdown and then another to lead 14-0 in the first quarter. Things look bleak for the Bruins. The half-empty stadium grows quiet.
Flint picks at her popcorn and sighs.
“Penalties are killing ’em,” she says. “It’s all psychological with these kids. See? Personal foul. They’re their own worst enemies.”
The Bayshore football team only has 35 players. The Bayshore marching band only has 20 musicians. The Bayshore crowd only has a few hundred people.
This is hard on Flint, who grew up north of Pensacola, where Tate High School was a state champion with a huge band and a rich Friday night tradition.
“You’d look around and the whole town was in the stands,” she says. “People don’t have that here. That’s what needs to change.”
As the game rolls on, one Bruin fan needs no encouragement.
Landon Hornes is a 5-year-old whirling dervish who dances, cheers and shouts himself hoarse.
Darquisha Whitfied, 19, a cheerleader for the Bayshore Bruins who lost to the Booker Tornadoes during 'Senior Night' last Friday evening at Bayshore's Balvanz football stadium in Bradenton, Florida. (Staff photo by Thomas Bender)
“Let’s go, Bruins!” he chants. “C’mon, Jackie! That’s my brother! He’s got the muscle!”
Landon wears a custom blue-and-gold T-shirt with two sets of names and numbers on the back. His big brother is Jackie Garvin, No. 11, and his best friend is Deshawn Hobbs, No. 70.
Their No. 1 fan jumps up and down. He pumps his fist, climbs on a fence and shouts through a plastic megaphone. He never stops.
Landon’s energy is rewarded midway through the second quarter when Booker fumbles a punt. All of sudden, everything changes. Bayshore makes two first downs, draws a key penalty and scores on a easy run.
The crowd rises, re-energized. Could it be? Maybe lightning will strike twice and the Bruins will come back to win again.
And then — just like that — Booker blocks the extra point and a good bit of Bayshore’s enthusiasm goes bouncing down the field.
The clock winds down on the first half. Bayshore trails 14-6. The Bruins have a chance, but somehow it doesn’t feel that way.
“That’s OK,” says Keys, clapping his hands. “We get the ball first in the second half. We need to do something.”
His wife Annette, a Bayshore graduate and band booster, hopes for the best.
“If we win,” she says, “I promised I’d do a cookout for the team.”
At halftime, Bayshore students have time to catch their breath and review a long season.
The Bruins opened with a 33-0 loss to Riverview. They also lost 14-0 to Southeast and 24-0 to Braden River. DeSoto wasn’t so bad — it was 41-3.
“We get destroyed in most of our games,” says Michael Gonci, a sophomore goalie on the soccer team. “But we still support the football team. They represent Bayshore.
“Everybody assumes they’ll lose, so when they win, it’s like a party throughout the school.”
Darquisha Whitfield, a long-suffering cheerleader, hoped there would be more parties during her senior year. She shrugs. Everyone plays their part.
“Even when we’re down, you keep smiling,” she says. “Sometimes it’s difficult. When you see the boys give up, then you give up.”
This is why the 17-14 win over Hardee was such a big deal for Bayshore. No one took the victory for granted. Everyone cheered like it might not happen again.
“We were going crazy,” Whitfield says. “There were like 12 people in the stands, but we were all excited.”
The football team whooped it up on the bus ride home. The cheerleaders? Not so much.
“This was the one time we had to get a strict bus driver,” Whitfield says, laughing. “She drove really slow and it was a horrible ride.”
In the second half, Booker stops Bayshore and begins its own scoring drive.
Even when the Tornadoes fumble, the ball rolls forward and they recover for a 5-yard gain. It’s that kind of night for Bayshore.
Soon the score is 21-6.
Some Bruin fans settle into their seats for another lopsided loss. Others head for the parking lot.
Bayshore Bruins lost to the Booker Tornadoes 21 to 12 Friday evening at Bayshore's Balvanz football stadium in Bradenton, Florida. (Staff photo by Thomas Bender)
Ryan Linderman stays to watch his brother Cody, a senior wide receiver. He brought along a baby carrier and his 3-week-old son, Ryley.
The game, the crowd and the band didn’t bother the baby. Not enough noise, apparently.
“He’s slept through the whole game,” Linderman says. “He’ll sleep through just about anything, though.”
The game seems over when Booker drops back to punt with just a minute left in the fourth quarter.
The ball soars through the air and then bounces slowly down the field. Booker players trot along, waiting for the ball to stop rolling — and this is just when Bayshore’s Zorion Brooks scoops it up and races 85 yards down the sideline for a touchdown.
Craig Keys rises from his seat.
“Oh, my!” he shouts. “Oh, yes! Can you believe it?”
Bayshore fans jump up and down, celebrating, and then turn to scoreboard for some quick arithmetic. Could it be? Yes, there’s just enough time for a two-point conversion, an onside kick and a miracle touchdown that could tie or even win the game.
And then — just like that — Bayshore’s two-point conversions fails. Of course it does, and the game ends quietly. Booker 21, Bayshore 12.
Keys is still smiling, though, when he thinks about that punt return.
“It doesn’t matter,” he jokes, “but the score looks better.”
Annette Keys dances along with the Bayshore band to a song called “Don’t Drop That Thun, Thun.” She keeps cheering for the Bruins, win or lose, no matter what.
Players are still walking off the field when she starts looking forward to the next ballgame.
“Where are we going next week?” she asks, laughing. “Frostproof? Frost. Proof. That’s way down the road.”
