Describing his team’s 27-16 win over Fenton on Friday night in Riverside, Riverside Brookfield head coach Otto Zeman called the Bulldogs’ first victory of 2008 “a step in the right direction”.

And not just because R-B is no longer winless, but because it was efficient when it needed to be, which ended up being just the opposite for the Bison in this Metro Suburban Conference opener.

“We needed a win,” said Zeman. “The defense did a great job. Fenton always plays us tough and this puts us in the driver’s seat for the conference."

Fenton (1-3, 0-1) captured the game’s first lead with 1:53 remaining in the first quarter on a 22-yard field goal from Ben Weishaupt. But the Bulldogs (1-3, 1-0) made the Bison’s advantage an instant memory just over a minute later with a 44-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Bill VandeMerkt to wide receiver Will Lusthoff. VandeMerkt and Lusthoff connected for a second time mid-way through the second quarter with a five-yard touchdown that capped a 57-yard drive.

Fenton responded with a drive that began back at their own 18-yard line which eventually set-up a second down and goal to go scenario at R-B’s 4-yard line. But a fumbled snap that was recovered by the Bulldogs’ linebacker Marty Calkins allowed R-B to take a 14-3 lead into half-time.

“The defense gave us momentum,” said Lusthoff. “Fenton always plays us tough. It’s just a big rivalry.”

The Bison bounced back from their costly turnover with 8:15 left in the third quarter after quarterback Ricky Prignano finished an 80-yard drive with a 2-yard keeper for a touchdown. But the  Bulldogs displayed a resilient style of play just over two minutes later when VandeMerkt scored a touchdown on a quarterback keeper of his own from seven-yards out to cap a 62-yard drive.

However, Fenton appeared to put R-B’s defense in an off-balanced scenario when Prignano rolled out of the pocket and took off down the sideline for a 42-yard touchdown run. The Bison looked to trim the lead to three points by going for a two-point conversion, but back-up quarterback Eric Justiniano’s pass attempt fell incomplete.

After the two teams traded punts to close out the third quarter, the Bulldogs added the final score of the night with 8:58 remaining in regulation when VandeMerkt threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Lusthoff for their third scoring connection of the night.

“We really stopped ourselves,” said Fenton’s head coach Mark Farrell. “You can’t do that against a team that can score. We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities. Their kids outplayed our kids at the point of the ball.”

The game was sealed with 1:19 left in regulation when R-B’s Andrew Biggerstaff recovered a fumble.   

“We were moving the ball all night,” said VandeMerkt. “We were disappointed with our 0-3 start. This win was important for our confidence.”